She nodded. “My new truck has more technology under its hood than the space shuttle. So what do we do?”
Ben reached into his jacket and pulled out his cell phone. “We call for a tow.”
She peered out at the surrounding black woods. “I don’t think we’re within range, Ben. Medicine Gore is on the fringe of service, and we’re a good five miles past that.”
“The fringe of civilization, you mean,” he muttered, opening his phone and checking for a signal. The little red light flashed up at him with depressing regularity. He looked up and down the road, finding nothing but black emptiness in each direction. “Then you will sit tight and I’ll go for a walk. Which direction is shortest?”
“We’re closer to Medicine Gore than home, but I’m going with you.”
“Afraid I’ll get lost again, madam guide?”
“I don’t think we should separate. Someone might be lurking in the shadows, waiting for you.”
He sobered. “You think this was deliberate?”
“New trucks don’t just lose oil all of a sudden.”
He cursed. “But you can’t possibly walk in those shoes, Emma. You’ll break your neck.”
“I never leave the house unprepared. I tossed my sneakers into the back before we left. I’ve ended up walking more than once from a broken truck.”
“That’s right. Didn’t Mike ask if you had run your truck into a creek again,the day you found me?”
“It was either that or run into a moose,” she said, trying to jump down.
Ben grabbed her before she could go tumbling into the ditch again and sat her back up on the seat. “I’ll get your shoes for you.” He walked to the back of the truck, straining to see into the darkness behind them. Emma was probably right. Someone had tampered with the truck while they had been in the diner.
Poulin, most likely.
Of all the men, he appeared to be the greatest threat. Poulin would have no problem stranding them both in the middle of the woods on a cold night, and Ben made a mental note to keep an eye on Wayne in the future.
He opened the tailgate door and found a small bag sitting there.
“Here. What else have you got in there?” he asked, handing her the bag.
“A flashlight, a compact survival kit, and a package of Elmer Fudge cookies.”
“All the necessities,” he said with a chuckle. “How far to home?”
“Only eight miles.”
“Eight!”
She stopped rummaging around in the bag and looked at him. “That’s by road. We could cut cross-country and be there in five.”
He shook his head. “Not unless you packed some pants in that bag.” He blew out a breath and watched it steam up into the night. “If we stick to the road, we may get a ride.” He looked at his watch. “The dance should be breaking up soon.”
“Galen lives out this way.”
“He probably helped Poulin ruin my truck.”
“What makes you think Wayne did it?”
“Any other likely suspects?”
“No.” She finished tying her sneakers and tossed her red shoes in the backseat before she jumped down. She was much steadier on her feet this time, and Ben saw the Maine Guide in her return.
Too bad. He already missed the unschooled vixen she’d been tonight, with her hair done up to expose her neck and her blush of red lipstick that had disappeared with her meal.
But he still intended to steal that dress and hide it until their honeymoon.
They walked in companionable silence for the first few minutes, and Ben realized he was happy. No matter that his truck had been sabotaged, or that the entire town of Medicine Gore distrusted him, or even that he was sexually frustrated by the woman walking beside him. He liked it here.
He enjoyed the sense of wonder and grandeur of these woods. He liked the overflowing emptiness of the land. He was even getting used to the unpredictable weather.
“I can’t imagine wanting to leave here to go study the ocean,” he said into the silence. “Is that what you really want to do, Emma?”
“I don’t honestly know,” she answered. “Sometimes I just wish that I had the choice.”
“You’ve always had the choice. You could have sold everything and taken Michael with you.”
She looked over at him, but Ben couldn’t make out her features in the low light of the waning moon. They weren’t using the flashlight because Emma had said it was easier to walk once their eyes were adjusted to the dark.
“I was too scared. It was easier to stay with what I knew rather than venture into the unknown. Especially with Mikey. If I had been alone, well … I don’t know.”
“You love it here. You’ve succeeded in your own right,” he told her.
“I do love it. And I’ll probably never leave,” she agreed.
He folded an arm over her shoulder and pulled her against him, making walking awkward, but she didn’t protest. “Once we’re married, I could even move my base of operations here. Never say never, Em. Maybe we could spend several months of the year here, and the rest at Rosebriar.”
But he was talking to himself, because Emma had stopped three steps back.
“What did you say?” she asked, her voice cracking in disbelief.
What hadhe said? Several months here … move his operations after they … oh, Lord, he’d said the mword out loud.
“You said ‘after we’re married.’”
“Yes. I guess I did.”
She started walking again—in the opposite direction.
Ben ran after her. “Emma. Wait. I know it’s kind of a shock, but …”
Aw, hell. He’d said it, he meant it, and he had to tell her eventually. He grabbed her arm and turned her around to face him. “Emma. I want to marry you.”
“Well, I don’t want to marry you. I don’t ever want to get married.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t ever intend to fall in love.”
“Why the hell not?”
She pulled herself free and started walking again. “Because every person I’ve ever loved has left, one way or another. Even Mikey will be leaving.”
Ben caught her sleeve again, and spun her around, and held her firmly by both arms. “I won’t leave you, Em.”
“You already did.”
“What do you mean? When?”
“Oh, Ben. I had such a crush on you sixteen years ago. I didn’t even care that you were seeing Kelly. I was sure you would come to your senses eventually and notice me.” She looked down at his chest. “I was so sure you would come back, and that I would be grown up enough for you by then.” She looked up at him and the anguish he saw stole his breath. “It wasn’t until Kelly left that I realized you were never coming back. So I simply stopped loving you.”
He was frozen in shock. Then he crushed her to his chest so fiercely, it was a wonder she didn’t break.
“It’s me. I’mthe one Mike was talking about. You’re in love with me!”
He hugged her again, laughing at himself. “It’s me!”
Hewas the one Emma had gathered her hope chest for.
But he was also the man who had broken her heart so badly she had abandoned her dream. Ben wanted to howl at the moon. He had been competing with himself all this time—and now he had to compete with her demons.
“I was fifteen that summer, Ben. It was puppy love, and I’ve outgrown it,” she said into his chest.
He held her away. She was a gorgeous mess, her hair a tangle of knots and her eyes shining with tears.
She was beautiful.
This could work. It fit his plan even better. If Emma loved him she would be contented as his wife. They could have a good marriage; she would be happy, Michael would be ecstatic, and Ben could get his life back on track.
“Marry me, Emma. Marry me right now, and I promise to never, everleave you again.”
“You’re not listening to me. I don’t love you anymore.”