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She sighed and confessed, “I’m also very sorry for assuming that you were being careless with your animals. I don’t know why, but I thought the bison was yours.”
“I promise it’s okay, Dakota. Honestly, it’s not a problem at all,” I said, trying to keep the sound of my voice reassuring.
“Thank you for being so kind about this,” she replied softly.
God, the sound of her voice was so sweet. I wanted her to keep talking.
“Hey, I was just getting ready to make some dinner. Would you like to stay and join me?” I asked.
Shock and maybe a bit of worry washed over her. “Oh. Oh, no, I can’t stay.”
“You’ve got plans already?” I questioned her.
Her lips parted as her eyes darted back and forth. It wasn’t hard to see that she was trying to come up with something to tell me. “I, uh… well, you see, I kind of already put something on for dinner, and I, um, well, I’ve got to call my friend.”
Okay.
So, I was pushing for too much too soon.
Fair enough. I wasn’t going to continue to make her feel uncomfortable.
“Alright. Well, I’ll let you go, then.” She gave me a nod and turned toward the door. As she was about to reach her hand out to touch the knob, I called, “Dakota?”
She looked back at me with her bright blue eyes and returned, “Yeah?”
I offered a smile and shrugged my shoulders. “If you ever want to go snowshoeing again and would like some company, don’t hesitate to ask.”
Something moved through her expression that I couldn’t quite read. As quickly as it was there, it was gone. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
With that, I reached around her, opened the door, and allowed her to step outside.
“Have a good night, Dakota.”
“Thanks, Jack. You, too.”
The next thing I knew, I was watching Dakota as she made her way from the front door of my cabin and over to hers, and I didn’t take my eyes off of her until she was safely inside.
FOUR
Dakota
Past
“I’m going to need you to turn around and come back to pick me up.”
I could hear the sigh that came from Tom before he asked, “Why?”
“Because something is wrong with the car,” I answered. “You dropped me off, I went inside to pay, and I didn’t get more than seven or eight miles away when the engine just seized up and the car shut off.”
Tom no longer cared about sighing.
Nope.
My new husband had decided to groan his displeasure instead. It was as though he thought this was fun for me in some way. “Where are you now?” he questioned me.
“I’m back at the shop. I called them, explained what happened, and they sent someone down to retrieve me and the car. But the car won’t start now, so I’m going to need a ride home.”
“Jesus, Dakota. I’ve got to get to work.”
