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with humor.
    She smiled, and the gesture nearly knocked him on his back. When she smiled like that, a guy needed to be warned. That smile could change everything a person thought about her.
    â€œGive a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day…” she recited.
    â€œTeach him to fish and he’ll eat for life.” He shook his head. And then he got it and he didn’t feel like smiling. “I’m not teaching you to fish.”
    She didn’t pout, but the laughter in her eyes dissolved and she just stared at him. “But I thought we needed something for dinner.”
    He looked at her, at the pole, and he shook his head. Clark should teach her to fish. That would be better. And then there was the ankle situation.
    â€œIt’s a little bit of a walk to the stream.”
    She shook the crutch at him. “Did you forget what Wilma found in the upstairs closet.”
    â€œWilma’s very handy to have around.” There had to be other reasons he could think of for not taking her. “It’s rough going.”
    â€œI can handle it.”
    He was losing. “Why are you so determined to do this?”
    â€œBecause.” She shrugged slightly. “Because I have to do something. Because I’m not helpless.”
    â€œYou’re not running from someone or something?” He tried to make it sound like a teasing question, but it wasn’t. He wouldn’t let her put the Johnsons in danger if she was hiding something.
    â€œNo, I’m not running from anything.” But she looked away, as if maybe she was.
    â€œReally? I don’t know if I’m going to believe that.”
    She glared at him, her nose flaring a little. “I’m not running. I’m—”
    â€œWhat?” He smiled. “Did you come to Treasure Creek looking for a husband? Let me guess—you read the article in Now Woman, and since you’re a little bored with your life, you came to Treasure Creek to find an adventure and one of those single, hunky tour guides.” No way was he going to feel jealous over that. No way.
    â€œI came because of people like you.”
    â€œWhat does that mean? I’m pretty sure you didn’t come here looking for someone like me.”
    â€œI came to get away from people like you. You think you know me so well, and you don’t. You think I’m nothing more than Herman Lear’s daughter. You think I shop, get my nails done and party.”
    â€œAnd I’m wrong?”
    â€œI don’t have to explain myself to you. I came to Treasure Creek because I wanted to know what it was like to be somewhere—” she looked away “—somewhere like Treasure Creek. And really, since you’re not willing to tell me everything about you, why should I have to tell you everything about me?”
    â€œI just asked what you were running from.” He spoke in a softer voice, because the softness in her tone pushed him back a notch. Not only that, but he wasn’t getting any answers by pushing.
    â€œI’m not running from anything.”
    He stared at her for a moment before nodding. “Comeon, then. But I’m warning you, be quiet. If you jabber nonstop, I’m using you for bait.”
    She hobbled closer to him, smiling again. “Thank you.” Right. He took the pole from her hand.
    As they headed out, he glanced around them, making sure they weren’t being followed. He tried to tell him self that the footprint in the damp ground had been his imagination. Maybe it had been his boots or Clark’s that had made the imprints in the muddy ground. It didn’t have to mean that someone was watching them.
    But if someone was, it wasn’t about him, or the Johnsons. They hadn’t seen a sign of anyone in months. He glanced sideways at the woman next to him. She was tall, her expression was serious but animated. She was definitely determined. And if they were being watched, it had