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Kael gave me that keen, assessing look that told me he had uncovered something about me that fit like a piece to the “Mattie Puzzle” in his head. “Asset, huh?”
“Childhood?” I pushed, squirming under his gaze.
Shaking his head, Kael scanned the park again as he looked for our courier. “My stepfather was a hard man. Old school. Nothing I did was good enough for him. Then he got Alzheimer’s and became so violent, we had to send him away for care when I was a teenager.”
I stopped running, and taking his hand in mine, pulled him off the side of the path. Our labored breaths mingled into a mist between us, and I held his cold gaze. “Kael. That’s… that must have been really hard. I’m sorry you went through that.”
He shrugged. “He died ten years ago. Not that I mourned him, really.”
I nodded, searching his expression. “Your mom?”
“I think her way of coping was to withdraw. And she struggled with addictions on and off throughout my childhood.” He rolled his shoulders, like he could shake off the discomfort of his memories. “She has Alzheimer’s now, too. She doesn’t recognize me, but I tried to make sure she was comfortable. I—” He paused, and his mouth tightened.
I peered at him. “You what?”
He blew out a breath, looking away for a moment. “She sort of sparked a foolish idea, and that was the only reason I took your assignment in the first place.”
I frowned. “Wait, really?”
“Not entirely,” he amended. “I don’t need the money. It’s really dumb, but I thought if I could save enough for a ranch in Montana with obscene amounts of land, I could get my mom her own place there. She could be close, even if she didn’t recognize me. And I could be, you know,” he gestured futilely. “Away. If I were to settle for something less, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. I just wanted something… remote. Big.”
I read between the lines—away from everything he’s had to experience and do. I took his other hand in mine. “Tons of land, no people, and a place for your mom? Sounds amazing. And I don’t think it sounds dumb.”
His mouth pulled to the side, and his eyes scanned me. “Well, anyway, that was where the money thing came from in the first place. I’ll be fine without it,” he added. “It was just an extravagant goal.”
“I kind of want to turn myself in for real, now,” I joked. “Who cares what my parents want? That’s so fucking noble, Kael.”
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well. My mom wouldn’t notice where she was either way, ranch or not. It’s not that big of a deal.”
“Even if she doesn’t, I’m sure you worry about her. That must be hard to watch.”
Kael looked uncomfortable. “It is. And… there’s a good chance I… well, I’ve had to prepare myself mentally for the possibility of getting it myself.”
“And you worry about passing that onto your kids,” I guessed.
He nodded, expression solemn and concerned. “Right.”
“And so,” I continued, squeezing his hand again, “your plan was to be alone forever so you didn’t burden someone with this possibility?”
Kael shrugged one shoulder, the picture of vulnerability and fear. “Maybe.”
I wrapped my arms around his trim waist, hugging the hard planes of his body to mine. “That’s silly. You deserve to be loved.”
He loosed a rueful chuckle, fitting me tightly to him. “I deserve a lot of things. Love isn’t one of them.”
“Bullshit,” I replied, my voice muffled as he hugged me tighter than he needed to.
After a few seconds, he released me. “I think I found our guy,” Kael sighed, kissing the top of my head. “Come on.”
Reluctant to let that conversation go, I started to protest, but Kael pulled me down the path to a deeply shaded area where a man jogged in a red Utah State University sweatshirt. He waved at us, stopping just a few feet shy of where we stood, and he tugged his baseball cap down on his forehead nervously. He had broad shoulders and an athletic build, and a swoop of dark blond hair curled over his forehead. From behind a pair of thick-rimmed glasses, he bobbed an uncertain glance between us. “Kael and Mattie?”
“Hey, Remington,” Kael said, holding out a hand.
The other man took it, smiling with straight, white teeth and looking like Clark Kent come to life. “Hey, there.”
I stared at Remington with my jaw slack. He didn’t look like a middle-aged anything. He looked like a model. “Hey,” I said faintly.
Kael slid a suspicious look my way before returning his attention to Remington. “You didn’t have to fly all the way out here just to do all this.”
