Read When Summer Comes for Free Online

you’re feeling about him.”
    Another comment that seemed motivated by jealousy. She ignored it. “Can you pull over?”
    “Here?”
    “At that house we just passed.” She indicated the rental.
    “Why? What are you going to do?”
    “I’m going to ask if anyone’s seen a motorcycle on the side of the road.”
    “Who lives here?” he asked as he backed up.
    “According to Godfrey, a couple of guys who’ve come to Whiskey Creek to do some prospecting for the summer.”
    “You’ll just go up and knock?”
    “Why not?”
    “Because it seems to me that we’ve done enough.”
    She covered a yawn. The night was catching up with her. These days she didn’t have a lot of strength to begin with. “This won’t take long.”
    Kyle pulled into the driveway and let the engine idle.
    Before leaving the safety of the truck, Callie whistled, just in case. When no dogs came running, she climbed out and approached the dilapidated porch.
    The blinds were down, so she couldn’t see inside. Listening for sounds of movement, she knocked.
    No one came to the door.
    They were gone, as she’d guessed. She was on her way around back when Kyle called out to her.
    “Callie, come on! No one’s home.”
    She raised a finger to signal that she’d be just another second. She wanted to see if these men might have taken Levi’s bike and rolled it out of sight. But she found no sign of that. She even checked in the detached, one-car garage.
    Nothing, except the dredging machine they must have purchased from G. and buckets upon buckets of sediment and rock.
    Disappointed, she was walking back when she spotted some bloody paw prints leading to the mudroom.
    Aha! She’d found the offending dogs, after all—or where the offending dogs lived.
    Eager to tell Kyle that she’d accomplished something, she almost missed the dirty, chewed-up backpack partially hidden by bushes. It appeared to be military issue, which made her think it had to be the one Levi lost when he dropped his bike.
    “Are you coming?” Kyle called.
    After scooping it up, she returned to the truck and tossed it in the bed. “Let’s go.”
    He cocked an eyebrow at her as she got in. “Did you just steal that?”
    “I’m guessing it belongs to Levi.”
    “But you don’t know.”
    “We’ll see soon enough. I can always return it.”
    * * *
    The second Levi joined them in the living room Kyle could see that he had indeed suffered a traumatic dog attack. He had stitches in both arms, even in one leg. But Kyle couldn’t feel much sympathy. He was too worried about the threat this man might pose to Callie. Judging by the wariness in Levi’s eyes, those bites weren’t the only injuries he’d ever sustained. Kyle was willing to bet he carried some significant battle scars on the inside, too.
    Callie had said he’d been in the military. Maybe he’d seen some action. Kyle supposed he could be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. He wouldn’t be the first vet to struggle with what he’d been through.
    “Levi, this is Kyle Houseman.” Callie gestured between them.
    Lean but sinewy, Levi offered his hand. He was an inch or two taller than Kyle and, Kyle guessed, two or three years younger. He seemed brooding, watchful and a bit standoffish, even while wearing Callie’s bathrobe, which should’ve made him look ridiculous. Instead, the pink terry cloth created a stark contrast between her size and his, her optimism and innocence and the cynicism of a jaded warrior. It also reminded Kyle of the wolf donning Grandma’s mobcap in Little Red Riding Hood.
    Would he have to play the part of the woodcutter?
    “Nice robe,” he said.
    Levi lowered his hand when Kyle didn’t accept it, but he didn’t scramble to explain or apologize, as most guys who were so out of place probably would. “Would you rather I went without it?”
    Kyle wasn’t pleased with Mr. McCloud’s response. But he was the one who’d set the tone. What had evolved between him and