Ethan swore under his breath as he examined the pipes leading from the trio of cabins. They joined near the woods in a hub attached to the hot water tank. And he knew of no animal with teeth so sharp that they would be able to saw through copper pipes. With no sign of rust or other natural wear, there could be only one explanation.

Someone had deliberately sawed through the pipe to make it impossible for Ruby to rent out these cabins. He didn’t for a moment believe that the old woman was to blame for sabotaging her own campground. She was clearly struggling, and this would have taken some serious elbow grease to accomplish. But who would want such a kind old woman to fail? From her stories, Pinecrest Lodge had been a fixture of the community for as long as anyone could remember.

The only people on the campground were him, Ruby, and Lily. He hadn’t done it, nor Ruby, and Lily would have taken one of these cabins for herself if she’d had the option. Not to mention, she’d only just arrived. When Ruby had disclosed this problem, she’d made it sound as though it had been going on for some time.

That left only one explanation. Someone outside the campground had ventured onto Ruby’s land in order to sabotage her business. Ludicrous! Everyone who Ethan had spoken with in town seemed on friendly terms with Ruby. Some pitied her situation -- widowed, with no children or grandchildren, and left to run a declining campground at her age -- but no one had an ill word to say about her. Or was someone hiding darker feelings?

He couldn’t find the solution to that predicament now, nor did he relish telling Ruby about her problem. But he had to tell her -- at the very least, because he didn’t have the supplies to solder pipe together. She would have to direct him to the nearest hardware store.

Still mulling over the situation, he strode in the direction of his cabin. He didn’t notice the lump of beige fur until he nearly tripped over Lily’s dog. The cheerful creature gave a little bark and sat on her hind legs, lifting one paw onto Ethan’s pants as if claiming him.

He sighed. “You’re going to get lost,” he muttered under his breath, even as he bent to lift the fur ball into his arms.

Wookie—or was the name Cookie?—tilted her squashed face up to his and cracked her mouth open as she wheezed. Her pink tongue hung out one side. With a snuffle, she wiggled in his arms until she was able to stretch up to lick the underside of his chin. Her tail wagged vigorously.

Her brown eyes looked up at him adoringly and he was reminded of earlier when he’d helped Lily light that fire. He wasn’t even sure why he’d picked the dog up then, but it had felt good to hold her. The dog knew nothing about him, didn’t even understand the concept of money, and yet she was happy to see him. It was … surprisingly nice. Not that he would admit it to her owner. Where was…

“Wookie!”

So he had remembered the name right.

He held out the dog, an offering. “I think this belongs to you,” he said with a wry twist of his mouth. It was the first semblance of a genuine smile he’d given in a long time.

Lily’s cheeks reddened as she plucked her pet from his arms and held her tight. “I’m sorry, she just ran off again. She seems to do that every time she smells you. Probably because you smell like cookies.”

He smelled like cookies? Maybe he’d been hanging around in Ruby’s kitchen too much. Since Lily muttered that last part under her breath, he didn’t think he was supposed to hear her so he didn’t respond other than to say, “It’s no trouble.”

Wookie squirmed in her owner’s arms as if trying to get back to him. The look of adoration on her face tugged at his heart strings. No! He hunched his shoulders. He didn’t have room in his life for anyone other than himself. That was what everyone else was out for, wasn’t it, so why not him, too?

Gruff, he looked away as he added, “As long as it doesn’t happen again.”

“It won’t,” Lily promised, her words quick. “Thank you again.”

Ethan remained rooted in the spot as she walked away, quietly chiding her pet for running off. Funny thing, he hadn’t really minded the interruption. He supposed Wookie wasn’t too much bother, and Lily was pretty to look at. Especially when she blushed. And truth be told, when he’d helped her start the fire, the look of triumph on her face had been worth the trouble. She might be totally unprepared for camping, but he admired the way she was willing to learn.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Ethan turned toward his cabin to get his wallet and truck in preparation of driving into town. As he reached the front door, a shriek split the air.

Lily.

Without thinking, he bolted toward her cabin, expecting to find her cornered by a bear or the saboteur at gunpoint. He groped for a weapon he didn’t carry as he burst through the shield of white bark pine trees.

No one held Lily at gunpoint or stood poised over her for a killing blow. She crouched on the packed dirt near to where she’d parked the SUV, Wookie cradled to her chest as she stared at the door to her cabin in horror. Instinctively, he laid his hand on her shoulder to guide her behind the cover of the SUV. Get behind cover. It was a mantra that had served him well during his time with the Rangers. She stumbled, but dug in her heels. Wookie wiggled, trying to break free.

“Where is he?” Ethan asked, his voice terse. He fought against distant memories of gunfire and panicked shouting. He was in a peaceful Montana campground, where the only danger was of eating too many of Ruby’s delicious cookies and putting on some weight. His breathing quickened as he battled the past, angling his body to cover Lily’s.

Reaching around him, she pointed at the door of the cabin, where he saw nothing alarming. Was there an insurgent inside? He glanced into the vehicle next to him, expecting to find the rifle he’d carelessly left behind. It was foreign—not his vehicle. Besides he was in Montana, not at war.

Calm down before you freak her out.

Although he’d been reluctant at first, at his sister’s behest, he had consulted a counselor to combat this sort of thing. He mostly had it beat. Mostly. He shut his eyes and took a long breath, grounding himself in the present, not the past.

When he opened his eyes, he searched for five things to see. The twigs of a bird’s nest in the tall branches of a pine tree, the tread marks of the SUV’s tires in the dirt, a cloud that looked a bit like a question mark, the glass in the window of the cabin had a small crack in the bottom left corner, the reflection of the sunlight off the hood of the silver SUV.

He found four things he could touch -- the grainy wood of the cabin, the gritty dirt underfoot, the cool siding of the car, Lily’s blond-streaked hair, undoubtedly soft.

He listened for three sounds -- the rustle of branches, the wheeze of Wookie’s breath, his slowing heartbeat in his ears.

He inhaled, searching for two scents -- the crisp scent of pine and a lemony scent coming from Lily.

Shutting his eyes, he focused on what his mouth tasted like at that moment. Coffee and the chocolate of the cookies he’d eaten on the way to the cabins.

By the time he finished grounding himself in the moment, he felt well enough to face the campground threat without resorting to war tactics. His senses hummed on heightened awareness as he surveyed the possibilities. What if the saboteur was trapped in that cabin? Ethan stepped forward, intending to sidle next to the window and peek inside to scout the way.

As he did, light glistened from the strands of a web in the corner of the doorway. Wait, was that… He took a step closer.

“Be careful. I think it’s poisonous.”

A spider? She’d put him on high alert for a spider. Here he was, thinking they were in mortal peril when he could squish the threat with his thumb if he so pleased. Now that he wasn’t on edge and fighting for his life, he found it pretty funny. He cocked an eyebrow as he glanced over his shoulder, amused. “It’s just a little spider.”

“It’s humongous!” Judging by the way Lily’s eyes widened and she tightened her arms around her poor squirming dog, she believed that.

The body of the spider might have been the size of a dime, if that. The legs spread wider, but it still wasn’t something worth making such a fuss.

“It’s probably poisonous, to be so big.”

Ethan chuckled as he turned. “Then I suggest you don’t eat it.”

Lily made a disgusted face. As she loosened her hold on her pet, Wookie wriggled out of her hold. The dog shook herself before trotting next to Ethan. She barked twice, for good measure, then sat in the dirt, her job complete.

“Gross! Why would I eat it?” Lily asked, revolted.

“Poisonous?” He raised his eyebrows. “Poison is something you bite. A venomous spider is one that bites you.”

She huffed and crossed her arms, drawing his attention to the way her sleeveless shirt hugged her body. “Really? You’re going to argue with me over semantics?”

He shrugged. “What else do you want me to do?”

“Kill it! Before it bites me.”

“It won’t.” He paused. “Or, at the very least, you won’t die if it does. It’s not venomous, just fat from eating all the mosquitoes around here. You should thank it.”

She looked as though she would rather set the cabin on fire.

“I don’t care if it can juggle and writes inspiration messages in its web in its free time. Kill it!”

He crossed his arms, standing his ground. Wookie rolled on her back in the dirt.

“No.”

“Fine.” She huffed and toed off one of her tennis shoes. “I’ll do it myself. Now that I know it’s not poisonous—”

“Venomous,” he corrected.

She glared at him as she approached. “Now that I know it isn’t going to kill me, I don’t have any reason to be afraid. Move and I’ll squish it myself.”

“No.”

Her mouth dropped open, but she couldn’t seem to think of a decent counter-argument to his refusal. He took advantage of the momentary bout of speechlessness.

“It hasn’t harmed you at all, nor will it. It doesn’t deserve to die.”

Far, far too many things in this world were killed in malice by people who believed they had the right. Crops burned, animals shot for sport, people killed because they stood on the wrong side of an argument. Sure, this was about a spider, but he’d killed enough in his lifetime to do it again without just cause.

Lily clicked her teeth together as she clenched her jaw. Her expression looked mulish. “I can’t keep walking under that thing afraid it will fall in my hair or down my shirt.” She pressed her hands to the neckline of her shirt as if afraid the spider would somersault over his head and plunge between her breasts.

Now there was an image. Ethan bit the edge of his tongue to hold back a laugh.

“I’ll move it,” he told her once he was able to force out a coherent sentence.

She narrowed her eyes. “What if it comes back?” The suspicious look on her face, as if she thought the spider was stalking her specifically, was irrational but cute.

He grinned. “Then I’ll move it again. It won’t hurt you, I promise.”