Chapter 18
Henry
Henry had never been the type of person to beat around the bush. He also really loved his little sister. These two things combined meant that he was able to make it about three minutes before going straight to Bailey to face the situation.
He stayed on the ranch that night after the heart to heart with his sister, and texted Amelia to see when she would be finished for the night. She said she was already finished shooting, and Henry asked her to meet him in the barn again.
It took her twenty minutes to make her way to the barn.
Henry could hardly wait to see her, and he stood from his desk the second he heard her fidgeting with the door handle.
She grinned when she came inside and saw him, and he went to her, picking her up and causing her to squeal as he twirled her around.
"What's this all abo—" but she cut off because he was moving in front of her face intensely, seeing her eye for the first time.
"Baby, Amelia, your eye."
"Aw, you called me baby," she said sweetly, smiling shyly at him.
"I know," he said, staring at her. "I'm sorry, it's because… I can't believe your eye. It's a big bruise, my girl."
He pulled her close and held her tenderly, wishing he had known how bad it was.
"Did this just show up, or was your make up that good when I saw you earlier?"
"Oh, no, it's been there. My makeup was that good.
Barb has some stuff that's meant to cover tattoos.
I just washed it off when I was done on set.
I thought you went home for the night. I'm glad I got to see you again.
" She was soft and sweet, and she smelled nice.
He pulled her to his chest gently, and she looked up at him.
"I talked to Bailey."
Her eyes widened, and she tilted her head at him before her expression crumbled in a look of dread and worry.
"No, no, it went well. It's all good. I'm glad I talked to her. That's why I wanted you to come in here. I wanted to tell you about it."
"What happened? What'd you say to her?"
"I went to Mom's. She was in her room, just lying in her bed.
" Henry paused because he could not stand the sight of that eye.
It looked painful, and he cringed at the idea of the impact that must've caused it.
He touched her face, cupping his hand around her cheek.
"My love, if I had known this was this bad…
I don't know what I would do. I don't know what to do about it now. I hate seeing this."
She gave him an adorable self-deprecating smile and shook her head. "The first time we met was worse," she said.
"I know, and I caused that one," he said.
He kissed her cheek, wishing he could make the bruise disappear.
"What did you say to Bailey? I can't believe you talked to her."
"I started by telling her that I like you. It was time we said that."
"What?"
"I had to," he said with a little shrug. "I had to tell her how I feel about you because it explains why you would feel compelled to tell me about it."
"And what did she say?"
"Well, she just blew past the part about us because she was so worried about getting in trouble.
She got defensive, and it took us a little while, but ultimately, she was surprised that I was trying to be understanding.
I told her I was going to follow through with those guys myself and not involve Mom and Dad. "
"What do you mean that you're going to follow through with those guys. What do you plan on doing?"
"Me personally, nothing. One of our customers is a state police officer. I've already talked to him. He'll go by there and check them out. I am taking Bailey on a trip, though. Just to get a change of pace for her."
"That's great! You are? When? Where? Is she happy?"
"I don't know any details yet, but yes, she's happy," he said.
"And soon. She had that trip planned with her friend, and we were talking about that being canceled.
Mom and Dad are both busy with… I just felt like I should drop everything and take her somewhere for a few days.
So, now. It feels right, and she's excited, so I know it's a good decision.
Alex doesn't need horses for the next two days, and I already made sure Josh could take care of whatever he needed for a couple of days after that.
I figured we could get into something fun in four days.
I told her to look at a map and pick somewhere we can go in ten hours or less, and we'll take off in the truck. "
"Ten hours driving from here is just basically Idaho or Wyoming," she said.
"Yeah," he agreed, nodding.
"Both of those are just like Montana."
"Yeah, but it's more about getting out of town, don't you think? I don't want to have to spend the night on the road, and it's not really worth it for a short trip. Four days is a stretch, and I don't want to spend it all on the road. I need to get back, and I want to make the most of it."
"Just fly," she said. "Take her to San Francisco. There's a ton to do in the city. It's an easy flight from Missoula, and you can just stay in our house. It'll be an easy trip. No one's at my place. PJ's with Caleb. It'll be nice to have someone check in on the house."
"Bailey would flip her lid if I mentioned California," Henry said, since it was the truth.
"Oh, please go," she returned, beaming. "I would love for you guys to stay at the house."
"What about your sister? We would have to tell her."
Amelia shrugged. "She wouldn't mind. You can stay in my bedroom, and she won't know the difference. And, like I said, it'll be nice to have someone check on the place."
***
Henry and Bailey took a flight to San Francisco the following afternoon.
This type of trip and this type of destination were out of Henry's comfort zone, but Bailey was so excited that he pushed past his feelings and was able to relax with her.
He was tempted to let his mind go to Amelia, the horses, the series, the ranch, and Josh, but thankfully, he had the wisdom to see that this was an important trip at a pivotal time in his sister's life.
He was able to put aside the worries of home and focus on being in the moment with her.
It felt right to stop his life and pay attention to his sister when she was going through things, and he had Amelia to thank for it.
He remembered how much compassion Amelia had for his sister when she was standing there, telling him the whole story with a covered-up black eye.
She had set him up for success with this trip.
She had given them recommendations for every meal and all sorts of ideas for fun activities to do in their free time.
She had so many options listed, from museums to batting cages—from a blues jam in a coffee shop to a world class ballet.
Bailey had been doing research of her own since the minute Henry suggested the trip to California. Bailey had all sorts of impromptu goals and aspirations about being a tourist in San Francisco, and Henry found himself along for the ride.
He took Amelia up on her offer to stay at her house. He told her that he would just get a hotel, but she insisted, saying it was the reason they decided to go to San Francisco in the first place. She seemed happy about it and wanted him to check on the place.
The instant they opened the door to her house, he heard barking.
The living room was nice and open, and he knew he was in the right place because there were framed pictures of the sisters with their friends and family.
The barking was coming from another room.
He stared at his little sister with a look of confusion.
"She's got upstairs neighbors, but I don't think they have dogs," he said.
"Maybe it's her dog," Bailey said with a shrug, setting her things down.
"Her dog's not here," Henry said, shaking his head.
He set down his luggage and went toward the back room, toward the sound of barking. The sound was coming from one of the bedrooms, and Henry opened the door to find Amelia's dog, PJ, in his kennel in the corner of the room. He knew the dog from pictures. There was no doubt this was PJ.
Henry went right over to the kennel and opened it, letting the little fireball out. He was so excited that he got low to the ground and started doing mini zoomies around Henry's legs, jumping and sniffing. PJ turned and sprinted into the hallway, and he heard Bailey shriek.
"Oh, hellooo!" she called.
Henry walked out there just in time to see his sister smiling and stooping to pet the dog. PJ left her and ran back to Henry, who bent down as well. He quickly paced between them, greeting them with wiggly excitement. Bailey and Henry made eye contact.
"Is this Amelia's dog?" she asked.
"Yes."
"What's he doing here?" she asked.
"I have no idea," Henry said, shaking his head.
"Should you call Amelia?"
"I thought of that, but I'm not going to yet. It'll worry her. I'll just wait until her friend comes back, and I'll ask him what's going on."
Percy went to the side door, sitting patiently by his leash, which was hanging on a small hook next to the light switches.
Henry stood without hesitation. "I'm taking him for a walk," he said. "Do you want to come with?"
She made a face and tilted her head. "I thought about saying no, but we're in San Francisco, right? I should probably go. Hang on a second and let me change my shoes."
Henry found a notepad on the counter, and he left a note for Caleb.
I have the dog.
Call me.
He included his phone number at the bottom, and he went into the bedroom and left the notepad on the empty kennel.
Henry put the leash on PJ, and the three of them headed out for a walk. They were gone for two hours. There was an amazing park next to Amelia's house, and they could have been gone longer. Two hours passed in a flash while they were letting PJ walk and sniff and check everything out.
It was surreal having such instant access to Golden Gate Park, and it was like nothing Henry and Bailey had ever seen before.
Bailey was blown away. It was a gift, honestly, being there with his sister, walking the dog with her.
Watching her laugh at PJ and check out the city was a great experience.
Henry didn't mind having PJ with them while they explored. But he knew Amelia was under the impression that he would be with Caleb all the time. She had mentioned that several times. That was why he didn't call her and tell her about it. He didn’t want her to worry until he knew what was going on.
But no one came to the house while they were out on their walk. And no one came afterward. Bailey didn't mind staying home and hanging out with the dog that evening, so that was what they did. Henry got angrier as the hours went by, and he wanted to be there when the guy came by.
He couldn't believe he hadn't yet.
It was now eleven o'clock that night, and there was no sign of her friend. Henry grew more certain with each passing minute that he would not be leaving the dog in San Francisco when they left town.
He was sitting on Amelia's couch with his sister and PJ when he got a call from her. He jumped up and headed toward the bedroom, motioning to his sister that he was going to take the call. He wasn't going to tell Amelia anything about PJ until after he had talked to her friend.
"How is it going?" she asked.
"It's great. We had an easy time at the airport and with finding your place."
"Good. Are you comfortable? How's Bailey?"
"She loves it. She's ecstatic. We walked around the park for two hours earlier."
"Aw, great. It's nice, huh?"
"So nice. I had no idea the magnitude."
"I know. Did you go to a museum, or a garden? Oh, I guess it was sort of after-hours by the time you got there."
"Yeah," he said, even though they couldn't have gone to any of those places with PJ. "Do you have a doorbell camera over here? Or in the house?"
She laughed at the question. "Yeah, but they're wireless, and the batteries are dead. Why, are you having a party at my house?"
He laughed. "No, no, I was just curious. I saw the little camera, but I wasn't sure if you were checking it or whatever."
"No, it's dead. Is something wrong with the house?"
"No, it's all good. I was just curious." He was being nonchalant, but he was thinking of Caleb and the dog, and the audacity of him to not be there yet to check on him.