“He’s a clerk at the courthouse. How would it look to his bosses if he let his son commit a crime?” Andyasked.
“I know,”Daisysaid.
“Hell no! We won’t go!” Meadow hollered from thebackseat.
“Shh,” Daisy hissed. “Remember what that guy said about the farmer with the shotgun? Keep quiet so we don’t have tobugout.”
“Oh, right,”Meadowsaid.
“Get the tents,”Andysaid.
After they’d set up camp, Daisy crawled into her tent. A well-worn sleeping bag gave her a thin layer of protection from the ground. She missed her own bed, but she could never go back now. Her dad would kill her if he ever found out she’d helped Andy escape. She was already the black sheep of the family; this act of treason would only solidify his opinion of his youngestdaughter.
“We’ll leave at first light,”Andysaid.
“Goodnight,” Meadow said as she crawled into the third tent withRiver.
Everyone zipped up their tents and within minutes, Andy’s soft snoring filled the air. A low moan cut through the night. Daisy groaned and stuffed her fingers in her ears. Her friends couldn’t go one night without making love. She was half-convinced they were reincarnated rabbits. They sure screwed likeanimals.
Time passed with excruciating slowness. The more she tried to force herself to fall asleep, the wider awake she became. Finally, she gave up and quietly unzipped the tent. She peeked out. Both of the flaps on the other tents were still closed. She crawled out and stood to brush the pine needles off of herskirt.
A few hundred yards away, a branch snapped. She spun toward the sound. For a second, she contemplated waking Andy up, but she couldn’t rely on her brother to save her from everything in life. He’d be in another country soon and she’d be on her own again. She had to take care of herself from hereonout.
She inched closer to the edge of the clearing and peered into the inky night. With only starlight to illuminate the trees, she could hardly make out the shape of anything. But something moved in the murky shadows.Somethingbig.
Chapter2
Greg hidbehind a thick pine tree as he strained to hear the hippies’ conversation. Last night, when he’d been in his bear form, he’d been out strolling through the woods when he’d run into a stunning woman. He hadn’t been able to see her very well in the darkness. But now, in the pale morning light, her flowing golden-brown hair glistened as it swished across her curvy butt. High cheekbones and full lips made her even morebeautiful.
“It was a huge bear,” the sexy woman said as she wove wildflowers together to form a crown. “It had to be half as tall as thetrees.”
“I don’t think bears get that big,” a manresponded.
His short, military-style haircut contrasted with a pair of torn jeans and a flowing Indian-style shirt. A second man crawled out of a separate tent. His long, stringy hair hung over his bare chest and beer belly. He scratched his back while his mate scrambled out to join him. Her long black hair hung in a loose braid down her back. They interlaced theirfingers.
“Hey Andy, can’t we take a dip in the lake before we go?” the second woman asked the man with theshorthair.
“We should get on the road soon,”Andysaid.
“Come on, just a quick swim?” the womanbegged.
“We need to leave,” the first woman said. “Who knows when that farmer’s going to show up to shootatus?”
Greg frowned and shifted from one foot to the other. How did they know about his family? He picked up his shotgun which had been leaning against the tree. Although he liked looking at the curvy woman, he had to get rid of them before his dad found them squatting on hisproperty.
He took a deep breath and checked to make sure they didn’t have any weapons. So far, he hadn’t seen anything to indicate that they would give him any problems. He’d shoo them off the land and be donewithit.
As he stepped out from behind the tree, he stuck his chest out and took on the mantle of authority that he’d learned to from his father. The Grant men didn’t put up with free-loving thieves. The sooner he got them off his property, the faster he’d be able to get back to his morningchores.
“Hey,” he yelled as he approached. “You’re onmyland.”
“Oh shit,” Long Hair Guy said as he pushed his mate behind him. The girl’s eyes went wide as she hidbehindhim.
“We were just leaving,” Andy said. “We don’t meananyharm.”
“Hurry up.” Greg pointed the shotgunathim.
The sexy, goddess of a woman stood and walked straight over to him. She held the stem of a white daisy between her thumb and forefinger. As she drew closer, he couldn’t take his eyes off her petal-soft skin. The edge of her flowing shirt slipped off one shoulder to expose flawless, creamy skin. He stood speechless as she pushed the end of the flower into the barrel ofhisgun.
