The dog sat and stared up at him, tongue lolling out of his grin.

“How did you do that?” she said.

“Firm tone. He has to know you mean it.”

“Well, that’s not good if someone with bad intentions knows how to use it.”

He looked at her as he petted the dog’s head. “I figured that was why you had him.”

His comment irritated her. Since she’d bought the property, she’d been getting the same warnings she used to get when she camped alone. It brought back fears she’d worked hard to conquer.

“How did you get in?” she asked.

“The gate was locked, so I climbed the fence. Dani gave me your address—but failed to provide the tiny detail of this behemoth guarding your property.”

Behemoth. How could she be angry at a man who used such a great word? Was she angry about him suddenly showing up in her front yard? And why had he come? She truly couldn’t sort out how she felt about Keith Gephardt being there.

“You went to my old house?”

“Yes, and I couldn’t call to ask if I could come over because, according to Dani, you never turn on your phone.”

“Not never. Only when I have to.”

“Which is nearly never.”

That was true. Since she’d stopped communicating with him, she had no reason to leave her phone on. It was off except when she had to make a call.

“This is a big surprise,” she said.

He studied her eyes. “A bad surprise?”

“Just a surprise.”

She saw that had hurt.

“Should I leave?” he asked.

“Of course not. Come down to the house.”

“Talk about surprises. I could hardly believe it when Dani said you’d bought a place.”

“Why?”

“You know why. You’re the wandering queen.”

“People change.”

His sympathetic look irked her. Because he knew what had changed her. Dani often looked at her like that, too.

Just as the house came into view, Keith stopped walking. “Can I tell you something?”

She stopped and faced him. “What?”

“You didn’t kill that guy.”

“What guy?”

“You don’t have to hide it from me. I haven’t told anyone.” When she didn’t respond, he said, “I know you stabbed one of two men who attacked you.”

“How do you know?”

“I’m a park ranger. I know cops. I did some research.”

How she felt about that confused her as much as his sudden appearance.

“He and the other guy showed up at an ER. They said he’d been mugged. He very nearly died. He needed emergency abdominal surgery.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“To give you peace of mind. And closure. You might also want to know he’s in jail now.”

“Oh god. Did he attack another woman?”

“He stole a car and robbed a store at gunpoint. It wasn’t his first offense. He got twenty years.”

Someone could have died in the robbery. Ellis had felt guilty about that—the possibility that her failure to report the crime might lead to another person’s death. Or rape.

“The other guy is dead,” Keith said.

“What happened?”

“Not sure. A fight that went wrong, from what I can tell.”

“Why did you look them up if you weren’t going to report the crime? Why do you care so much?”

An odd look surfaced in his dark eyes. “You should know why.”

“What should I know?”

“It’s that spell you put on me back at Pink Horses. Do you remember?”

She remembered.

“It won’t rub off no matter how hard I try. I came here to ask you to take it off.”

“Does what’s-her-name know you’re here?”

His lips curled slightly. “No. Chloe knows nothing of my whereabouts since I broke off our engagement.”

Ellis tried to conceal how that news made her feel—mostly from herself. “Why did you end it?”

“Aren’t you listening?”

“Oh—the spell?”

“Yes, the spell.”

“You drove all the way to Florida to ask a witch to take a spell off you?”

“A gorgeous witch.”

“Just so you know, flattery gets you nowhere with a witch.”

“What does? I can’t handle this much longer. Please remove it.”

She saw by the look in his eyes that it was no joke. The park ranger had fallen for her. But how could she pretend not to have known that? He’d come rushing to her aid from miles away in the middle of the night. He’d spent a whole day driving her to Florida. He’d texted all those months when he was living with another woman.

“Hey . . . Ellis . . . there’s someone pointing a gun at us.”

She followed his sight line. It was Max.

“She’s pointing it at you, actually,” Ellis said.

“I assume you know her?”

“That’s Maxine.”

“Any chance you could get her to lower the gun? Confronting my mortality twice in five minutes is a bit much.”