Free Death Cache by Tiffinie Helmer Page B

Robert. “Rob, from what I’ve heard, you know your way around a bird hunt. Care to come along?”
    “What the hell.” Robert grabbed his rifle and followed Mac.
    “I’ll gather some more water,” Gage said, heading toward the lake after a quick stop for the bucket they’d found yesterday in one of the cabins.
    Good, that would keep them all out of Tern’s hair for a bit so she could think.
    “I’m going to lie back down,” Nadia said, holding her head. “I’ve got a killer headache.”
    “Want some company?” Lucky asked with concern in his voice.
    “No.” Nadia wobbled to her feet. Tern rushed to help along with Lucky, but Nadia pulled her arm from his grasp.
    “Nadia, I’m really sorry,” Lucky said, the need to help warred in his expression.
    “Lucky, let her be for now.” Tern shared a look with him. He nodded, and turned his attention to building up the fire.
    Tern and Nadia didn’t speak until they were inside their cabin. Tern helped her lay down on the cot. “You were a little rough on him, weren’t you?”
    “He left me for dead, Tern.”
    “He left to get help.” Tern sat on the edge of her bunk. “I can understand how you are hurt and angry, but he did the right thing. Can’t you tell how upset and worried about you he is?”
    Something passed over Nadia’s expression, but she put up a hand to cover her eyes. “Tern, I’m sorry. I’m not handling this well. I know he’s worried, I just hurt too bad to care about what he is going through. Do you mind? I just want to rest?”
    “Sure, hon.” Tern stood and patted Nadia’s shoulder. “You’re right. Rest, I’ll talk to Lucky.”
    “Thanks.” Nadia sighed and shut her eyes in obvious relief.
    Tern headed back to the campfire to find Lucky gone and Gage returning with a bucket of water.
    “Have you seen Lucky?” she asked him.
    “I passed him on the way up here. He said something about picking wildflowers by the lake.” Gage set down the bucket, whipping his hands on his jeans, and seemed like he needed to find something else to do. He glanced around the campsite. “Where’s Nadia?”
    “Lying down.”
    He swallowed, and she recognized the hunger in his gaze. Oh, no. She didn’t know if she was ready to revisit their earlier stupidity or what she’d learned afterward.
    “Tern—”
    “I’ve got things I need to gather for dinner.” She swiveled and started walking toward the cover of the trees. Gage followed her. She swiveled on her heel. “What are you doing?”
    “Going with you,” Gage said. “It’s not a good idea for you to be alone.”
    “I have a gun with me. I don’t need you.” A flicker of pain crossed his face, but it was gone so fast she thought she’d imagined it.
    “Whether you need me or not, you’ve got me.”
    For how long? He’d left her before. Granted, he was in jail. Oh God. Jail.
    “We need to talk. I understand that you don’t want to right now. I never wanted you to find out what happened, why I’d left.”
    But he was okay with letting her think he didn’t care enough about her to call, trusting her to be there for him?
    “Tern, I can’t ignore what happened between us earlier. For six months, I’ve tried to forget you. It didn’t work.”
    “So what? You’re saying you want to pick up where we left off?”
    “Maybe. No. I’m not sure. Hell, I don’t know what I want. You confuse the hell out of me, Tern.”
    She was too raw dealing with what had happened between them earlier to take a stab at helping him. Hell, she was confused too. And angry. Really angry, the kind of anger fueled by hurt. “Let me make it easy for you. No. No picking up where we left off. There.”
    “I wasn’t the only one who lost it out there. You were just as into me as I was you.”
    “So I fell off the wagon. Doesn’t mean I’m staying off.” She moved to leave him.
    He grabbed her arm, bringing her to a halt. “There is still something between us.”
    “Actually, I think we got