head back so she could see the stars and avoid looking at Craig. It seemed hazier tonight. She wished that haziness would encompass the man beside her, because every dang time she looked at him, the yearning blossomed anew. “I wonder if he’s considered the downside to that.”
“What do you mean?”
“If something bad happens and he needs help, nobody’s going to think of him then, either.”
Craig’s laugh echoed off some nearby tree trunks and rocks. “That’s a good point.” He reached out, clasped her hand and squeezed, then released her. She regretted the loss of his touch nearly as much as she would have regretted the loss of air to breathe. She envied him suddenly, because if he felt the same attraction, he was doing a far better job of handling it. She tried to stiffen her own spine.
She forced her thoughts back to the subject at hand. “Maybe it was just brainwashing, but the army taught me we can all do a lot more and be a lot safer in a unit. Solo actors just got into trouble or caused trouble.”
“I don’t think that’s brainwashing. I think it’s true. Humans need community to survive.”
“Says the guy who lives like a lone wolf.”
He laughed, but shook his head, hard to see in the dim starshine. “Not entirely a lone wolf. I need my compadres in the service. In fact, they’re coming in closer to help me keep an eye on this situation. Given that this is our busiest time of year, I can’t get them all, but we won’t be alone indefinitely.”
“For busy this seems awfully quiet.”
“We’ve got maybe seventy or eighty hikers out here now. I can’t be exactly sure because not everyone checks in. Regardless, there’s a whole forest to watch, not just this place, but we’ll get some help.”
She nodded, actually glad to hear that. “If we’re going to play hide-and-seek in the woods, more people will help.” Then she looked up at the heavens. “The stars seem dimmer tonight. Almost as if there’s a haze. Is it going to rain?”
“There’s none in the forecast but it’s always possible since we’re in the mountains. Weather can change fast.”
“I wish I could capture how that sky makes me feel on canvas. But for once my imagination fails me. Every mental image I get would be blah, and no way would it do justice to what I feel looking up. That sky, even with the haze, seems so deep, so big. A canvas would confine it and flatten it.”
“Maybe that’s why there are so few paintings of moonless nights.”
“Maybe so.” She shivered a little, and hugged her knees closer. It was getting a lot colder out here.
“Want to go in?”
“Not yet,” she answered. Not yet. The beauty out here was worth shivering a bit. Besides, once inside the temptation to give in to desire would simply grow.
Surprising her, he scooted over and drew her close to his side. “Maybe this will help.”
Well, of course it helped. He might as well have struck a match to her. The chill vanished in a sudden wave of internal heat. Not good, she groaned inwardly. What the hell was happening to her? She couldn’t remember having this much trouble corralling herself, even with Hector.
That thought brought her up short. Really? Really? She cast her mind backward, trying to remember what her initial days with Hector were like. She had certainly believed she loved him, she had found him attractive, but she honestly couldn’t remember having felt like this. That attraction had been quieter, more under her control.
It hadn’t struck her then, but it struck her now, that maybe that wasn’t such a good thing.
Think about something else. Anything. Buddy provided an immediate source of distraction.
“This militia thing,” she said. “What could they hope to accomplish? It’s not like they could take over anything. Those things never end well.”
“I guess it depends on what they want. Attention? Creating terror? I agree they won’t get very far if they try something, but how far do you have to get to create an impact?”
“True. God, I hope they’re not planning something.” Such horrors were no longer abstract for her and it was beyond the scope of her comprehension that someone would willingly choose to cause such things except with extreme provocation. What provocation did Buddy have? Of course, there was still that guy called Cap. Who knew what motives he might have?
Come to think of it, she was getting awfully sick of Buddy and she didn’t