Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 98643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Despite never having been truly in love before, I knew in my gut that I’d be as desperate and scared as Brooks if I were in the same position. Even though it was logical that Xavier could have left his phone somewhere, turned it off or even just ignored Brooks’s attempts to reach out altogether, I would have been in the same boat if I couldn’t see or feel or hear the man I loved. I’d only be able to think about the worst possible outcomes…
The sudden image of Flynn’s lifeless body on a gurney as some random doctor was calling his time of death made me nearly throw up right there in the SUV. It was that thought and many others that consumed me until Brooks came to a jarring stop in front of the old farmhouse that I was finding harder and harder not to think of as home. As Brooks leapt out of the vehicle and ran into the house, I found myself looking in the direction of the barn, though I wasn’t sure what it was that I was hoping I’d see.
I glanced at my phone to check the time as I opened the car door. I hadn’t realized how late it had gotten. It’d still been light out when we’d left, but I’d forgotten how late it was before the sun fell in this area in spring. I also forgot how cold it got.
“He’s not in there!” I heard Brooks shout and then he was rushing down the porch steps.
“I’m sure he’s fine, son,” Curtis called as he trailed behind Brooks at a slower pace. Something about the way Curtis said the words sounded off—like he wasn’t so sure. It didn’t matter because Brooks wasn’t listening anyway. He began running in the direction of the woods where the foreman’s house was. I’d finally gotten a chance to see the small house from the outside but had trouble thinking of it as anything other than a death trap since the place looked like a stiff breeze could knock it down.
As Brooks searched in that direction, I sucked in my gut and hurried to the barn. I wanted to find Xavier for Brooks’s sake, but I shamefully had my own reasons for wanting to check the barn.
BJ was standing in his stall, his head hung over the half door. He greeted me with a soft whicker as I approached him. A couple of weeks earlier, I would have been horrified at the idea of having drool of any kind, including equine spittle, anywhere on my person. Between Lovey, the chicken who didn’t realize my pants weren’t for crapping on, and how fond I’d become of BJ so quickly, I couldn’t imagine what my problem had been.
You’re a selfish dick, Jules… how about that?
I sighed because it was true. The only thing I’d cared about when it had come to animals had been the way their hides had been tanned to create exquisite shoes and clothes. I’d never once given any thought to whether the makeup I used was cruelty free or not. How had I grown up in one of the busiest and biggest cities in the world and known so little? How many creatures as beautiful as BJ or as sweet as Lovey had suffered terribly at the hands of corporate America and customers like me who never thought beyond their own little worlds?
“Just tell me he’s okay,” I whispered to BJ. Since I was desperate, I gladly took another horsey kiss to be the equivalent to yes and then left the barn so I could continue the search for Xavier.
A search which came up empty-handed.
A couple of minutes later when I met up with Brooks and Curtis and we compared notes, we were no further along. That was when Brooks realized Grover, the horse Xavier rode all the time, was missing. Several seconds later, a plan was being hatched to form a small search party instead of waiting for Xavier and Grover to return.
When Curtis directed me to find Flynn, a man he referenced as the new guy, meaning it was someone I shouldn’t know, I didn’t hesitate.
Or mention I knew who he was talking about.
All too well.
I was panting by the time I reached Flynn’s door. I pounded on it several times, not caring about the late hour and anyone else I might end up waking up in the process.
Flynn yanked the door open so fast and hard that I actually fell inwards, forcing him to catch me. “Jules—”
I didn’t give him the chance to say anything, partly because more important things were happening but also because I didn’t want to know what kind of mood he was in when it came to seeing me again.
“Xavier is missing. Curtis sent me to find you. Says you can track people or something…”