Chapter Two
Aaron hissed with pain as he felt a sliver slide into his palm.
He really should have been used to it by now, but the splinters always got him.
That’s what he got for not wearing gloves.
Leaning down, he drew his hand into his mouth and sucked until he felt the splinter dislodge, and spat it to the ground before he stood back to admire his handiwork.
See, now this had been worth a few splinters.
For the last few months, he had been working on rebuilding the outbuildings for the horses here at the Warrior Peak Sanctuary.
He was fixing them up so they could keep the hay dry during the spring, and so the horses would have somewhere to shelter out of the heat of the sun.
It would be summer soon and he didn’t want to leave them with nowhere to rest on a hot day.
And he had done a pretty good job of it, if he said so himself.
It had been almost relaxing for him, being able to come out here every day and enjoy the peace and quiet as he set to work with his hands.
As the end of spring approached, it seemed like the whole landscape was blooming to life around them, green punctuated by purples and reds as flowers began to blossom.
Against the clear blue sky above, it was downright gorgeous.
Another reminder as to why he had come here—and why he had been so willing to leave his old life behind to do so.
He was about to get back to work when he heard a whistle from behind him, and he turned to see Lawson Davies, one of the owners of the lodge, striding toward him through the long grass.
“Hey,” Aaron called to him.
Something shifted as Lawson got closer to him, a tingling in his palms—it was something he’d learned back in the day that meant he should be worried. He tried to push that aside, reminding himself he was safe here. At least, that was what he hoped.
“Hi,” Lawson replied as he glanced over to the work Aaron had been doing. “It’s looking pretty good out here.”
“Just ‘pretty good’?” Aaron shot back.
Lawson grinned. “Hey, I actually came here for a reason,” he remarked. “There’s someone up at the main lodge asking for you.”
A ripple of uneasiness pulsed through Aaron’s body. “Who is it?”
“I don’t know,” Lawson replied with a shrug. “But they came asking for you specifically. Seemed pretty important.”
Who the hell could have found Aaron out here?
The whole point of coming to this place was that it was in the middle of nowhere.
Nobody should have been able to find him out here.
His eyes darted back and forth, looking around as though the answer to his question might have been somewhere in the forest surrounding the field.
“Should I be concerned that there are strangers asking for my handyman?” Lawson asked, clocking Aaron’s body language.
Aaron tried to relax and shook his head quickly. The last thing he wanted was for any of them to second-guess his presence here. This place was the best thing that could have happened to him in the aftermath of his life imploding, and he wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of it.
“It’s a woman, if that changes anything,” Lawson offered. “Pretty, red hair, green eyes. She didn’t give a name and it looks like she’s been through it.”
“‘Been through it’? What does that mean?” Aaron asked.
“She drove up in a beat-up truck and looks a little rough herself,” Lawson replied. “But you should come see for yourself. She seemed pretty insistent. Said she’d only talk to you.”
“Yeah. Sure,” Aaron replied, tossing down his tools to follow Lawson back to the main building. His mind raced as he tried to put the pieces together.
Who could possibly be looking for him here?
He had come here to get away from everything that had happened before, and he wasn’t sure what he would do if his past came back to haunt him after all this time.
There was a nudge in the back of his mind but he refused to let it surface.
He’d known a beautiful redhead with bright green eyes and a sassy attitude years ago.
But there was no way she would be there looking for him.
As he walked, his mind rushed through other potential people it might be. He didn’t have family, no sisters, aunts, or cousins who might have come looking for him. So who the hell was this? And how did she find him?
“There, that’s her truck,” Lawson told him, pointing to a beat-up blue truck sitting in the main parking area. Aaron stared at it for a moment, willing it to bring back some memories that would help him make sense of all of this, but he was coming up blank.
“Ring any bells?” Lawson asked curiously.
He shook his head. “Guess I need to see her,” Aaron replied, trying to keep his voice steady.
He could count on one hand the number of times people had come to Warrior Peak looking for him over the last six years.
He tried to convince himself that it was nothing to worry about, even if his mind was running so fast he was having a hard time getting his thoughts under control.
He didn’t want his fear to show on his face.
Lawson had been kind enough not to demand too much in the way of explanation when it came to his presence here.
Neither he nor the others pushed him to share his past and what brought him to the lodge all those years ago.
They knew there was something Aaron was running from.
Hell, he’d arrived broken and bruised and paranoid of almost everything.
So it wasn’t a huge leap to think he’d suffered some sort of trauma.
But they never pushed. Just offered support and assistance for him to get back on his feet and then offered him a job, if he wanted to stay.
So, he did. He’d given up everything from his old life and made a new start here at Warrior Peak.
He’d burned the only connection he’d ever cared about and didn’t have anything to go back to, anyway.
Inside, the main building was quiet except for a few people chatting in the corridor as Lawson led Aaron down to the meeting rooms. Who was there for him? His mind drifted back to the truck. Something about it had twinged something in his gut, and he wasn’t sure what it was.
Maybe he should just turn around and tell Lawson that he had changed his mind. He’d rather head back out to continue his work, anyway. He couldn’t think of any good reasons why a random woman would be here looking for him. It could only mean trouble.
But when he saw Xavier Michaels, Lawson’s business partner, pacing in the small space outside the meeting rooms, he knew he wasn’t going to be let off that easily.
Xavier raised his eyebrows at him. “What’s going on here, Ward?
” When he used his last name, Aaron knew Xavier was not happy with him.
He wasn’t sure exactly why he was mad at him, but he’d do whatever was necessary to make it right.
This place had been a sanctuary for Aaron since he had left his old life, and he would do anything it took to make sure that didn’t change.
“What has she said to you?” Aaron asked, trying to keep his voice even. He didn’t want Xavier to think he was worried. Xavier was protective of Warrior Peak, of everything they had managed to do here, and he wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of it.
“Nothing,” came Xavier’s frustrated reply. “She’s said she’s only willing to talk to you. Wouldn’t even give us a name.”
Aaron sighed.
“And she won’t let anyone treat her injuries. At least until she sees you,” he added.
Aaron froze. Injuries? Why was an injured woman here looking for him? This was bad news. Really, really bad. The nudge in the back of his mind was getting more insistent.
“I’ll talk to her,” Aaron replied, rolling back his shoulders. Whatever he had to handle here, he could take it on.
“She’s got an attitude on her,” Xavier warned him. “I don’t know what she just walked out of, but her fuse is basically nonexistent.”
“I can handle that,” Aaron replied. He’d been a cop, after all. He knew how to handle people in high-pressure situations, and he wasn’t going to let his fear get the better of him.
Xavier jerked his head toward the door, and Lawson stepped over to it. The glass was frosted, blocking out his view of whoever was inside, but he could make out the dark shape of someone sitting there. Someone waiting for him.
Someone who might just know who he really was.
Xavier pushed the door open. “Miss. Aaron is here to see you.”
“He is?”
Aaron’s body tensed when he heard that voice. He had never imagined in a million years that he would ever get a chance to hear it again. His heart leaped into his throat as he pushed by Xavier and stepped inside the room.
There, wincing as she propped herself up on the chair opposite him, was the green-eyed, redheaded ghost from his past.
Bailey.