Page 72 of Drifter’s Heart

“It’s not dark yet,” she protests, waving her arms at Sally for a hug. Her child ignores her, already wrapped up in her game. Applethorn looks as sad and lonely as Winnie.

“Let’s go. It’ll be sundown soon enough. This is the date you wanted, remember?” I curl my fingers through her hair, tugging gently. It’s grown in the last few weeks. “Besides, you’re both running out of holidays.”

Reality is encroaching on all of us far too fast for my liking, and I promised Winnie I’d do this for her.

“Yeah.” Winnie looks longingly at me, then back at Sally.

I’ve got this, Cord mouths to me before running across the yard after Sally. Okay, kind of running, half limping.

Even Winnie laughs. “Okay,” she concedes. “She’s fine.”

“The bull might miss her,” I tease. “Wanna bring him along?”

Winnie sends me a fuck you look. “Maybe I can trade the two of you,” she says sweetly, climbing into my truck. My girl sits demurely in the passenger seat.

I shut my mouth and play chauffeur in case she does exactly that.

Winnie pats my leg as I start the truck. “Good cowboy,” she murmurs.

And just like that, she’s got me tamed.

The falls are perfect at this time of year, the water cold and crystal clear with a decent flow to the shallow basin that runs below before the next set of falls beyond that one. But even with the sun still up, the heat is leaching from the day, and we’ve got a ways to go. It feels damn good to be away from the house, away from everyone.

Winnie hangs out the window with my fingers hooked through the belt loop in her jeans. “Isn’t this where Lanie saw her pet beastie?” she yells loud enough to rouse the damn critter’s ancestors.

“Probably. It’s not our destination for tonight, though.”

“Huh?” Winnie lets me pull her back through the window as I drive past the falls and head deeper into the forest.

The canopy closes over us, providing an early dusk.

Winnie settles back in her seat. “You’ve spent time out here, right? On your own?”

I don’t take my eyes off the trail as the light dims further. “Yeah. I’ve walked most of the land.” There’s a caveat in that, and she’ll find out what I mean in about an hour.

“And you’ve stayed overnight out here on your own?”

I grin. “Nervous? Neither Cord nor I have been eaten by anything other than a few bugs. Yet.”

She swats at me. “That’s not what I mean.”

I glance across at her. My truck hits a rock and I curse myself for taking my eyes off the trail. “Dammit. Not you. Sorry. I just… Give me a sec.” I get us back to where we need to be and find her hand. “This part of the trail isn’t well cut. Usually I walk it, but that would take us longer than I want to get where I want to take you tonight.”

Winnie is quiet for a while. “And have you seen it?”

The trees thicken here, the shadows darkening. I know what she’s asking and I’m of two minds about how to answer her. I can give her the tour-guide version that will let her sleep tonight.

The real answer is a little more… gritty.

I suck in a long breath. “Yeah. I’ve seen… something.” Shit. I didn’t just confess that to my girl. She’ll never sleep again. She’ll sure as shit never let Sally come out here with me. “Listen, Winnie. Whatever it is, I don’t think it’s alone out here. And I think it’s been here for a long time. Longer than us. It’s never hurt me, just observed. I don’t know what it is. But it’s not⁠—”

“Lanie said the same thing,” Winnie interrupts me.

I close my mouth, try to reset my expectations, and fail. “She did?” I manage not to fall off the edge of the road or reality all at once. Actually, if the damn thing had come across the road and waved a giant dire-wolf tail at me, I wouldn’t have been shocked right then. But I’ve only seen it at night, and only when I was alone and quiet and from a decent distance.

“She did.” Winnie nods like I’ve confirmed something for her.

I sketch her a quick glance. “And you’re not terrified?” I check in.