“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” April asked as she stood from the table.
“Maybe.” He held out his phone with his contacts open. “Here, enter your information.”
Her lips twitched up. “Sure.”
He watched as she typed in her name, phone number, and email. A thrill shot through him. She’d given him her email. Then she tapped on her number and called herself.
“Now I have yours.”
“Let me give you the rest of the information.” He typed in his name and then his email address before handing his phone back to her. “We should move. I think someone wants to clean our table.”
“Oh, yeah. I didn’t realize we were blocking them.” April looked outside, and her lips turned down in a frown. “I should go.”
He nodded, wishing she would stick around, but she’d already mentioned not wanting to be out after dark more than once. “Do you need me to follow you home?”
She was already on the move, and he followed her outside. She glanced up and down the sidewalk, then turned to face him.
“If you do, you will think I’m weird.”
“What do you mean?”
She shook her head and let go a heavy sigh. “I’m here in Fallport because…maybe I shouldn’t say anything.”
Whatever she wanted to say was serious. “What?”
“Stuff happened. Someone was watching me. I went to the cops, but without physical evidence, like the person attacking me, there wasn’t anything they could do. Then classes ended, and I took off. I drove way out of the way to get here, making sure no one was following me.”
“Wait, are you saying you had a stalker?”
She nodded. “I think so. But the cops told me I was being paranoid. My friends said the same thing. But stuff happened.”
“Like what?”
She glanced around nervously. “It’s getting dark.”
“Let me follow you home, then we can talk there.” For a moment, he thought she wasn’t going to agree. Then she nodded.
“Sure. I’m in the gray Honda.”
Mac got in his truck and followed her, making sure no one was following them. He parked out front and moved quickly to the porch to wait for her. Her gaze scanned the area, looking at all the other houses and bushes before she keyed open the door.
Her fear made an impression on him. She was really worried about someone following her. Maybe she was making things up, but he could see she believed what she was saying. In her mind, someone was stalking her.
The issue with his truck came to mind. Had someone messed with his vehicle, or had the rough terrain knocked the connection off? He didn’t know, and there was no way for him to check. He had to believe that, in his instance, the thing had just been knocked loose. He should take his truck in to get worked on, but he needed money. Maybe he would get enough tips this week to get the engine looked at.
CHAPTER SIX
April didn’t feel like describing everything to Mac, so she gave him a quick hug, but it didn’t turn into a kiss. She’d been disappointed at first, but then he’d texted her right before she fell asleep, telling her he missed her and looked forward to seeing her in the morning.
She woke early enough to shower and braid her hair before heading to the site where the hike would begin. Twelve other people were there, and she recognized the man from the night before. He came over, giving her a chin lift.
“Hello, April.”
“Hi, Brock.”
“Have you done much hiking?” Brock asked as he narrowed his eyes at her like he was judging her.
She shrugged. “A bit. I was younger. Mostly in Alaska and British Columbia, but I ran out into these woods a lot when I lived with Myrna.”
“Did you ever get lost?”
She shook her head. “No. Myrna gave me a compass and taught me how to use it. Then I grew used to the trees and started marking my trail. I was never gone long, and I probably didn’t go far. I was just a kid, so my distance judgment was off.”
Brock nodded. “I used to run around a lot as a kid. I thought I was far from home, but when I returned, I realized I was only a few blocks.”
She smiled. “Do you like Fallport?”
He nodded. “It’s a good town. I like living this close to the forest.”
Mac finished setting up the other hikers, making sure they had the equipment they needed before he came over to her. “I’m glad you could make it.”
Her heart soared at his words. “I’m glad I could, too.” She didn’t want to feel all giggly, but a small sound escaped her lips that was a lot like a giggle. His cheeks darkened as he lifted his eyebrows and shot her a smile.
Mac was a good guy. She hadn’t spent much time with him, but she liked him. It was time to start their hike, and Mac moved to the other side of the clearing.
“We’re going to start the hike in just a few minutes. Remember, though some of the berries may be edible, we will not put anything we find on the trail into our mouths. Now is not the time to find out you have a new allergy. We’ll be making noise as we move, so we most likely won’t see any bears up close. If we see any and they see us, do not run. I have bear spray, and that should take care of dissuading them from being interested, but the key is, don’t run. They like to play chase, and they can run faster than you. A black bear can run about thirty miles per hour. Usain Bolt tops out at around twenty-eight. So there is no way you can outrun a black bear.”
Laughter went up around the group, but it was a good point. No one on this tour was outrunning a bear.
“We should see plenty of birds, maybe some other animals, and a lot of plants. Take nothing with you, leave nothing behind. Let’s head out.”
Mac started them on the hike, heading into a grouping of trees. There were four kids on the trip, and they started out asking a lot of questions. Mac patiently answered questions, making sure everyone saw the birds’ nests or plants he pointed out.
“He’s good,” Brock said.
“Yeah.” Mac was good at his job. She liked watching him work.
She and Brock held back, letting the excited vacationers take up Mac’s time. A little more than halfway through the hike Brock leaned in close as the other people examined a plant.
“When you arrived at your aunt’s house, you looked afraid. What’s going on?”
She pulled back, shocked that he’d picked up on her worry. She shook her head. “Nothing.”
His lips thinned, and he shook his head. “I don’t believe that.”
“Well, that’s your thing. Nothing is going on,” April said.
“Are you sure? You were checking each window, all the doors, everything the other evening.”
Annoyance slid through her. “Do you usually spy on neighbors?”
“I do when they show up at their aunt’s place when the aunt said no one would be there.”
April glanced away as her heart rate picked up. “She is my aunt.”
“I know. I texted Myrna your photo. She said it was okay.”
Heat flashed through her. “Oh, I didn’t think she knew I was here.”
“So why are you here in Fallport?”