Page 22 of Wilderness Search (Eagle Mountain: Unsolved Mysteries #2)

Willa frowned. “That sounds terribly cruel to her parents. Not to mention how she’s endangered all the people who are searching for her.”

“She probably didn’t think about those things.”

Willa made more notes. “There will probably be camp employees at my class,” she said. “To assist and to keep tabs on me, too. I mean, if I was in charge of a bunch of kids, I wouldn’t let any stranger interact with the children without oversight. That might limit how nosy I can be.”

“I hadn’t thought of that, but you’re right. Do the best you can. And maybe you can get a feel for how the adults who are there react to all this talk of inappropriate behavior. You might pick up something we need to investigate further.”

“I’m probably not going to find out anything useful,” she said. “But at least I can give the kids some first aid skills. I’m taking the class seriously. I’m not just there to be nosy.”

“I expected nothing less. You never do anything halfway.”

She looked down at her hands—fingers long and delicate, the nails trimmed short and painted pale pink. “I hope that’s meant as a compliment.”

“One of the things I’ve always admired most about you is your dedication and loyalty,” he said.

“If you do a job, you give a hundred percent. If you love someone, you’ll do anything for them.

Even when you were furious with me over what happened to Gary, I knew it was because he was your brother, and you would do anything to protect him. ”

“I wouldn’t lie,” she said. “I always told the truth about him. That’s what upset me the most. My alibi for him wasn’t enough.”

Aaron sighed. How could he make her understand? “We were wrong,” he said. “I can say that now. I didn’t see it for a long time, though. We were trying to find a killer and on paper—from our skewed point of view at least—Gary looked like the only suspect.”

“I’ve done some reading,” she said. “About confirmation bias. Apparently, it’s something people don’t even realize they’re doing.”

“I’m glad Gary was released,” he said. “And I’m sorry for the hurt I caused you both.”

“I wish you would have had the courage to speak up for Gary. To point out how wrong it was to single him out.”

They were hard words to hear, but he didn’t dodge or excuse the accusation. “I wish that, too,” he said. “But at the time I didn’t see it.”

The silence stretched between them. Was she thinking about how he had pointed out Gary to the sheriff when Olivia disappeared?

Could he make her understand that if the sheriff had learned after the fact of the prior accusations against Gary, it would have been a black mark against Aaron’s own professionalism?

“As a law enforcement officer, we have to view everyone connected to a case as a potential suspect,” he said.

“Part of our job is to rule people out. Even though it took a while, the system worked for Gary. There wasn’t solid evidence against him and he was released.

I know that doesn’t happen every time, but it did this time.

And here in Eagle Mountain, the sheriff saw right away that Gary wasn’t connected to Olivia.

Waiting to be ruled out isn’t pleasant for anyone involved, but most of the time, the system works. ”

Are you ever going to forgive me? he wanted to ask, but he couldn’t bring himself to beg.

She stood. “I haven’t eaten all day. Are you hungry?”

“Yes. We could go out.”

She was already removing things from the refrigerator. “I’ll cook. Just don’t expect fancy.”

“When have I ever?”

She turned on the burner under a pan. “Tell me how you ended up in Eagle Mountain.”

“You know Bethany moved here first.”

“She and her fiancé canceled their wedding,” Willa said. “I remember.”

“The rest of the family came to visit her after she had been here a few months,” he said. “The Jeep tour business where she was working was for sale. My parents decided to buy it and they and the twins all moved here.”

“Right. I remember you talked about how beautiful the place was. I think that’s why the name of the town caught my eye when I saw the ad for a nurse.”

“I came down a second time to help with the move, after you and I broke up, with no intention of staying. But then I learned there was an opening with the sheriff’s department. I interviewed on a whim and they offered me the job.”

“Look at you, being impulsive,” she said.

“I thought a fresh start might be good.” Everywhere he went in Waterbury was filled with memories of her. He thought getting away from that might help him move on with his life. And the change of scenery had helped—until she showed up in town.

Her expression sobered. “Starting over in a new place is hard. But I feel like I’m finding my footing here. Search and rescue has helped. It’s good to be part of something bigger than myself.”

“Law enforcement is that way, too. The sheriff has a good team here.”

She nodded, but said nothing, and focused on cooking.

“Can I do anything to help?” he asked.

“You can get plates from the cabinet and fill glasses with ice water.”

Setting the table felt like old times, when he had spent so much time in her home he knew it as well as his own. They had talked of moving in together, and he had planned to propose, when the time felt right.

She served salad topped with grilled chicken, cheese and bacon. “It’s delicious,” he said.

She laughed. “You always were easy to please.”

“Anything you do pleases me.”

He hadn’t intended to say the words out loud. They had simply slipped out. But he didn’t take them back. He looked at her steadily, watching the color bloom on her face, the pupils of her eyes darken. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips.

“Aaron,” she said, her voice a little breathy.

I never stopped loving you. But he didn’t say it. That would be going too far. Expecting too much.

“I’d like us to be friends,” he said instead.

She hesitated, then nodded. “I don’t want us to be enemies. But I can’t do more.”

“I know.” Some wounds were too big to get over. He believed that. They finished the meal in silence. When his plate was empty, he stood. “Thanks for dinner,” he said. “I’d better go. Let me know if you run into any problems.”

“I’ll call and let you know what I find out from the kids.”

She walked with him to the door. He turned, and started to kiss her good-night, the way he had so many times when leaving her place. Instead, he brushed his lips to her cheek. Not exactly the way he would have kissed his sister, but close enough she couldn’t object.

Then he slipped out the door, a picture fixed in his mind of her standing there, one hand to her cheek, staring after him—almost as if she regretted him leaving.