“Throughout the trip, you’ll get to solve some clues and use your maps to find the path and eventually find the treasure.” She straightened. “We’ll talk more about the rest as we go, but first things first, we’re getting you acquainted with your horses. I want everyone to roll up their tents and pack while we clean up breakfast, and then meet us at the corral. Does anyone need a good pair of boots?”
The men shook their heads, murmuring quiet nos. Only one person remained noticeably silent.
Leo ran uneasy hands over the thighs of his jeans, finally admitting, “I do.”
The last thing Lily wanted right off the bat was a reason to talk to him alone. “Right.” Her voice was sharp; Leo knew how important good boots were out here. “Get your stuff packed and meet me in the tack shed near the horses.”
He blinked at her, no doubt hearing the razor in her tone. “Okay.”
Lily began stuffing everything back into the pack and noticed that everyone was chitchatting, lingering over their cold coffee. “What are y’all waiting for? You need me to carry you?”
They scattered, but Nicole stood there, quietly studying her. “You wanna tell me what’s going on?”
Lily glanced at her and then away. “？‘Going on’？”
Nic’s blue eyes went wide, and she pushed her hair off her forehead. “Oh, we’re playing the bullshit game?”
It wasn’t worth trying to keep this from her. “I know him.”
“The quiet one.” It wasn’t even a question.
“Yeah. Leo.” She looked down at her boots and dragged a line in the dirt.
Surprised, Nic straightened and looked back over her shoulder. “Holy shit. That’s him? It’s that Leo? From the ranch?”
“Yeah.”
“Did he track you down?”
Lily was already shaking her head. “I’d bet Bonnie that he had no idea I’d be here.”
Nic sized her up quietly. “Should I worry?”
“What? No, I’m fine,” Lily assured her. “It was forever ago. It’s fine. I’m really fine.”
“Sounds like it’s fine,” she said dryly.
They both knew it was a lie, but Nic didn’t bother to ask again.
Chapter Six
LEO WALKED TO his tent in a daze, heart racing and palms clammy. With every step, his feet landed unsteadily on the ground—he felt like he’d walked onto a moving platform or into a wormhole. Seeing Lily wasn’t unlike being transported back to that first day at the Wilder Ranch, when she’d emerged from the barn and his world had instantly tipped upside down.
Except this time there was no anticipation, no immediate head rush of a dream that this woman could someday want him—only the stark recollection that he’d had the perfect love once and had pushed her away.
He was supposed to be packing, but instead he sat heavily down inside his tent, shell-shocked. Leo hadn’t heard her voice since the morning she’d called him, checking in when he’d failed to. He hated how brusque and sharp he’d been—he’d tried to reach her later, tried to fix it, but by then it was too late.
Now she was here and his blood felt electric for the first time in a decade, his head awash with anticipation and guilt… and something else. Hurt. Belated confusion. Why hadn’t she ever called him back?
After years of actively working to not obsess about where she was and what she was doing—envious of some imaginary man who got to love her and live the life he wanted—here he was, face-to-face with his first love, in the middle-of-nowhere desert. Leo had no idea how to proceed like everything was fine.
Minutes later, when the ringing in his ears eased and he trusted his legs not to buckle, Leo shoved his things into the roomy expedition pack Wilder Adventures provided and exited his tent. The remnants of breakfast had been cleared away, and Bradley was trying to figure out how to pack his tent into a bag the size of a coat pocket. Almost everyone wore jeans and long-sleeved shirts, but when Terry emerged from his tent, he’d changed into yet another set of camo military-style pants—the front pockets bulging with who knew what—and a vest with Velcro and straps and, somehow, even more pockets.
“You ready to do this thing?” Bradley asked Leo, who looked over at the shed, feeling deeply unprepared for the next ten minutes of his life.
“I have to grab boots.”
“If you’d paid attention to the packing list,” Terry said, “you wouldn’t be on your way to see teacher right now.”