“I see,” he said slowly, and then asked, “Why?”
Mary felt the blood rush to her face at the question, and grimaced, but said, “It seemed easier than . . .” She shrugged. “I figured you didn’t want me telling anyone about your circumstances; the kidnapping and everything.”
“No, but you could have said I was your lover.”
Mary almost stumbled over her own feet at the suggestion and turned to scald him with a look. “The hell I could. You aren’t my lover, and I’ll be damned if I’m having them all looking at me like I’m some sort of cradle-robbing cougar. Good Lord, they’d think I’d gone off my rocker.”
“Who’d think you’d gone off your rocker?”
Mary turned her head sharply to see Dave standing a few feet ahead on the end of a path leading off the lane they were on.
“And more importantly, why would anyone think that?” he continued when she stared at him wide-eyed. “You’re one of the sanest women I know. You never get hysterical like Carol does.”
“Oh,” Mary blinked, uncomfortable at the more favorable rating he was giving her than his wife. Then she forced a smile and waved the question away. “No reason, we were just—” She waved again vaguely and then changed the subject. “Sorry if we’re a couple minutes late, but you didn’t have to come looking for us.”
“I wasn’t,” he assured her easily, falling into step on her other side as they reached him. “I was just coming back from a walk around to check on everything. Someone tried to break into the campground last night. The dogs chased them off,” he added quickly when Mary glanced at him with alarm. “But I wanted to make sure they hadn’t found another way in and caused trouble.”
“Who was it?” Dante asked, tension in his voice.
“I don’t know. A couple of tough-looking characters from what I could tell. But I didn’t get a good look. Brutus, Little Mo, and Tiger scared them off.”
“They’re Dave and Carol’s Dobermans,” Mary explained. “Beautiful dogs. Good guard dogs too.”
“Yeah. Troublemakers think twice when those three come running. They were out for their nightly constitutional when it happened and scared them off. So we decided to leave them out all night after those yahoos tried to force the gate. Didn’t hear another peep from the dogs so it isn’t likely they tried again, but I just wanted to be sure.”
Mary nodded, but glanced to Dante. He met her gaze and she could tell he was thinking the same thing she was, that it might have been his kidnappers trying to ascertain whether they were there or not, and perhaps even hoping to steal him back.
“Thank goodness for Brutus, Little Mo, and Tiger then,” she murmured.
“Yes,” Dante and Dave said together.
They’d neared the office by then and Mary found herself glancing toward the gate and the road beyond, her eyes searching for a black van. There were no vehicles on the road though, that she could see. If it had been his kidnappers, they’d obviously moved on to check out other campgrounds. There were several around the area. She just had to hope they didn’t return. The gates were open again now, and would remain so all day. Which meant they had to worry about what the kidnappers would do if they got inside and found the RV and Dante.
Eight
The Round Up was busy when they got there, every picnic table on the deck around it seeming occupied, but Carol had saved one for them and stood to smile and wave them over when they approached. The men dropped back to let Mary lead the way with Bailey, and she smiled and greeted several regulars she’d met on past stops as they made their way through the tables. Carol had chosen an outer table, probably because she expected Mary to bring Bailey as usual, and Mary quickly attached Bailey’s leash to one of the legs on the outside, then greeted Carol with a hug.
“How did you sleep?” Carol asked as they settled at the table. “You look tired. I hope the dogs barking didn’t disturb you when those men tried to break in?”
“No. We’re back far enough we didn’t hear a thing,” Mary assured her and it was true, at least for her. She didn’t tell Carol that she hadn’t slept well anyway though. She didn’t want the questions that would follow.
“You must be the nephew,” Carol said, turning her attention to Dante as he stepped over the picnic table’s bench seat to settle next to Mary. Carol’s eyes widened slightly as she took him in and then she murmured, “My, you’re a big fella.”
“Dante, this is Carol and Dave Bigelow,” Mary said, trying to look at him without actually looking at him. A tricky business, but she suspected if she did look at him properly her less than aunt-like appreciation might show. “We’ve been friends for years. Since before they even bought the campground.”
“Yes.” Carol grinned and then leaned across the table to brush a hand over Dante’s arm and explained, “We lived in Winnipeg just around the corner from your aunt and uncle. We’ve been friends for decades.”