26
S creams echo across the pasture.
The ranch goes as silent as a funeral home.
From my place in the garage, I watch in horror as Winslow’s hooves come up. Flailing, sharp, deadly.
Watch as both Ruby and Reese hit the ground.
Ruby doesn’t move.
Blood howls in my ears as I sprint across the pasture. From every direction, someone’s coming. Charlie from the barn. Davis, the lodge.
Then, chaos.
“Ruby!” Charlie roars, his voice full of fear. He shoots in front of his wife, pulling her off the ground and into his arms.
Her eyes flutter and she comes to.
“I’m okay,” she whispers, confined against his broad chest.
I grab Reese, struggling to get my breathing under control. “Birdie, are you okay?”
She nods, her mossy green eyes full of tears. “I’m sorry,” she says, hands gripping my shirt. “I’m so sorry.”
Holding the reins, Davis steadies Winslow.
Charlie whips to Reese. His eyes are frigid. “Those fucking bracelets,” he growls.
Reese pales.
Fury pulses through me. “Leave her alone,” I order, putting my body between Reese and my brother. “You’re acting like a maniac.” He’s worked up in a way I’ve never seen from my brother.
“She’s a liability,” Charlie growls. “I want her off the ranch.”
“Say one more word about her,” I snarl, “And I will bust your fucking head little brother.”
Charlie’s hard stare burns into mine. He’s afraid because it was Ruby. I understand. But he has to back the fuck off Reese or else.
Wide-eyed, Ruby touches Charlie’s broad chest. “Charlie—”
“Charlie’s right,” Davis says, his gaze hard, unflinching. “Ruby could have been hurt.”
Ruby squirms out of Charlie’s tight cradle. “Charlie, I’m—”
“Back the fuck off.” I glare at them. Too far. They’re both going too far.
“Listen to me.” Ruby stamps her foot and goes to Reese’s side. “It’s not her fault. She was trying to—”
“It’s okay.” Reese shakes her head. Tears stream down her face. “I understand. I’ll go.” Lower lip trembling, she turns on her heel and races for her chalet.
I take a step toward her, my heart pitching in my throat. Then I whip my glare to my brothers.
“You both are assholes.”
But it’s not me who says it.
It’s Ruby.
“I can’t believe you, Charlie Montgomery.” Drawing herself up, she gives her husband a frosty glare. I’ve never seen her this angry. Even Charlie blinks. “This is our ranch. We help people. And Reese was trying to help me. I almost fainted right there.” She points at Winslow’s hooves. “And you go and yell at her?”
Even as angry as I am, a grin tips my lips.
Fairy Tale activated is a sight to see.
Ruby balls her small hand into a fist. “Reese is trying. And Ford is happy. What more do you want?”
Happy.
Christ. I am happy. Happier than I’ve ever fucking been.
Taking deep breaths, Charlie blinks like he’s just now realizing what he’s said and done. “Sunflower,” he says, his voice breaking.
“No,” Ruby snaps, holding out a hand. “Don’t follow me.”
The look on my brother’s face is like someone carved out his heart.
Ruby’s gaze finds mine. “Go, Ford.”
My eyes soften in thanks as Ruby spins on her heel and storms away from her husband.
I don’t even hesitate.
I turn and do something my gut tells me I’ll do for the rest of my goddamn life.
I chase after Reese.
When I get to the chalet, the front door is open. Reese looks fragile, standing in the middle of her bedroom. Her suitcase is open on the bed.
“I thought I was doing good. I really did.” Her voice is mournful, dejected.
“You are.” I rip a hand through my hair, standing in the doorway. “My brothers…they’re—”
“Right. They’re right.” A shudder shakes her slender frame. “I don’t belong here. I thought I did, but I was wrong. I don’t belong anywhere.”
Her words break my fucking heart.
All I want to do is get her in my arms.
“You do. You belong—” With me.
The thought pops into my head like a plea, but before I can give voice to it, she turns sad eyes my way. “Ever since I got here, I’ve been messing things up and pissing people off. I didn’t mean to cause more problems.”
Slowly, so slowly, she strips the bangles she’s worn all summer from her wrists. One by one, they slip free. White-knuckled, she sets the bracelets on her nightstand, the metal making a clanging tinny sound.
When my gaze drops to her wrists, I stop breathing.
Long, raised scars mar the inside of the delicate flesh.
The sight almost jolts me backward.
“Christ, Reese,” I choke out. “What—”
She whimpers and wipes her face, running her hands over those high, beautiful cheekbones.
I ball my fists at my side. “Who did that to you?”
“I did.” Her voice is soft but not weak. She lets out a long breath and finally meets my eyes. “Are you happy? Isn’t that what you wanted?”
My heart clenches. “No, Birdie. It’s not what I wanted.”
“Now you know the big bad secret.”
My mouth works but nothing comes out. I don’t know what to say. I never imagined this. Fucking this .
I reach for her, inching closer, needing to hold her. “Birdie, I—”
“You don’t have to say anything.” Her shoulders rotate back, her tone flat and emotionless. She’s closing up again, cutting me off at the pass. “Just go, okay?”
“Reese.”
“You can’t save me, Country Boy. It’s sweet of you to try.”
“Fuck,” I rasp. “Baby, I—”
“Go.” Reese shoves me roughly toward the door. I stumble backward onto the porch. “Go, Ford.”
She slams the door in my face.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this shit,” I mutter to Mouse. I’m in my truck, parked near the road, staking out Reese’s chalet. Every cell in my body screams at me to go kick that goddamn door down. But she wants space, so I can’t push. Even though I want to.
One thing’s for certain—I’m not leaving her alone.
I won’t let her fall.
Because that’s what she’s been trying to avoid this entire summer.
I haven’t been able to unknot the ball of pain in my chest since she kicked my ass out.
How did I miss it? Sure, I sensed a sadness about her, but I didn’t want to believe it. I waited for her to talk to me about it, when maybe it was bigger than me. Bigger than her.
But I understand it now.
She’s not some aimless, confused girl. She’s in pain. She has her secrets and her sadness but goddamn if I’m walking away now. Letting her handle it on her own isn’t happening.
Never again.
I sigh, give a glance to Davis’s place in the distance. I know my brothers are getting an earful from their wives. Best punishment that ever existed.
Running a hand over her soft fur, I ask Mouse, “What do you think? Go back and get my ass kicked?”
Mouse perks up, whiskers flicking. I follow her glittery green gaze.
Reese.
She’s on the front porch of the chalet under the gingerbread eaves.
I straighten up, fully expecting her to head straight for my truck and rip me a new one with that fiery mouth of hers, but she doesn’t even look my direction. Instead, she heads into the woods, moving like she’s trying to outrun a bullet.
“Fucking A,” I swear. I hop out of my truck and follow. Mouse on my heels.
Second time today I’m chasing this woman down. I’m so angry with myself. I shouldn’t have left her alone for a minute.
My blood roars through my ears as I stalk after her. The worst feeling in my gut. A woo-woo feeling. Something bad.
Other than my twin, I’ve never had a connection to someone like this. A soul-deep burn that exists only with Reese.
I start to sprint, crashing through the forest, knocking away branches and brambles. Where is she? I never should have left her alone. Not when she looked like that. Not after what happened.
Panting, I emerge from the trees and find Reese standing on the bank of the lake. She wades into the water. Deeper now. Her shoulders sink beneath the water, her wavy blonde hair trailing the surface. She tilts her face to the starless sky.
I go still, pulse catching in my throat.
She wouldn’t.
But she does.
She goes under.