“Is that what Susan said?”
“Now who’s asking the questions?”
He smiled. “It’s a request for clarification,” he replied in a smug tone.
“Nifty answer,” she said. “But you’re deflecting. Are you connected with the ‘idea’ in some way? Or are you just visiting?”
It was unnerving at the way she cut through to the chase so easily. Travis didn’t like lying and so far he’d avoided actually doing so. He inwardly groaned. She would find out soon anyway.
“I’m doing some research,” he said.
“I’m very good at research,” she said with that infectious smile of hers. “It’s how I found Covenant Falls.”
He believed her. His silence was his answer.
She sighed. Tried again. “You’ve been here a few days. What do you think about Covenant Falls?”
He shrugged. “Haven’t been here long enough to think much of anything. It’s like any small town, I suppose, except it seems to have survived better than mine did.” The words escaped him before he could call them back.
“You’re from a small town?”
“I was,” he admitted.
“Bigger or smaller than Covenant Falls?”
Travis inwardly groaned. In trying to avoid one topic, he’d opened an old wound. But in this short time, he could already tell she would continue pressing him.
“Smaller.”
“Where?” She was like a bee buzzing inside his head, jabbing at memories he preferred to forget.
“Midwest.”
“What did you play? Baseball or football?”
“Baseball. How did you know?”
She shrugged. “There’s an athleticism in the way your body moves,” she said.
Not anymore.
“Yes, there is,” she said, apparently reading his mind. She changed the subject. “Susan said the town was full of veterans, even before Iraq and Afghanistan and Syria.”
He shrugged. “Like many small towns, there aren’t many job opportunities here. The military is an option.”
“But they come back. There couldn’t be many more options after they return?”
“Their roots are here,” he said. He’d brought up the subject three weeks ago on his first trip. “Some of them for generations. Friends and family are here. I think some people feel it even stronger after being away for years. They’ve learned skills in the army or saved up enough money to start a small business. They do all right.”
“What about your more recent military arrivals? The ones who aren’t natives of the area?”
“How recent do you mean?”
“Say, the last two years. Ms. Hall said there are several newcomers. They didn’t have generations of history here.”
“There’s no secret about it. Josh Manning was the first. He was also a Ranger. He was wounded in Afghanistan, was medically discharged and inherited a cabin here.”
“And then?”
“Josh married the mayor and became a businessman. He’s part owner of the inn where you’re staying and the cabin was passed on to another vet.”
“Who came next?”
“Susan Hall didn’t tell you all this?” In his mind, he was thinking that the innkeeper had said altogether too much.
“Nope.”
“And you didn’t ask?”
“She had a paying guest who interrupted us,” Jenny said with a grin. “Tell me about the others.”
He sighed and ran down the list of temporary guests at the cabin.
“And you’re using it now.”
“For a few weeks only.”
“But they were all coming temporarily. Right? What changed?”
The innkeeper again. “Why am I telling you everything you already know?” he asked.
“But I don’t. Just bits and pieces of a fascinating puzzle. Why did they all stay?”
He hesitated. Covenant Falls was a welcoming place, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to say that. In addition to protecting the privacy of the vets, he knew Josh didn’t want the town to turn into some weird fairy tale that attracted people for all the wrong reasons.
He’d been incredulous himself when he’d learned of the marriages and engagements of the recent vets in Covenant Falls. Clint, whom he’d met on the previous trip, had joked that there was something in the water.
They were nearing the outskirts of the town. Maybe a short detour would answer some questions, or deter them. He would take Josh’s suggestion and show her the waterfall. Maybe he could interest her in writing about the town and forget about the veterans. And maybe that was too many maybes.
“Want to see the falls of Covenant Falls?”
“The falls? That’s an affirmative. I’ve missed them where I’ve been.”
He circled the town and took the road to the falls. They passed the Rusty Nail, with its half-filled parking lot. “I haven’t been here yet,” he said, “but I’m told their burgers are good.”
She had stopped asking questions and looked around with interest. The road was steadily going upward now and the trees ahead were starting to change color. Patches of gold and red were highlighted by the sun. Travis followed a twisting, newly paved road up a sharp incline, and then he turned into a parking area.
He might have offered to open the door for her, but she was out the second the car came to a stop. They could hear the falls from where they were, but they could not see them. He led the way to a wooden fence and stood back as she looked down at the meandering river below.
“Nice,” she said.
He gave her a moment, and then he led the way around a stand of trees, and suddenly they faced the falls. Water tumbled over a high cliff to the rocks below. A rainbow arched above it. A cool breeze carried spray to where they stood, sprinkling them. A look of pure enchantment crossed her face, turning it from attractive into beautiful. He had the damnedest urge to take her in his arms and hold her against him.
If it had been just a physical reaction, he could step away. Her delight, though, made him smile inside—and he hadn’t done that in a long time. He started to reach for her, to touch her. Snap out of it. Keep it strictly business.
Travis stepped back. Away from temptation. It was the rainbow. Nothing else. When Josh brought him here on his first visit, Travis had been impressed, particularly with the rainbow that Josh said was almost always visible during the day. Hell, even to a has-been warrior like himself, it seemed to wave a banner of new chances, new opportunities.
“It’s beautiful,” Jenny said, licking at the moisture around her lips with her tongue. It was a natural enough reaction, but it was sensuous without intent, and that made the action even more sensuous. He was suddenly warmer. He wanted to put an arm around her and share that sense of awe.
Bad idea. He backed away. He sure as hell wasn’t ready for another relationship, even a short one, and suspected she wasn’t either. Just as important, he saw in her a free spirit. She’d been injured and was using this time to heal. He’d met many military correspondents during his years overseas, and most were as addicted to the adrenaline as the soldiers were.
She