right,” Leah replied. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.” Those words sounded so out of place with that soft-pitched voice.
Mark hadn’t planned to say anything in front of Wil, but Leah’s words were like waving a red flag in front of a bull. Throwing caution and concern to the wind, he asked, “Oh? Why did you hire me if you could take care of yourself, chérie?”
Leah sighed, amazingly still soft-spoken as she replied, “I thought to come out ahead and look over the area. I don’t need a bodyguard.” Some quick emotion passed across her face, one Mark couldn’t identify. It was gone so quickly Mark wasn’t sure if he had imagined it. Pausing, he considered her and thought he might have hit a nerve.
“Do you know there are snakes out here?” he prodded gently, thinking to drive home his point. This woman was just too helpless. She didn’t need to be out here like this. “And what about riffraff? Be glad it was Wil you ran into and not someone else.”
Leah bristled.
“I think, young one,” Wil said looking pointedly at Mark, “that you still have not learned patience and trust.”
Mark flushed. “Maybe not, Wil, but does she even know how to defend herself?”
“Please don’t talk over me like that,” Leah demanded firmly.
Guilt touched Mark at her words. “What would you do if a snake blocked your way?”
“Go around it,” Leah replied quietly.
With consternation, he realized she was right and because of that he hadn’t been able to make his point. So, he tried another track. “You can’t do that with people, or some animals. Just ask Drake, ma petite,” he said referring to the bull that had nearly killed Drake, Tessa’s husband.
“Sometimes you just have to put your trust in God,” Leah replied.
“Or know how to shoot a rifle, but I see you don’t have one with you. Just a backpack. Tell me, Leah, what would have happened if a coyote was out here, possibly with rabies?”
Leah finally flushed. She pushed a strand of blond hair back behind her ear then clasped her hands together. “I am trying to do what has to be done, Mr. Walker. I’m sorry if you don’t approve, but then, I’m not as helpless as I look.”
Hearing the distress and determination in her voice, he asked, “Is that so?”
“Yes.”
Women, he thought and would have rolled his eyes if she hadn’t been staring at him.
“Leah, I was nearly killed by a drug gang out in this area. I know you believe what you say, but with your small size, a man could easily overpower you.”
Slowly she shook her head.
Disbelieving at Leah’s stubborn insistence she could take care of herself out here in the wilds, he glanced at Wil. His face was perfectly blank as he stood there. “You aren’t going to comment?”
Wil shrugged. “If she says she can protect herself, I believe her.”
Mark sighed, exasperated. “You always were too trusting, Wil. You even took me in when you had no idea who I was.”
Wil grinned, his eyes crinkling up, that gray braid of his standing out in stark contrast against his dark skin. “I rely on God to lead me in some things, boy.”
There it was again. Wil had said that a lot to him while he’d been out there, telling Mark to let go of his distrust and anger, to trust God more, trust his fellow man.
“Well, let’s just see what you’d do if you were attacked, chérie,” Mark muttered and then, to prove a point, he ran straight at Leah intending to scare her when he grabbed her.
He hadn’t expected to go sailing through the air.
With a hard thud he connected with the ground. His head exploded with pain that ricocheted down his body to the tips of his toes.
He wasn’t sure how, except Leah held on to his arm, standing above him, still looking completely helpless.
Wil broke into cackles.
“I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t hurt you.” Leah flushed and released Mark’s hand. Stepping back she clasped her hands together in a purely nervous gesture.
When Mark recovered from his utter shock he realized he hurt—all over, not just from the initial pain that had flashed in him but from an ache. He wasn’t used to someone getting the better of him, especially not a woman—especially not a helpless- looking woman. Staring up at her from this angle, he thought she still looked utterly helpless. Except that he now lay on the ground feeling every crooked rock that poked him in the back. How had she done that? Wil moved into the picture cutting Mark’s view of Leah.
“Come on, young one, get up and take your medicine.” Wil reached down and with a strong hand helped pull him up until he was on his feet. Every movement reminded him he’d just been lying on the rocky ground.
Mark groaned realizing he was quite sore. “You knew, didn’t you Wil?” Mark asked grouchily when he realized Wil still grinned.
“It’s in the way she walks,” Wil acknowledged. “Always know your opponent,” Wil added.
Flushed and definitely put out over what had just happened, he turned toward Leah.
She stood, arms wrapped around her middle, one hand going up to push at her hair before clasping her other hand in front of her. “Are you okay?” She looked so innocent and serene standing there. It was the worry in her eyes that gave away her anxiety. She really was concerned about what she’d just done.
He laughed.
Wil chuckled, too.
Confused, Leah’s gaze went back and forth between the two. “I don’t understand,” she said carefully.
Mark smiled. “It’s time for me to eat crow, Leah.” Shaking his head he reached down, grabbed up his hat, and slipped it back on his head. “I owe you an apology.”
Relief wilted Leah’s shoulders and a soft gentle smile spread across her features. “I really am sorry. It’s just some classes I took…”
“Karate?” he speculated.
“Self-defense. The teacher was a black belt in judo.”
“Ah,” he replied and chuckled again.
“You aren’t angry?” Leah asked.
“The way I see it, chérie, I had that coming.”
“It was sorta reflex. That’s exactly how my teacher used to run at me to get me to defend myself. I apologize for not contacting you either, Mr. Walker. I just started thinking that maybe I should come out here on my own….”
He wasn’t buying it. The way her eyes slid away from meeting his told him she’d had another agenda. He wasn’t upset, though. Just being with her had a strange calming effect on him. But he had to make a point about how dangerous it could be out here, too. He didn’t like to think about a woman out here alone where she might get hurt. “Can you shoot a gun, Leah? Can you defend yourself against wild animals? Do you have a cell phone with you?”
“Well, no,” she finally admitted.
“No to one or all of them?” Mark gently prodded.
“No to all of them,” she confessed.
“Now that is not good, Ms. Thomas,” Wil chimed in.
“Please call me Leah, sir,” she said.
“And you can call me Wil. This young one over here does.” He grinned.
Mark shook his head. “Ignore him. He’s so ornery he wouldn’t let me call him anything else.”
Wil