Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
MILLIE
W e’re on Wild property now. There was a gap in the fence that I need to tell the guys about so they can come out and fix it, but it worked out well for me and Betty. I recognize where I am. There’s an old, sealed-off gold mine nearby that my brothers and I used to play around when we were kids.
My dad hated that we played out here and had the mine sealed up so we wouldn’t get hurt. Not to mention, it’s so close to Lexington property, and he didn’t want us out this far.
And now, here I am, just aimlessly wandering back and forth between the two pieces of land, as though there never was a feud that could have ended a man’s life. Probably did end someone’s life a time or two, back in the day. And it feels really good to know that that piece of history is over.
Because as far as I’m concerned, it was just stupid. Both families had more than enough land for their businesses to be successful. Hell, they still do.
There was just no reason for so much hate and ugliness.
“Good girl,” I croon to Betty as we make our way south. I know that Holden said there’s no cell service here, but I check my phone, and I have one little bar. If something happened, I could reach someone. Maybe it’s just on his side of the line that it goes dead, because we’ve never had an issue before.
I want to make a big circle, and by the time I cross back over to Lexington property, I’ll be back in the good cell coverage. It’ll be fine.
My mountain looms so high and proud before me as Betty and I ride along. Aside from the deer earlier, I haven’t seen any other wildlife.
But then I glance down at the ground and see the bear scat.
“Hmm.” I narrow my eyes as we pass by. “Looks like a couple of days old. Not fresh. They’re likely long gone by now.”
Betty doesn’t seem worried at all, but I pull the bear spray out of the saddle bag and clip it to the saddle to have it closer, just in case I need it.
“We’ve seen our share of bears,” I remind us both as my eyes move back and forth. “But there’s no need to be stupid.”
“Millie?”
I spin as Betty shifts on her feet and see Brady and Bruiser riding not too far away.
“You scared me!”
“What are you doing out here?” My brother frowns over at me as his horse slows near mine. Bruiser hangs back just a little.
I think Bruiser used to have a crush on me, but because he works for my family, he never asked me out. He’s always kept a respectable distance. And I like him. He’s huge , at well over six and a half feet tall, but he’s just a big teddy bear at heart.
And if I hadn’t been in love with my husband since I was nineteen, I might have pursued something with Bruiser.
“I’m riding my horse. Duh.” I roll my eyes, and Brady scowls at me while Bruiser hides a smile behind his hand.
“Why?” Brady asks.
“Because I wanted to go for a ride. Holden and Remington both know what I’m doing. I texted Rem before I headed out.”
Brady’s shoulders relax a bit at that. “He’s in town, and I haven’t seen him. You’re okay?”
“Yeah, just more arguing with Dad, and I needed to clear my head.”
Brady nods, his mouth set grimly. “I get it. I saw you on one of our trail cams, and I wanted to make sure you’re okay, since you didn’t answer your phone.”
I scowl and look down at my phone and see that I don’t have a signal.
“I must have been out of range for a minute. Sorry about that. I’m just wandering, but don’t worry about me. I have bear spray, and this isn’t my first ride.”
“Oh, I know you can handle yourself,” Brady says with a wink. “Just making sure because I’m your brother, and that’s what we do.”
“Yes, I’ve had overprotective brothers my whole life.” I soften and offer both men a smile. “Thanks for checking on me, though. I really am okay. I’m going to ride about two miles south and then cut back over to Holden’s property and make a circle back to the barn. Should be there in less than an hour. It’s a nice day for a ride.”
“Text me when you get back, okay? Just so I know that you’re safe.”
Not wanting to cause anyone any undue stress, I nod. “I will. Thanks for checking on me. Go talk to Dad and tell him he’s being an asshole.”
Bruiser coughs, and Brady shakes his head. “I’d like to live, thanks. Have you ever considered that he has a good reason for the way he’s acting?”
“Sure, but I asked, and he won’t talk about it. Anyway, let me get back to finding my Zen. I love you. Kiss Daisy for me, and tell Abbi we need a girls’ night.”
“I’ll do both.” He turns back to Bruiser and nods. “We’re good here.”
“See you, Miss Millie,” Bruiser says, tipping his hat at me, and then the two men ride off, back toward the way they came.
“We’re surrounded by overbearing, super-alpha, overprotective men, Betty.” I rub her neck softly as I watch the two men disappear. “It’s infuriating. Do you want an apple?”
I hop off her to give her a break and pull an apple that I brought with me out of the saddlebag, and she gently takes it out of my hand, happily crunching away.
“You’re my best friend. My best girl.” I kiss her cheek, and I see the love in her brown eye shining back at me. “I know, you love me, too. I’m going to come out and ride you at least once a week, like we used to. Okay? You and me, Bets, we’re gonna ride all summer.”
She snorts and nods, and I grin.
She likes that idea.
“Okay, let’s circle back, shall we? It’s almost dinnertime.” I launch myself back onto her, already feeling the pull of muscles in my thighs and butt, up into my back, that haven’t been used lately. “Maybe we’ll make something special for Holden for dinner. I’m pretty decent at fried chicken. I wonder if he likes fried chicken. He must. I mean, who doesn’t, right?”
I’m singing a country song about chicken fried as we wander down the fence line to where it meets Lexington property again, and with a break in the fence, we easily march right through.
“There’s a lot of downed fencing from winter,” I mutter, shaking my head. “If we can get through, so can other animals and cows. I’ll let the guys know. I haven’t ridden fence in five years or more.”
I never hated ranch work. In fact, it’s honest, hard work that is damn satisfying. But I never loved being out in the hot sun all summer long. It zaps me.
We’ve come around a bend, still near the property line, and find the creek again, along with another fence. The property line must zigzag a bit over here.
“Want a drink, baby?”
Again, I hop down, and Betty gets a drink.
She doesn’t really need to drink this much, but she’s not working today. She’s my friend. And I’m in no hurry.
As she drinks, I walk over to examine this fence. It looks older than the other one, and since we’re about twenty yards from the actual property line, it doesn’t make sense for it to be here.
“Maybe it’s just a really old property line fence,” I murmur as I approach. “Maybe an original piece, and it’s still standing for sentimental reasons.”
And then the world falls out from under me.
With a scream, I fall, landing hard on my right ankle, into the soft earth below. I scramble up, but because my ankle is hurt, I have to lean on the wall of dirt. There are roots sticking out, hanging down, and I don’t even want to think about the bugs that are crawling around me right now.
Oh, God, the bugs!
I pull my phone out, but there’s no signal.
No fucking signal.
When I flip on the flashlight and shine it around me, I yelp at the sight of the bones of a critter that died in here at some point. Maybe a raccoon or a possum.
“Ugh, that’s so gross.”
The hole isn’t big. It’s maybe six feet wide, square, but it’s at least ten feet deep. I can’t reach the top with my hands, even if I jump, which I can’t because of my ankle.
Panic wants to set in, but I take a deep, earthy breath and let it out slowly, trying to hang on to my sanity with my fingernails.
“Okay,” I mutter to myself, looking around. “Maybe I can hold on to the roots to pull myself out.”
I pocket the useless phone and grab on to a handful of roots, and, ignoring my screaming ankle, try to climb the side as if it’s a rock wall and I’m Alex Honnold, free soloing El Capitan.
“Yeah, because I could do that in any lifetime,” I mutter, but then give it a shot and find myself flat on my back, staring up at the blue sky overhead and the broken roots in my hand. I scramble back to my feet. “Shit.”
I try to roll the ankle and let out a whimper when the pain doesn’t go away.
“Not broken, but definitely sprained.” I sigh, looking up, and then the severity of the situation starts to wrap itself around my neck and tighten, stealing the breath from my lungs. My heart hammers, and blood rushes through my ears.
I’m at the bottom of a deep hole, on Lexington property, with no cell signal. I can’t call for help. I’m at least a couple of miles away from Holden’s barn, and farther than that from my family.
“Betty?” I call out, my voice sounding like sandpaper. “Betty! Come here, girl.”
God, I don’t want her to fall in, but maybe I could reach her reins if she lowers her head. I hear her footsteps overhead, and then they get farther away.
Not closer.
“Go find help, Betty!” I scream it, hoping she not only hears me, but understands. “Go find help, girl!”
Now the panic is settling in, seeping into every pore of my body. I’ve never had a panic attack before, but if a racing heart, shortness of breath, and your life flashing before your eyes is what it feels like, then I’m there.
I hold my phone up as far as I can, but there’s still no signal. I would have sworn that I had a tiny one when Betty was getting some water.
But apparently, at the bottom of a scary-as-fuck pit of despair, service isn’t a thing.
Why is this hole even here? For wildlife? Why would they want to trap wildlife?
This is so weird.
“Help!” I scream, hoping someone can hear me. Maybe the trail cams have audio and they’ll hear me in the office. “HELP!”
But I yell until my throat screams in rebellion, and there’s no sign of anyone nearby. No footsteps, no voices. I can hear the water of the creek and some birds. And that’s it.
I needed a couple of hours of alone time, and now I might die here in this fucked-up grave, alone for all eternity.
“Well, that’s a lovely thought,” I mutter, willing my heart rate to slow down. I don’t want to sit on the dirt. I do not want to. But my ankle is killing me, and I can feel it swelling in my shoe, making it almost unbearably uncomfortable. So, I shine my flashlight again and make sure I’m sitting as far away from those bones as I can get and prop my foot up on a clump of dirt. At least, I hope it’s just a clump of dirt and not something buried there.
“Jesus. Okay, calm down. Breathe in for three seconds, hold for three seconds, let it out for three seconds.”
Is it three seconds you’re supposed to do? Or four? I don’t know, I heard it somewhere, and it’s not helping.
“Stop,” I whisper, and look up again. My neck is already sore from looking up. “When I don’t come back to the barn, Holden will come find me.”
Holden will find me.
Oh, God, he has to come find me.
“Don’t be silly, he totally will. When I don’t come back by dinnertime, he’ll send out a big search party, and they’ll pull me out of here, and it’ll be a story we tell our grandkids someday.”
My heart stills at that thought.
Our grandkids.
I close my eyes and let out a long breath. I know that neither of us wants our marriage to end after a year. We’ve both voiced it. And although we’ve only been married for a few weeks—and literally the day before that, I might have stabbed him in the neck for looking at me sideways—I can admit that I don’t think that I ever stopped loving him.
It’s like he just wormed his way inside of me and never left.
“Come on, husband. Come find me.”
According to my phone, I’ve been down here for over an hour when the rain starts. I tip my head back and stare up.
“Of course. Because sitting in mud will make this more pleasant,” I mutter, pulling my good leg up to my chest and wrapping my arms around it. Then lightning flashes and thunder booms, and a jolt sparks through me, making me jump at least a foot off the ground. “Seriously?”
I didn’t realize that we’d be getting thunderstorms this afternoon, but it’s spring in Montana. We almost always get afternoon storms in the spring.
I just thought I’d be home well before now, safe inside, making dinner. Maybe I’d vent about my dad, and then Holden would distract me with something flirty and sexy, and we’d end up having hot, crazy sex.
Water fills my eyes, and the tears fall, mixing with the rain as it pours in on me. It’s as if a faucet has been turned on, and I’m sitting in an outdoor shower.
Or a really dirty outdoor bathtub.
Where the hell is Holden?