Page 9 of When the Silence Breaks

“Me?” Sarah gave a small wave. “I’m fine. This is fine.”

I don’t believe you.“I never got your last name.”

Sarah had taken a bite and almost choked. Swallowed some tea. “Ellison. Sarah Ellison.”

Mom asked personal questions, which Sarah eluded like an expert, redirecting everything back to Mom and her diner in town and—oh, yeah—the horses. Sarah’s expertise in fielding questions made her all the more intriguing and a little suspicious too. For now, he would avoid asking point-blank about her background.

Finally, Mom said, “So, what’s this about you saving Sarah?”

Funny that hadn’t been Mom’s first question at dinner. His phone dinged, and he glanced at it.

“Ryder, you know I don’t like cells at the supper table,” Mom said.

“I’m sorry, ladies. I have to take this. I’ll be back to cleanup the dishes, Mom. Sarah, you need a ride to wherever you’re staying. Give me a few minutes and I’ll take you.”

Ryder stepped outside to take the call from Harlan Bishop. He was an old, grizzled vet who cared for Mom’s horses. They never had time to ride them anymore, and he wasn’t sure why they kept them, except Dad had loved his horses. Dad was gone, and Mom couldn’t bring herself to let the horses go. Ryder appreciated having Harlan around to watch out for both the horses and Mom. He wouldn’t be calling without good reason.

“Hey, Harlan, what’s up?” Ryder answered.

“I don’t know if it’s anything to worry about. Someone was in the woods on your property earlier today. Timber alerted me. I took a horse out—I needed to exercise Daisy anyway. I think I chased the intruder away.”

And apparently, they’d come back.

Harlan continued. “I thought you’d want to know. I didn’t want to worry Dinah.”

“Thanks for the heads-up.”

“You bet.” Harlan ended the call.

Timber nuzzled up to Ryder, and he ran his hand over the dog’s ears. “Good work, boy. You’d better stay here with Mom tonight.”

For the first time, guilt crept in that he hadn’t taken up his mother’s offer to just move in and live in this big old house with her after Dad died. But he had his own place with a great view. He headed back into the kitchen to find Mom and Sarah finishing up the few dishes.

Mom glanced his way, a concerned look in her eyes. “Everything okay?”

“Harlan says someone was out there earlier today.” He glancedat Sarah. “Apparently, Timber was barking at them again tonight.”

Mom turned to face him. “Don’t worry about me. I’ve got your father’s shotgun. And if you’ll leave Timber, he’ll chase them away or at least warn me. But what do you think is going on?”

“I’m not sure.” Maybe he should stay here until they figured it out. “But I need to get Sarah back.” He directed his next words to Sarah. “You ready?”

She dried her hands on a towel. “If your mom doesn’t need me anymore, yes.”

“You go on,” Mom said. “You two have fun.” As if it was some kind of date. “It was lovely meeting you, Sarah. I hope you’ll come back soon.”

“Sure,” Sarah said.

That seemed to be her word. He didn’t know what she was up to—or maybe he did—but he didn’t believe in coincidence, and this all seemed too strange. Something was off with her. Not science. His gut again.

Ryder led her outside and opened the door so she could climb into his Chevy Silverado Z71.

“What’s the winch for?” she asked.

“You’re not a country girl, are you?” He didn’t wait for her answer and jogged around to get in on his side.

Once they were in his vehicle, he started it and let the engine rumble. Then turned to face her.

“Seriously, what’s that thing for?” she asked.