Chapter 3
Under my care, Ryan was finally up and walking. At least, he looked like he was back to normal.
He'd been poisoned and had fallen off a cliff, yet his recovery was surprisingly fast.
All thanks to Nolan.
I'd spent the morning in the kitchen preparing a thank-you lunch for Nolan.
Ryan stood in the kitchen doorway, blocking my exit, his expression still dark. "I'm still hungry."
"I left you food. Eat first, don't wait for me." I headed out with the lunch basket.
On the way, I spotted a few rough-looking men carrying blades.
They stopped me. "Don't be scared, miss. Have you seen this man?" They showed me a sketch.
It was Ryan.
Not knowing if they were friend or foe, I shook my head and played dumb. I pointed back the way they'd come, making vague, closed-mouth noises.
One of them caught on right away. "She says she's a villager. And she says the man we are looking for is somewhere in town. Let's go back and search again."
They thanked me and hurried off.
I rushed back home.
When I got there, I saw Amy chatting with Ryan at the door. "Yvette's a good girl, but her life's been tough. No parents."
When Amy saw me, she patted Ryan on the shoulder. "Well, she's back. You two take care now."
Seeing me out of breath with the lunch basket, Ryan's eyes brightened, and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
For the first time, he didn't look at me with that cold, distant stare.
I dragged him inside and told him about the armed men.
Ryan was annoyed. "They are just some incompetent guards I hired. Don't worry about them."
He explained briefly.
He hired a group of guards to escort a shipment, but they ran into bandits. The guards panicked and fled.
He fell off the cliff, got caught in a tree, then dropped again, and I found him.
"I owe you." Ryan met my eyes. "If you want, you can renegotiate our deal."
"No changes." I grabbed his hands to show I meant it.
He looked down at my hands and frowned, his mood souring again.
But this time, he didn't say anything. He cleared his throat. "You never mentioned your parents. Are they..."
"Oh, that's Amy making things up." I smiled. "My dad's a wanderer, and my mom travels with him. The villagers think they're dead, but they send letters sometimes."
Ryan's expression softened slightly, but then he stared at me in a way that made my skin crawl.
I took a step back. "Well. Since those escort guards aren't trouble, I'll head out now. I still need to deliver the food."
"Yvette Cole," Ryan called out my name in a solemn tone.
I knew he didn't have anything urgent, so I waved and ran off.
*****
Ryan was recovering at lightning speed.
He wore the clothes I'd bought him and started wandering around the village.
The neighbors all knew I'd pulled him out of the woods, so they treated him with courtesy.
But Ryan still picked up that something was off.
He looked serious as he asked, "Today, I caught Amy whispering with someone about two guys."
That was ancient history. I really didn't want to get into it, so I quickly steered the conversation away.
Ryan didn't push it any further.
That night, a violent storm hit out of nowhere. A panel of the door was blown clean off.
I got up to fix it, but Ryan beat me to the doorway.
I'd been through this kind of scene plenty of times before, but this time, Ryan told me to go back to bed.
The next morning, I woke up to the sound of hammering.
I was about to stumble outside and see who was wrecking my sleep when Ryan walked in, damp from the rain, tools in hand. He'd just patched the leak.
"Yvette. Are you broke?" He muttered under his breath, "Honestly, you're so cheap, you'd let the whole roof fall apart before spending a dime."
I smiled and thanked him. "I was going to hire someone last time I went to town, but then I got distracted buying your clothes and forgot."
Ryan glanced down with a sour look. After a moment, he said, "Once those useless guards finally find me, we'll get moving and head back to Valmont as soon as we can."
This time, I should finally make it to Valmont without any trouble.
I let out a quiet sigh, then smiled at him. "Alright."