Page 26 of Wild Highway (Runaway 2)

Sprite had been trained well. She followed behind Jigsaw without Gemma having to do a thing but stay seated.

I looked over my shoulder occasionally to check that Gemma was sitting correctly and wasn’t choking up on the reins. Every time, I expected to make a correction but she looked good there. Natural.

“Come on up here.” I pointed to the other lane. Having her behind me wasn’t going to teach her anything about leading a horse if she was only following.

She nodded, her eyes fixed on Sprite’s white mane, then gave a gentle nudge with her heels and steered to the right. When we were walking side by side, she glanced over.

Normally, this would be the time in a lesson when I’d shower a student with praise. Good job, you steered the horse three feet to the right. I’d prattle on about horses and gauge the student’s comfort. I’d talk about the ranch and answer questions, making small talk and ensuring the student had a nice time.

Except this was Gemma. My normal approach had flown out the window when I’d snapped at her in the stables. And as much as I’d like a quiet, no-conversation ride, it actually made the tension worse.

“So you drove here?” I asked at the same time she said, “Katherine said you built a house.”

“Uh . . . yeah,” I answered. “A few years ago.”

“I bet it’s nice to have your own space. And yes, I drove here.”

“Nice car.”

“It’s not mine. Do you remember Londyn?”

I nodded, recalling the blonde who’d arrived with Gemma and Kat. She’d left not long after the first snowstorm. “The other friend.”

“The Cadillac is hers. When we lived in the junkyard, it was her home, for lack of a better term. A while ago, she had it hauled from California to Boston and completely restored.”

“How’d you end up with it?” Maybe she’d bought it with some of her millions.

“Londyn was driving it back to California a little over a year ago. She got a flat tire and ended up stuck in West Virginia. The mechanic who rescued her is now her husband. After I sold the company, I went to visit, and she got this crazy idea for me to take the car to California in her place.”

Like I’d suspected, this was only just a temporary stop. “Why California?”

“To find an old friend from the junkyard. It was their car, Londyn and Karson’s. She wants him to have it.”

“That’s quite the gift.” Restoring a junkyard car would not have been cheap. “But if she’s got money to burn.”

“Londyn saved for a long time to restore that car,” Gemma fired back. “It was important to her and she worked hard for it.”

I shrugged. I didn’t care. This was just conversation and a way to pass the time. I wasn’t all that interested in Gemma’s life story and how she’d come here. I was interested in when she’d be leaving.

“Why are you in Montana if you’re headed to California?”

“For Katherine.” She glared. “I wanted to see her and to apologize.”

“You two looked fairly chummy last night, drinking all the expensive wine.”

“Is that what this is about? The profit margin? I’ll pay for the wine, okay?”

Of course, she would. She was loaded. “We don’t need your money.”

“God, you’re something else. First, I need to pay my way. Then, you’re too good for my money. You haven’t changed at all, have you? In eleven years, you still only know how to send one type of message: mixed.”

“Mixed? I think my intentions the last time you were here were pretty fucking clear.”

I’d wanted her. I’d told her I’d wanted her. Lying in my arms, I’d told her I’d thought we had something real.

And she’d left anyway.

“I didn’t . . .” She blew out a deep breath. “I’m sorry.”