Chapter 24
24
Rachel
R achel stared at the steaming cup of tea that Athena placed in front of her and fought back the emotion she’d been holding in since the fire. The building was a pile of rubble, but at least it had stopped smoking. Now, it was just a reminder of the wreckage of her dream. She glanced up at her sister before grasping the cup. “Have you heard from him?”
Athena glanced toward Henry and then back to Rachel. “We haven’t.”
Rachel shot a look toward Liam, who also shook his head.
Her heart sank. Each passing day that they hadn’t heard from Hudson made her anxiety that much worse. She couldn’t believe he would just up and leave like that. He’d been so adamant about how wrong it was for someone to just take off. He wasn’t a hypocrite. So where had he gone?
“Do you know where he might be?” she asked.
Henry was the one to answer this time. “All I know is that he took a small camper trailer from Wade’s father-in-law and left with just a duffle bag and his truck. No one has heard from him or seen him since he got discharged from the hospital.”
“I don’t like it,” Rachel snapped. “Who in their right mind would let a guy just take off and leave without having to check in every couple of days? Smoke inhalation is really dangerous. What if something happens and he passes out? There’s no one who can keep an eye on him and call a paramedic.” She hated how her voice got sharper with each word she spoke. She hated how her vulnerability had become so transparent that she might as well have a wall of glass around her instead of the stone wall she used to have protecting her heart.
“We’re all worried, Rachel. No one faults you for that.”
“But they fault me for dragging you all into this, don’t they?”
Athena reached out and touched Rachel’s knee. “No one is thinking that either.”
She gave her sister a look of disbelief. “Really? You can honestly tell me that Wade is living his happy-go-lucky life? Because the last time I saw him, I got the distinct impression that he was judging me so deeply it almost hurt.”
“Wade has other things to worry about,” Henry jumped in. “He’s running the family ranch. He’s not going to judge you for anything.”
“Except now the three of you are staying at my place until I can get it sold.”
Once again, all her guests exchanged knowing looks. There it was. Those expressions said it all. They didn’t want to admit to it, but none of them were thrilled to be here babysitting her either.
Rachel shot to her feet and paced the living room. “I didn’t have a choice. You know that.”
They’d gone over this several times when it came to the security and safety of the property. Each time she made the same argument, and every time she’d get half-hearted responses. It appeared that while everyone seemed to be under the same frame of mind that Hudson shouldn’t have been put in the position to get hurt, they still didn’t think selling the property was in her best interest.
It was getting to the point where she felt like she was being pulled in two separate directions, and there was no right answer.
Well, what did they want from her? The people who were responsible for all this madness had shown they weren’t above hurting the people she cared about. Who would be next? She’d rather lose every last penny to her name before letting her sister get caught in the crosshairs.
The room was abnormally quiet. Rachel stopped pacing and stared at the others. The only one she had learned to read was her sister, and there was a sort of judgmental expression taking over her face.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“I’m not looking at you like anything,” Athena muttered, turning her eyes to the tea in her own hands. “I just don’t think you should be having that meeting with the charity rep tomorrow. It’s a mistake.”
“I’m not agreeing to anything.”
“No, but you’ve listed the property, and you’re calling around to find out what you can do to prevent the developer from taking over. What do you think is going to happen? That whoever comes in to run the sanctuary will have an easy ride? I guarantee that whoever is behind all of this won’t stop until they have the property.”
Liam wasn’t looking at Rachel either, which was why his next statement threw her off so much. “Don’t forget that people are dishonest. Mr. Callahan says it all the time. You can’t trust anyone—not even the people you think you should. What if someone who has ties to that developer buys the land, then just turns around and donates it to them?”
Rachel’s stomach twisted. That was a possibility. She couldn’t deny it. There wasn’t any way to safeguard the land, at least not quickly enough to keep her family safe. She shut her eyes tight and attempted to find her center.
Hudson had been hurt badly. After she told him she was going to list the property, he refused to let her visit him in the hospital. He didn’t want her help. He didn’t want to see her. From what she had heard through Liam, Hudson was now lumping her in with all the people she didn’t see herself like—all the people in high society who were fake and only did things to boost their own egos.
Even though she hadn’t heard it come from Hudson’s lips, those words still hurt far more than she wanted to admit.
She opened her eyes and scowled at nothing in particular. Couldn’t Hudson see she was trying to protect everyone she cared about? Couldn’t he understand that this land was the one thing that could get any one of them hurt… or worse? What if Hudson hadn’t made it out of that fire? He would have died.
Since that evening, Rachel had been plagued by nightmares of that night—of looking out the window and seeing the blaze. She’d known Hudson had distanced himself from her because of that letter and that he’d gone to bed in the barn.
The sick feeling in her stomach still hadn’t left despite finding him alive with a weak pulse. Her heart had never resumed a healthy pulse, not even when the doctor assured her that Hudson would make a full recovery.
Her world was still crumbling around her, much like the barn had crumbled under the weight and force of the water from the fire trucks that had shown up to put out what remained of that structure. Thankfully, there were no casualties—and all because Hudson had been brave enough to save the animals. He’d been an idiot to risk his own life for the creatures, but that just went to show why he was such a good man.
“I’m not going to argue with you anymore,” she whispered. “Not with any of you. I’m going to that meeting tomorrow, and I don’t want to hear another word about it.” With that, she grabbed her tea and headed for her room—the one with the boarded-up window. For very obvious reasons, she couldn’t stand to sleep in the room that shared a wall with Hudson any longer—the main one being that Liam now stayed in there.
“You’re telling me that you want me to completely head this new project?” Rachel stared, dumbfounded, at the paperwork in her hands.
“Of course, that’s what we put in the letter, after all.” The older gentleman in front of her smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling. She’d heard of him before, but she’d never met him. He’d run in some of the charitable circles her parents participated in when she was younger.
“But I don’t have that kind of experience. I’m usually the one putting things together, but there’s someone else who makes the big decisions.” She put the paperwork down. Granted, some of her clients had delegated a few of those bigger issues to her, but she wasn’t sure how much information Mr. Grant had.
He steepled his fingers together and leaned forward. They sat in a hotel lobby across from each other with people coming and going all around them, and yet the secluded corner felt more intimate than if they were in a quiet space in a fancy restaurant. “That’s not what I heard.”
She could feel the warmth seeping into her face, her pleasure at the compliment harder to hide than it should have been. “And there’s no way I could oversee the horse sanctuary here.”
“Word on the street is that you were planning on selling it.”
“That was one option I considered,” she admitted. “But I could also find someone to run it while I get a few things sorted out.” It was a bluff that Mr. Grant could probably see right through. By the way he smiled at her, she could sense that he knew all her excuses and he’d planned for all of them.
“The way I see it, this was only ever supposed to be a hobby—a placeholder, if you will. Your passion is in reuniting families together, not horses,” he said.
“Passions change,” she murmured, her thoughts shifting to Hudson.
“True.” He tilted his head and stared at her with a gaze that could have burned a hole into the side of a barn. “With this project, we’d need your full attention. We’d like it if you were not only the brains behind it but also the face in front of it. Of course, we’re looking for someone who can put their whole heart into the project—along with some capital. That property you’re currently trying to dump?—”
“I’m not trying to dump it.” She said it too quickly and too sharply for the manners she’d grown up learning. Embarrassment seared her cheeks, and she offered an apologetic smile. “What I mean to say is that it’s still a special project. I want the right buyer.”
“Of course. That’s perfectly understandable. What if I were to tell you that I might have just the person for your little passion?”
Her brows lifted.
“Ah, see? There’s that spark I was told about. They would even be willing to pay you one hundred thousand over asking price if you’re willing to part with it on their terms.”
Red flags shot up all around her. This sounded like someone was trying to manipulate their way into getting something she had worked hard to keep out of the wrong hands.
“Don’t worry. I’ve heard all about your feud with that developer,” he said.
Again, she couldn’t hide the shock from her face. If he’d heard about a feud, did that mean the developers were the ones behind this mess? A clatter near the reception desk drew their attention away. Someone had dropped a clipboard and a cup of pens.
“Where was I? Oh, yes. The folks I have in mind are more interested in building a community center. That’s something you can get behind, right?”
She swung her gaze back to Mr. Grant. A community center would be a great addition to the area. Hudson’s family would have benefited from something like that when they were younger. “What kind of community center?”
“Imagine a place where children of all ages would be able to have access to riding lessons and learning how to care for animals, despite their income or lack thereof. It would be like a recreational center but geared more toward ranching families.”
It actually sounded perfect. How could she possibly say no to something like that?