“It wasn’t a dumb question,” she said. “I don’t have a good answer, that’s all. I went out with some guys but... Okay, here’s the deal—I can’t pick ’em. That’s all. If I met some guy I liked, odds were excellent he was a loser. There you have it.”

    “Describe ‘loser,’” he said.

    “Come on, don’t ask me that. You’ll just find out how really incompetent I am and I’d rather you think I’m smart and nice.”

    “I do. Describe loser.”

    She took a deep breath. “Liars. Cheaters. Guys with bad habits or mean personalities or nasty tempers.” Or psychopathic stalkers, she thought. That was the real reason she’d left Des Moines suddenly. She thought she saw him there. She wasn’t absolutely sure but she saw a guy at a distance, about a block away, who was a dead ringer for Derek Cox. She decided this invitation of Cal’s couldn’t have come at a better time.

    Connie just marched on for a while, silent. Contemplating. “Not one good man?” he finally asked.

    “Well, the problem could be me,” she said. “I saw Colorado as an opportunity. For self-examination. For renewal. A fresh start.”

    “Because you’d like to find a good guy,” he said.

    “I’m not looking for a guy. Definitely don’t want to find another loser,” she said with a laugh. “Really, I love my life as one person. And now that I have Molly, I feel so connected. Molly is so wonderful. A little naughty and in the most innocent way.” The dog looked up at her. “Yes, I’m talking about you. She loves to please. She smiles, she honestly does. When she emerges from puppyhood she’ll be the most magnificent dog alive.”

    Connie grunted.

    “Need a rest?” she asked.

    “Nah, I’m good. Just seems like since it takes so little to make you happy, you should’ve found the right guy years ago.”

    “Maybe I’m finally changing, Connie. Wanna tell me about your girl?”

    “My what?”

    “Your girl. Don’t you have a girl?”

    He snorted. “I have a lot of girls.”

    She laughed. “That figures.”

    “What do you mean, figures? I go out, okay. I have girls I go out with but I’m not in a relationship.”

    “Well, that figures...”

    He stopped walking and let her slide gently to the ground. “Water,” he said.

    She pulled a bottle out of her pack and watched as he took a drink, then squirted water in both dogs’ mouths. He went through his shaking-out-limbs and stretching maneuvers again, took a few deep breaths, a little more water, then presented his back. “Up you go.”

    “Are we almost back?” she asked.

    “Not far now,” he said. And off he went.

    A few minutes passed before he said anything. “I had a girl a few years ago. Couple of years ago, I guess. It didn’t work out.”

    Sierra didn’t say anything.

    “I guess she had a short attention span. She—”

    “I don’t need to know,” Sierra said.

    “Someone else came along, got her attention and that was the end of that. Since then I’ve just been going out for fun. Just friends, you know. There hasn’t been anyone serious is all I’m saying.”

    “Okay, fine, you don’t have to explain.”

    “I know! I’m not explaining. I’m telling you because you told me and that’s what people do!”

    “Stop it. You’re going to get all out of breath.”

    “I’m fine.” He went quiet again. “We might have that in common, you know.”

    “What?”

    “Not being able to pick ’em.”

    “Then it’s probably good we’re not picking any right now,” she said.

    “I never saw it coming,” he said.

    “Really... I don’t need to know this...”

    “She cheated. With a guy I knew. A guy I work with.”

    Sierra groaned.

    “So it was pretty ugly,” he said. “But that was a couple of years ago. And I don’t even think about it anymore.”

    “I can see that,” she said. “Look, I’m sorry that happened to you.”

    “Yeah. Shit happens.”

    Thank God the back of the store came into sight. Sully was standing outside the back door, out by the garden. Beau ran to him so she let Molly’s leash drop. “Okay, Molly,” she said, and her best girl charged for Sully.

    When Connie reached Sully, Sierra could see he looked concerned. Worried. “What we got, Connie?”

    “A badly sprained ankle, at least. It’s going to need an X-ray.” He let her slide down to balance on one foot, leaning on him. “You wanna try to get a little cleaned up, Sierra? I’ll tote you over to your cabin and if you can clean up and change out of your wet clothes without putting weight on your ankle, you can. Or I can help you. I’ve seen a lot of naked girls.” He grinned.

    She made a face. “I’ll manage,” she said. “I hate for you to go to any more trouble.”

    “Really, if you walk on it, you could have bigger problems. You shouldn’t walk on it.”

    “I can take her for an X-ray, Connie,” Sully said.