“Now, I’m officially distracted.” Boone tucked the dollar into his shirt pocket. “Spill.”
Tucker told him the story, beginning with Gillian’s long walk last fall and ending with the previous week’s misadventure when her mother unexpectedly showed up at Gillian’s house while Tucker was in the shower. He’d had to sneak out of a bedroom window and damned near broken his neck after getting tangled in a water hose.
Boone’s laughter eased the worry lines in his expression, and Tucker was glad to have shared his secret, not only for his cousin’s sake but also for his own. He hadn’t realized until today that he’d wanted to share his news.
“An Elvis impersonator. Wow. I am so disappointed to have missed the happy event. It was April, you say? You’ve been keeping this secret for two months?” At Tucker’s nod, he asked, “So where is all this going? Are you serious about your will? Serious about the marriage?”
“Yes, I am. As soon as I heard that Gillian broke up with her ex, I set my sights on her. Didn’t plan Las Vegas, but when an opportunity knocks, you act.”
“So, you’re in love with her?”
“Head over spurs, yeah.” Tucker’s lack of hesitation shocked even him. Just when he’d tumbled all the way into love, he couldn’t pinpoint, but he had no doubt that it was true.
He loved her. He was in love with his lover. He was in love with his wife. When he’d returned to Texas for good, he’d wanted a home and family. He’d figured he’d be able find someone, a companion and a bedmate, with whom he could share a contented life. He’d never expected to find a soul mate.
Gillian Thacker—no, Gillian McBride—was his soul mate.
“I’ll be damned.” Boone gave him a congratulatory clap on the back, then asked, “How long do you intend to keep up the secrecy? Redemption is a small town. Someone is bound to notice eventually.”
“I’m good at being discreet. If we get caught, it won’t be because of me. I gave Gillian my word. She’s driving this particular bus.”
“I could say something about women drivers, but my sisters aren’t here to tease, so I won’t bother.”
Tucker needed a moment to absorb his personal revelation, so he took advantage of his cousin’s mention of family. “How are the twins? And your folks? They’re coming to Eternity Springs for the wedding, aren’t they?”
“Yep. The whole family will be there. Mom and Dad are doing fine as far as I know. They’ve been traveling a lot. The girls are doing well. Mom keeps trying to talk them into moving back to Texas, but I honestly think she’s okay with them living on the West Coast. Until one of them marries and has babies, that is. She’ll want to have her grandchildren nearby.”
The worry returned to Boone’s expression, and he said nothing more.
Tucker gave it a minute before saying, “I’m looking forward to seeing everybody in Colorado. I had dinner with Jackson and Caroline last night. The bride is calm as can be, but he’s as anxious as a mouse hiding from a hawk.”
“Hmm…” Boone responded. His thoughts obviously were somewhere else.
Neither man spoke during the remainder of the trip. When they reached the turnoff onto the private road that led down into the canyon, Boone released a soft, heavy sigh. Tucker’s curiosity was about to burst, but he knew his cousin, knew he had to bide his time. Boone would talk when he was ready.
As they approached the Fallen Angel Inn and Last Chance Hall, Tucker asked, “Should I stop at the hall? Is Jackson camping with us?”
“No. His wedding is next weekend. I didn’t want to drag him into this.”
This what? Tucker wanted to ask. Instead, he said, “Where do you want to camp?”
“Do you have folks out here from the school?”
“No. I didn’t schedule anything for this week or next. Didn’t know when we’d be taking off for Colorado.”
“In that case, how about we use the site on the river near Ruin. It’s fitting that I poke around a ghost town while I’m here. I have some old ghosts riding my shoulders right now, Tucker.”
“Ready to tell me about it?”
“Not yet. Let me be in the canyon this afternoon. Tonight around the campfire, I’ll tell you my ghost stories.”
“Sounds like a plan, Boot. Sounds like a plan.”
* * *
“I need a new plan for today,” Gillian said to Peaches as she tossed the pup a dog treat. Ordinarily, on her regular afternoon off, she paid a visit to the nail salon, did her weekly grocery shopping, and sometimes dropped by Maisy’s flower shop for girlfriend time. But after today’s scene with Erica, she needed something else. Her emotions were in turmoil. She didn’t need to sit and soak her feet for a pedicure. She needed to get out and move them.
All because the new Mrs. Jones believed Mr. Jones would rather have been with Gillian on their honeymoon instead of with her.
“She is one unhappy woman,” Gillian said, tossing Peaches another biscuit. Really, where did she get off thinking she could wander into Bliss to verbally abuse Gillian any time she felt like it? “Everyone says the last weeks of pregnancy are a trial, but that doesn’t give her leave to be a witch to me.”
Gillian wasn’t about to put up with it again. The confrontation had made her feel lousy, primarily because Erica’s jealousy made her feel good, which in turn made her feel petty.
Why? Because she was over Jeremy? Because Tucker was now in her life? Because she was a red-power woman who’d be damned before she’d let any man or former sorority sister push her around again?
“All of the above” was probably the answer, but it needed to be qualified with “It’s complicated.”
Complicated answers brought her no peace. She’d been coasting along since Las Vegas. The Carruthers/McBride wedding deadline was right around the corner. The time had come for some deep thinking, for some honest self-examination. “Or maybe we should just go for a hike,” she said to Peaches. Maybe she should take her troubled soul and happy dog to Enchanted Canyon in search of peace.
The idea held much appeal. Gillian had wanted to return to the cave Tucker had shown her. He’d offered to let her use the wedding gown tucked away in that trunk in a display window for Bliss. Wonder if she could find the cave on her own? It’d be worth a try. It had been a relatively easy hike. There was no reason she couldn’t try to find it, was there?
Not as long as she followed the rules. She knew the rules. Tucker had taught her.
With the decision made, she changed her clothes, grabbed the hiking pack he’d given her from her closet shelf, and inventoried its contents against the checklist he’d stuck inside the backpack. She had a knife, paracord, a small first aid kit, a whistle, a tarp, fire starter, a hunk of fatwood for fuel, water bottle—oh, shoot. She’d never picked up those water purification tablets he’d told her to get from his shop. The two black trash bags and three gallon-sized zipper bags she needed could be snagged from her pantry supplies.
Not that she would need any of this stuff for a short, afternoon hike, but she knew Tucker. He’d darn sure quiz her on the contents of her pack when she told him she’d gone for a solo hike.