“What are you thinking? You’re looking at me oddly.”

Thinking fast, Wyatt said, “I’m thinking I’d better feed you before you faint from hunger.” He stood, shifted his cup into his left hand, and extended his arm toward her. “Up you go. Let’s roast wieners and marshmallows.”

* * *

For the second time since knowing Wyatt, Erin had seen in his eyes a depth of emotion and yearning that rocked her whole world. Down by the lake, he’d gazed at her as if he were committing every plane of her face to memory. He cares for me, she thought. She’d wished that he might return her feelings someday, but she hadn’t expected it to ever happen. And now that she knew it had, she felt almost sick with guilt. He had no idea that she’d wrongly used her position as a deputy to invade his privacy. No idea that she’d read all the testimonies that had been given at his trial. No idea that she’d learned his secrets and his worst fears.

The way he had been looking at her told Erin he thought a lot more highly of her than she deserved. She wasn’t a perfect person. Julie had argued against Erin ever telling Wyatt what she’d done, but that just didn’t seem right. He’d been so honest with her that afternoon when he’d told her about feeling broken and in need of fixing as a little boy, and his willingness to share something so personal and painful had helped her realize that she, too, had been made to feel broken as a child.

While Wyatt whittled bark from their roasting sticks and laid out their food, Erin went to feed the horses at the highline. They’d already drunk their fill from the lake, so she only had to pitch each of them some hay. In the morning, they’d be hobbled in the meadow to graze again. While she worked, her conscience bedeviled her. A part of her wanted to follow Julie’s advice and never tell Wyatt what she’d done, but another part of her believed honesty was always the best policy, especially in relationships where feelings ran deep. And she had seen in Wyatt’s eyes that he was starting to love her. The thought both excited and terrified her, because if she told him what she’d done, he might walk away from her and never look back.

She remembered her dream about loving Wyatt and watching him walk away. At the time, she had kept assuring herself that she didn’t really love him. But she’d been lying to herself that night. She didn’t know what it was about him, but she’d been strongly attracted to him on almost every level even then, and those feelings had morphed into something far more meaningful now.

As Erin walked back to camp, she steeled herself to tell him what she’d done. Only how should she start a conversation like that? Their hot dogs were nearly ready to eat when she reached the campfire. Wyatt flashed her one of those crooked grins that always made her feel a little weak in the knees.