Bubba had thought about that himself, but he hadn’t said anything because he didn’t want to worry her. And…if his brother had done this, then he’d obviously not be in any danger.
When he didn’t answer fast enough, Zoey asked, “Do you think Malcom’s behind this?”
“I don’t know,” Bubba said quickly. “But at this moment, the only thing I’m concerned about is the two of us. We can’t control anything else but our own situation. There’s no sense worrying about shit we can’t do a damn thing about.”
Zoey closed her eyes, and Bubba saw her shoulders slump as she leaned into his hand. He held her gently and waited for her to work through whatever she was thinking about.
Eventually, her eyes opened and she said, “I hate that money can do this to people. Hate it. I mean, I’m not stupid. I know money makes the world go ’round, but it’s insane how little money it takes to make people do terrible, awful things. I’m not that fond of your brother. He’s kind of a jerk. But he works hard and was really helpful to your dad. I don’t wish him ill will, so I hope he’s okay.”
“What about Sean?”
Zoey sighed. “Yeah, I could see him doing this. I know he and Colin had been arguing a lot recently about the business. I think Sean wanted to move the factory overseas, where it would be cheaper to make the products, but your dad was fighting that. He wanted to keep jobs here in America. In Juneau. They’d been fighting a lot about it.”
“What side was Malcom on?”
Zoey shrugged. “I don’t know. But all the fighting and tension was really eating at Colin. That, along with him being sick all the time, was making him cranky and short with just about everyone.”
Bubba hated to think about anyone wanting to kill him, but especially not the people who were closest to his dad. Zoey was right, it sucked that money could make someone want to kill to get it.
Just then, Zoey’s stomach let out a loud rumble. She wrinkled her nose, and Bubba finally dropped his hand from the side of her face. She put a hand over her belly and said, “Can you call room service and ask what’s taking them so long to get our order to us?”
He smiled down at her, and not for the first time, thanked God that they’d been stranded together. “I’ll get right on that.”
“And I don’t suppose you have any shampoo in those pockets of yours, do you?” she asked with a hopeful arch of a brow.
“Unfortunately, no. But I do have this…” Bubba reached into a pocket low on his pants, near his calf, and produced a small black comb. At the look on her face, Bubba would’ve thought he’d pulled out a miniature helicopter that could take them out of there.
“A comb! Oh my God, you’re my hero!” she exclaimed.
Bubba had never cared much for that word, but hearing it come from her lips and seeing her look up at him like he’d given her the world felt good. Then, looking at her hair, he grimaced and said, “You might need some help.”
She grinned, and one of her hands immediately went to her hair to try to smooth it down. “That bad, huh?” she asked.
Bubba shook his head. “Nothing we can’t figure out.”
“Thank you,” she told him again.
“Nope. None of that. We’re a team and in this together.”
She looked at the comb longingly for a moment, then took a deep breath. “Well, I’m thinking my hair can wait. If you aren’t afraid to be seen out in public with me, with my hair looking like it does—if this forest can be considered ‘out in public’—then I can wait until later to deal with it. We need to check the snares, get a fire started, and figure out where we’re going today.”
Putting the comb back in his pocket for later, Bubba had to force himself to not take Zoey in his arms. She was incredible. Practical and down-to-earth. But he could still see the vulnerability and uncertainty in her eyes. It made him want to encourage her to spread her wings and enfold her in his arms to keep her safe at the same time. He settled for asking, “Do you want to check the snare or try to start the fire?”
“Fire. I’m not sure I can do it, but I’ll leave the dead animals to you, if that’s okay.”
“You can sit here and do nothing if you want,” Bubba told her. He had no problem taking care of them both. But she immediately shook her head.
“No, I’m not a damsel in distress. I’m helping.”
“Okay. Remember what I told you yesterday about the flint?”
“Yeah. But let’s not expect miracles this first time on my own, okay?”
He chuckled. “If you need me, I’ll be a yell away.”
“Right. It’s not like we have to worry about being quiet or anything. No one’s out here to hear us anyway.”
Bubba nodded. Things would’ve been a lot worse if whoever had arranged for them to disappear had sent in a few snipers to make sure they didn’t make it out, but they were either too cheap to follow through, or too sure that stranding them would do the trick. “I’ll be back soon.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the flint and placed it in her open palm. “You got this, Zo.”
“Yup. Just call me Laura Ingalls.”
“Who?” Bubba asked, confused.
She laughed. “Never mind. Go. Shoo. You man, provide meat. Me woman, make fire.”
Laughing, Bubba turned to leave their impromptu camping spot. He loved that she was constantly making him laugh.
Yeah, it was safe to say Zoey had gotten under his skin…and he liked her there. A lot.
Zoey did her best to control her breathing as they trudged through the forest later that morning. As it turned out, she hadn’t been able to start the fire. The flint was tricky, and she’d been able to make sparks with it, but they hadn’t landed where she’d wanted them and she couldn’t get the small sticks she’d collected to catch fire.
Of course, Mark had been able to get a flame almost immediately, which was irritating. He’d been nice enough to tell her he’d just gotten lucky, but Zoey knew that wasn’t it at all.
The more time she spent around Mark, the more her high school crush rekindled. But this time it was more than a mere crush. She admired Mark. Liked the man he’d become. He was generous, courteous, brave, knowledgeable about a whole hell of a lot.
He was also very observant. She was losing his “look for mushrooms” game, but that wasn’t a surprise. She had a feeling he was well aware of every bird that flew overhead and every small mammal that made noises in the underbrush. He held the compass in his hand and kept them on track, while at the same time pointing out every little thing that might trip her up and finding every freaking berry and mushroom they passed.
If she didn’t admire him so much, she’d be mightily annoyed.
But it was the glimpses of the not-quite-so-perfect man that intrigued her the most. He hadn’t been the best son, or even brother, if she was honest. He emailed Colin here and there, but he hadn’t called much, and he certainly hadn’t visited. Malcom was left to help Colin with the business and his everyday needs.
Ten years ago, it hadn’t been a big deal, but when Mark’s dad had gotten sick, he’d needed more and more assistance. Zoey did what she could, but Malcom had definitely had to step up more. Mark hadn’t even been aware he was sick.