Save Her Lose Us (Evangeline and Soren) novel Chapter 397

They turned to see a man standing a short distance away. He wore simple clothes and a straw hat, his expression a mixture of curiosity and suspicion. He was sturdily built and looked young, probably in his mid-twenties, but his skin was dark and weathered from constant exposure to the sun and rain.

After a quick assessment, the three of them determined he posed no immediate threat. Clinging to him like a lifeline, they quickly explained their situation.

“You’re lucky to be alive,” the man said.

He went on to explain that the magnetic fields in this forest were all messed up, rendering compasses useless. Most people who wandered in got lost, even experienced explorers.

Fortunately, the man lived nearby, knew the terrain, and knew the way out.

“Can you lead us out of here?” Evangeline asked anxiously.

The man glanced at her, then up at the sky. “We’re still a ways off from the edge of the forest. It’ll take another day or two of walking.”

“You can stay at my place for the night,” he offered.

Evangeline couldn’t shake the feeling—whether it was her imagination or not—that his eyes kept lingering on her face, as if he were trying to place her.

Finn and Soren noticed it too. When they spoke again, they subtly shifted their positions, blocking her from the man’s view. It was clear to them both that he was focused on Evangeline.

Soren had never considered Evangeline particularly beautiful before. But after spending these days with her, his gaze fell on her more and more, and he found that the woman he saw was a world away from the one he’d imagined.

It seemed the man really did live here.

Just as she had that thought, the slim, graceful figure of a woman emerged from the house. She was dressed simply, carrying a small pile of what looked like freshly washed clothes in her arms, ready to be hung out to dry.

Sensing their approach, the woman looked up.

Her face came into view, and in that instant, Evangeline felt the blood rush in her veins.

“Tessa?!”