“So you met Riley yesterday,” Trevor said to his sister Saturday morning.

“I did,” Kennedy said, smirking at him.

He didn’t like that look now any more than he did when they were kids. “And?” he asked. He knew she’d give her opinion, she always did. And she wouldn’t sugarcoat a damn thing, either.

“She’s very upfront. Nice. It was sweet of her to spend the day with her niece. She seems very easy to read.”

He laughed. “I’m not sure we’re talking about the same person here.”

“You don’t think she’s nice and sweet?” Kennedy asked.

“Of course I do. And yes, she’s upfront, which is a good trait to have, but I don’t think she’s easy to read at all.”

“So you think she’s hiding something?” Kennedy asked, frowning.

Sometimes it wasn’t good that his family knew him so well. “Not like you think. At least I’ve got no reason to think it.”

“But your gut is telling you there is something. Have you looked into her?”

He wanted to, but didn’t. He’d guessed there was no legal reason she was hiding. No trouble she was in with the law. “No. I’m pretty sure she’s a law-abiding citizen.”

“Then what’s the problem?” Kennedy asked.

“I can’t put my finger on it. She moved here fast. She’s skittish at the oddest times.”

“I think you’re seeing something that isn’t there, Trevor. I think you’ve been burned too many times and set yourself up for failure too much. Women aren’t as easy to read as you think in general. Or as you want. She comes across as confident and strong, but she probably has some insecurities like the rest of us.”

He wanted to argue with her about the burned and failure comments, but knew it wasn’t worth it. Deep down, he knew she was right.

“You don’t have any insecurities,” he said, walking over and lightly punching her arm.

“Everyone has them. Even you, but we know you’d never admit it.”

Nope, he wouldn’t. Not even with a gun to his head.

“Whatever you say. So you didn’t give Riley a hard time?” His sisters could be just as nosy as everyone else in town. More so when it came to family.

“She was a paying customer. Of course I didn’t. What do you take me for?”

“You wanted to though, didn’t you?”

She shrugged. “That’s beside the point. I didn’t. I’m glad I didn’t. I like her. She’ll keep you on your toes.”

“And you’d like nothing more than your big brother being kept on his toes?” Trevor asked, smiling.

“Of course.”

Trevor left a few minutes later and made his way to Riley’s house. They had plans to go to the High Falls Gorge and just have some fun for the day. He didn’t know the last time he just had fun for a full day. Probably before he went into the army.

She had errands to run first, so he was killing time before he picked her up.

“All ready to go?” he asked after she opened the door. She was wearing a pair of tiny jean shorts, a purple T-shirt, and hiking sneakers. He was surprised by the sneakers, but when he looked closer, they were extremely worn in.

“I am,” she said, “but I’d like a kiss first. Don’t you know the dating rules?”

“I’m happy to give you a kiss first. I’m happy to give you a kiss anytime you want it. What I didn’t know was that you had dating rules. Do I get punished if I break those rules that I know nothing about?”

“Just the rules that make me feel good. Don’t be breaking them. You see, I like getting kisses, so anytime you want to hand them out, I’ll gladly take one. But when you first see me or pick me up, I’d really like one. You’re not a rule breaker, are you?” She was fluttering her eyes at him, like a beacon to grab her hand and take her to her room rather than on a hiking adventure.

He liked this side of her a whole lot. When he saw her like this, he forgot about the side of her he was unsure of. The one he thought was in hiding or hiding something.

Maybe Kennedy was right. Maybe it was just insecurities. They’d had some discussions about that recently. How she was trying to make changes and how it was hard to have faults pointed out.

She grabbed her keys off the counter and handed them over to him, then put a backpack on. “What’s that for?” he asked.

“Water, some snacks. I thought we were hiking.”

“We are, but not enough to get so lost that you need a survival kit.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Oh. I like hiking. I like getting out in the wild. We’ll just throw it in the car and grab the water out. It’s a warm day.”

He handed her keys back to her. “Are we taking separate cars?” he asked.

“No. I thought you could drive my SUV. I don’t know where I’m going. Or can you drive the police SUV around wherever you want?”

He could, but didn’t often like to and took her keys back out of her hand. “I can. But when I leave town or take a day off, I don’t.”

“Do you have another car?” she asked him.

“Motorcycle.”

“Oh,” she said, her eyes lighting up. “I’ve never been on one before.”

“I figured, which is why I didn’t bring it.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a Harley my father rebuilt years ago. Nothing flashy and new, but a nice solid bike that I enjoy riding.”

“What about in the winter if you need to go somewhere?”

“I don’t go to many places, but if I do, I just take Kennedy’s car.”

She nodded. “Is there a reason you never go anywhere? Or is it you’re always on duty?”

He was hoping it was just plain old curiosity and nothing more. “A little bit of both, I guess you can say. I like where I am.”

“You’ve said that before,” she said as she closed her door.

“It’s the truth.”

“I believe it. But don’t you ever go on a vacation? Don’t you ever just want to get out of town and not see people you know? Be a stranger somewhere?”

“I’ve been to a lot of places where I was the stranger. It’s nice being known.”

Nice being in a place where he didn’t have to look over his shoulder or risk his life not knowing the strangers in front of him or the disguised dangers wherever he looked or tried to find. Familiarity was a small price for security and peace of mind to him. Nosy and disputing neighbors were better than war any day.

“Not always,” she mumbled, but he heard her.

 

***

 

“What a perfect day to see the waterfalls. It’d be nice if there were more trails, or they were longer.”

“There are other trails we can check out if you want,” he said.

“If you don’t mind. I didn’t get to see nature like this much before I moved here.”

“Yet your hiking shoes look pretty broken in to me.”

“In the nicer months, I tried to get out of the city on the weekends and hike for a few hours,” she said.

“Alone?” he asked.

“I wish. But no, I usually went with friends.”

“What about your boyfriend?”

She frowned, but why not talk about it? “My ex—my last ex—he didn’t mind it. He liked doing things in the city, though. Flashy things, clubs and parties, but he’d indulge me in some hiking adventures.”

“Indulge?”

“Not his thing, but we compromised.”

She liked to think they’d compromised. It seemed to her she did a lot of what Jason liked back then just to avoid drama. Then it dawned on her she didn’t always get her way like she always thought.

“What did he like to do?” Trevor asked as they made their way off the metal overhang for others to check out the falls.

“Not a lot. Just hanging out at clubs and parties. Shopping and fancy restaurants. He liked to be seen more than actually experience things. Which was funny, considering he was a teacher. Not too many teachers were frequenting the places we went.”

“Meaning he didn’t have the money to do those things?”

“Partially. But he was a Phys Ed teacher on top of it. Not a lot of sophistication with that.” Nor did his name get him into all the places he wanted. Being used never felt good, and felt worse when you realized it after the fact.

Trevor laughed. “I’d think a Phys Ed teacher would enjoy the outdoor activities more.”

So did she, but she had been wrong on that front, too. “Like I said, we compromised.”

“What happened with you and this gym teacher?”

She laughed. “I called him that once and he got annoyed with me. Physical Education Specialist is what he often told people when we were out. I can’t tell you how many times I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. Anyway, we did a lot of things. Went on vacations, went out on the weekends with friends.” No need to say most of it was on her dime. That would just make her look like the fool. “We didn’t stay home and relax much at all. He always wanted to be on the run. Never could sit still.”

“Doesn’t sound like my type of guy,” Trevor said.

“It can get tiring. I worked a lot more than he did. Longer hours, full years. I didn’t get summers off and he wanted to just ram around when he did. I guess blowing whistles at kids all day long wasn’t enough for him.” She slapped a hand in front of her mouth and giggled. “I can’t believe I actually said that. I always wanted to, but never did.”

“Is that why you split?” he asked, laughing.

She was following him down a path now, talking to his back. She wished she could see his face. “I’m sure that was part of it. There is always more than one thing to a breakup. Unless there is cheating, and that’s enough on its own.”

He stopped and turned. “Did he cheat on you?”

“No,” she said. “We just didn’t have a lot in common. Or not as much as I had hoped. He wanted things out of life I didn’t. I wanted things he wasn’t ready for or wanted no part of.”

He waited until she could walk next to him, side by side, when the trail widened, and she liked that. She liked that he was considerate enough to put them on the same level. Equals.

“Like what?” he asked.

“What did he want that I didn’t? Or what did I want that he didn’t?”

“You. I don’t give a shit about him other than he’s there and you’re here.”

She was glad of that, too. “I wanted this,” she said, holding her arms out wide. “This lifestyle. I like nature. I like things a little slower. Do I miss the city and all it has to offer? Absolutely. But not enough to ever go back permanently. That’s what vacations are for.”

“So you wanted to move and he didn’t? How long did you date?”

She wasn’t bothered Trevor was asking as many questions as he was. She actually liked that he was interested. “Almost two years. We were the same age. Jason,” she said, “his name was Jason.” And saying it didn’t cause any bad feelings either, which surprised her because that breakup gave her the courage to look at her life and recognize how unhappy she’d been for a long time. “No, he didn’t want to move. He didn’t want to leave what he enjoyed. He didn’t understand my reasoning for wanting to leave, either. Not to move as far away as I did.”

Jason didn’t believe her, either. Didn’t stand by her side. Didn’t even give her a chance to prove her fears existed. Said she was crazy and overreacting, and if she wasn’t so friendly and flirty all the time when they were out, then she wouldn’t be so worried about looking over her shoulder. She’d never considered herself much of a flirt, though. In her eyes, there was nothing wrong with being friendly.

Supporting him, giving into him so much—that she could handle—she could accept if only he’d loved her. If only he’d believed her.

He didn’t. So she was done.

“No relationship can survive if you aren’t understood,” he said, and in that moment, she knew. She just knew deep down she’d never have a connection with anyone else like she had with Trevor.

“It can’t,” she said. “And I’m glad I found it out when I did before I wasted even more time with him. Moving here has allowed me to be the person I want to be. The person I’m starting to like. If the man I end up with doesn’t understand that, he won’t last long in my life.”

He stopped and threaded their fingers together. “There’s a lot about you I don’t understand, because I just don’t know enough to figure it out. But what I do know, I understand. If there is one thing I’ve figured out, it’s that behind your complexity is a very caring person. A good person. And in my eyes, good people always have a reason for what they do or what they want, and they should be respected for that.”

She pulled him into her arms on the trail and hugged him tight. “Thank you for that. For just getting the small part of me you know right now.”

“I get you. I get you more than might be healthy for my peace of mind.”

She leaned back and looked into his eyes. She saw the humor in them, but also something deep. Something soul touching. “I can say the same.”