As Josh followed Shay around the nursery, loading their carts—they ended up needing a second one—he found himself getting kind of excited about this whole gardening thing.

Then the guy who worked there came up to them to ask how they were doing. Not wanting the guy to blow his cover, Josh turned away and pretended to be fascinated by the marigolds in the row beside him.

“We’re doing great,” Shay said in answer to his question. “Thanks.”

He heard the happiness in her voice, and it warmed him. Knowing he was playing a small part in bringing her that happiness gave him a feeling of satisfaction that he hadn’t felt in a long time.

A short time later Shay announced that she’d gotten everything they needed and they made their way to the register. Keeping his head down, he avoided making eye contact with the man who was ringing up their purchases. Maybe he wouldn’t recognize him, but Josh didn’t want to take the chance. He really, really liked that Shay had no idea who he was, and he didn’t want that to change.

* * *

The weight of Shay’s purse seemed to increase as she thought about her cell phone tucked inside. She had yet to turn it on, and though she wasn’t eager to check for texts or messages, she knew she should. What if her mom had tried to contact her? She’d been out of touch for going on three days. Though she didn’t speak to her mother often, she was still her mother and Shay knew she loved her. She didn’t want her to worry about her.

There were still quite a few items for the man to scan into the register, so Shay gathered her courage and turned to Josh.

“I’m gonna wait by the truck.”

His eyebrows pulled together. “Okay.”

She didn’t want him to know why she was acting weird, so she smiled before walking to his truck. When she got there, she leaned against the hood as she took her phone out of her purse. Hesitating, she stared at the blank screen, her finger hovering over the power button. Finally, she held the button in as she waited for her phone to boot up.

Half-hoping she wouldn’t have cell service so that she could stay in the dark, when four strong bars appeared at the top of the screen moments later, her heart began to hammer in her chest.

* * *

Josh didn’t know why Shay had decided to walk away at that moment, but it turned out it was a good thing, because when the nursery employee saw Josh’s face, the man’s eyes lit up with recognition.

“Hey,” the man said with a grin. “You’re Josh Wisner, right?”

Now that Shay wasn’t there to overhear, Josh basked a little in his famousness. “Yeah.”

The man continued working as he spoke. “You did awesome last season.”

“Thanks. It was a good season.”

He paused mid-scan. “What’s the story with Parson?”

Henry “Hank” Parson, one of the wide receivers on Josh’s team, had struggled last season. Josh knew Hank had been having personal problems that had pulled his head out of the game on more than one occasion, but that wasn’t something Josh was going to share.

“Don’t know,” he said with a forced smile and a shrug.

The man shook his head and finished ringing up their purchases. Josh looked at Shay and saw her staring intently at her phone. It was the first time he’d seen her using her phone—of course there was no cell service at his house unless you had the wifi password, which he hadn’t given her. Still, seeing her on her phone gave him pause. What if she really did know who he was and was playing him, reporting to who knows who about his life? Maybe this trip to the nursery had been a set-up to give her access to cell service. The thought that he was being played infuriated him, but he tamped down his anger.

Jumping to conclusions would be a mistake. Even so, he would have to tread carefully.

* * *

It only took a few moments for the text messages to start appearing on Shay’s phone. There were eighteen of them. And they were all from Will. Nearly holding her breath, she tapped the message icon and began reading his texts, from oldest to newest.

She could picture the absolute fury boiling on his face at that text, and the image made her shudder.

The most recent text had been sent less than an hour earlier.

The finality of his last statement made her stomach churn and she had to swallow over the bile that climbed her throat. Then she reminded herself that she was safe, that Will had no idea where she was.

A tiny sense of peace settled over her, and she softly exhaled.

“What’s the news?” Josh asked as he pushed one of the carts in her direction.

Startled, she looked at him, her eyes wide. “Nothing.” Then she shoved her phone into her purse.

He gazed at her a moment, his expression unreadable.

Wanting to think about something besides Will, she forced a smile. “Looks like we should be well set for gardening.”

“Yeah,” Josh said, but he didn’t smile in return.

What was going on with him? Why did he seem angry all of a sudden?