She just kept picking a fight. She would wind up and unload, then calm down. The emotional roller coaster confused him. “You’ve been all over town with me. That’s not what a recluse does.”

“Or, maybe, I haven’t had a choice because of the babysitting.”

No way was he letting her tag him as the bad guy in this scenario. “Ever think that you’re sticking to my side because you want to be there?”

She snorted. “Of course.”

Somewhere between the yelling and the answer she lost him. “Wait . . .”

“If I didn’t want to be with you, kiss you, get to know you, I would have run and hid the second after we met.” She reached up and pushed the hair out of his eyes.

He waited for her to circle back to angry again but it didn’t happen. “What are you saying?”

“I’m surprised you feel the same way.”

The last of the anger and tension ran out of him. “It’s a weird thing to have in common.”

“There’s something about you.”

He should let it go and not ask. But he wasn’t that guy. He sought out answers. “Is that a good thing?”

“The hotness. The charm.”

Those sounded good. “Nice.”

“The pain.”

He groaned. “You ruined it.”

“You don’t even see it, do you?”

The conversation was over. He was not tiptoeing back into that mess of a topic. If she wanted to psychoanalyze someone, she could pick Ben.

He turned around and picked up the ax. “I need to finish this.”

“It’s possible we’re attracted to each other and pulled together by this weird unseen force because we’re not so different. We’re both in a type of mourning we still haven’t fully processed.”

He didn’t have any destination in mind but he started walking. Headed for the thick patch of trees. “Uh-huh.”

“We’re both trying to survive the aftermath.”

That’s it. He turned around to face her. “What are you surviving exactly? You know about my sister. I’m clueless about your past.”

“I got sucked into a crime and witnessed a murder. I want to say wrong place, wrong time, but I was where I was supposed to be. Missed the clues and then . . . there was so much blood.”

She said it right out, without prompting. The words sat there. He didn’t know what to say next. “Jesus.”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“I’ll listen if you want to tell me more.” Whatever she said, he would handle it. She didn’t need him judging or rushing in with a thousand questions. She could take her time, but he wasn’t going anywhere.

“Not now.” She chewed on her bottom lip for a second. “But I will. Just give me a little more time.”