Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
BOOKER
S omeone had rung my bell harder than it had ever been done before. Yet it was nothing compared to the pain in my heart when I saw the scared reluctance on Reece’s face about facing her past.
Whoever this guy was, she was scared of him. But it seemed like something so much more than I’d thought before. I’d assumed he was just a guy who got off on breaking women, not that that wasn’t bad enough. From the look on Reece’s face back at the hospital, she seemed to think there was something so much worse.
I climbed out of the back of Trace’s truck as Delaney and Reece fussed around me. It should have been pissing me off, but there was something nice about knowing someone cared that much about you. As nice as it was, though, I was reaching my limit. But I gritted my teeth and tried not to come across like a completely ungrateful bastard.
“Okay, now one step at a time,” Trace said as we approached the front porch. “Hold on to the railing. Better yet, wrap your arm around me.”
“Nope, that’s it! I can’t take it anymore!”
Trace started laughing, and I glared at my brother and the amused look on Delaney’s face. That Reece looked thoroughly confused was the only thing that saved her. That and the fact that I was now absolutely certain I was madly in love with the woman.
“Twenty bucks for me!” Trace crowed.
“Damned it! You play dirty, Trace,” Delaney said, waving a finger at him.
“What can I say? I have more years of experience at poking the bear than you give me credit for.”
“I hate you both,” I snapped as I stomped up the steps, followed by their laughter and a confused-looking Reece.
Damn, I needed that, though. I needed a dose of normalcy to scare the worry away from my mind. If that bastard had done something to Val, I was ripping his legs off.
I stormed into the dining room we rarely used, checking under the table before heading into the kitchen to look for her. It wasn’t like Val not to come out if someone turned up at the ranch. She wasn’t one of those dogs who would sleep in her basket all day.
I laid my hand on the cushion of the basket and found it cold.
When I turned around, scowling in thought, trying to think of where to look next, I found Reece standing in front of me with a sad look on her face.
Trace and Delaney were looking around, confused, but Trace seemed to figure it out first.
“Where’s Val?” he asked.
“We haven’t seen her since before the…accident?” Reece looked confused by the word, and I couldn’t blame her.
We were the only two who suspected the truth at the moment. I knew she was feeling bad enough about the whole thing. I didn’t want her to have to face answering everyone else’s questions until I could persuade her that none of this was her fault.
Xander walked into the house at that point, storming into the kitchen with a scowl on his face that rivaled even mine. “Now I remember specifically telling you that you were going straight to bed. What I’m confused about is what you think you heard me say.”
He crossed his arms, staring me down.
“Val—”
“Is a dog. Get your ass up the stairs.”
We glared at each other across the kitchen, and I was about ready to see how hard I could bounce this cast off his skull.
“How about we look for Val?” Delaney said calmly, walking between Xander and me as she tried to break the stare down. “Reece can get you settled upstairs.”
They were clearly forgetting that not only was I a grown man who could do whatever the hell he wanted to do, but there was also a door behind me I fully intended to escape through.
Before I could turn and storm away, Reece’s hand slipped into mine.
“We can check the barn together,” she said gently, not even trying to tell me I had to wait behind. “But your family is trying to tell you they’re worried about you, Booker. They just need some reassurance.”
I saw Xander’s expression crumble at that moment. I’d never seen him look like this before.
“I was so scared, Booker.” Xander shook his head as he spoke. “I thought we’d lost you. All these years I’ve spent sulking at the bottom of a bottle, and now I’m finally getting my life together, I lose you. We’re supposed to be rebuilding something here. We can’t do that without you.”
I strode across the room to my brother and pulled him into a hug. Xander clung to me, and I felt his shoulders shaking as he let his emotions go.
It was selfish of me not to even consider what they were going through right now.
But this was Val. She’d been by my side for years. There were days when the only time I spoke was to Val. It might be stupid to admit, but she was my best friend. I couldn’t rest if she was out there somewhere hurting.
“I’m right here. I’m fine, Xan.” When I leaned back to look at him, he quickly swiped the tears from his cheeks and gave me a weak smile. “I’m sorry for scaring you.”
“Let’s check out the barn,” he said, rolling his eyes. “I know there’s no persuading you once you’ve made up your mind.”
We didn’t even make it a step because Trace was suddenly there, throwing his arms around us both as well.
“I’m not missing out on the Farrington bro hug,” he said, pressing his face against my back. “Let’s maybe just get together for things like dinner and carnivals in the future, though, yeah? I’m not sure my old heart can take emergency calls to the ER anymore.”
The girls joined us then, joining in the hug on each side, and I suddenly found myself in the middle smothered by people who cared about me. Even the dull ache in my arm and the throbbing in my head couldn’t take away how much this moment meant to even a grumpy ass like me.
A noise came from behind me as someone cleared their throat uncomfortably.
Hank stood by the door looking awkward at having interrupted our strange scene.
“Erm, good to see you on your feet, boss.” He gave me a lopsided grin as he pulled the hat off his head. “Cole is out in the barn with Bullet. He wanted to know if you wanted an update before he left.”
“Bullet?”
“Yeah. He thinks he can save him. He had a dislocated front leg that he reset and a couple of broken ribs, but he can pull him through if you want him to. I wasn’t sure. Given everything that happened, I thought maybe you’d want…”
“Whatever he needs. Cost isn’t an issue,” I said in relief.
I’d seen poor Bullet as they loaded me onto the stretcher, and I’d been around horses for long enough that I knew Cole was coming for one reason only. Most vets would have just shot him and called it a day. The fact that Cole was even willing to try meant I’d made the right move in picking him to work with the ranch. He was a good man, and he cared about the horses nearly as much as I did.
“Oh thank god,” Reece rushed out a sigh.
I was surprised to see her tucked under Xander’s arm when I looked at her, but I was just glad that Xander had finally pulled his head out of his ass for long enough to see how good of a person she was.
He gave me a slight shrug when he saw me looking at him, and I turned back to Hank.
“As long as my doctor doesn’t mind, I’ll come out and talk to Cole myself.”
I heard Xander’s scoff because I didn’t even wait for his response before I was heading for the door. Reece laughed softly, and I heard them all follow.
Bullet deserved a medal for everything he’d been through. And he was about to have a whole crowd of people ready to do whatever it took to get him back on his feet.
As we made our way to the barn, my eyes went to every bush, every shadow, looking for Val. The wave of relief when we went inside the barn and found her sitting in the corner of Bullet’s stall genuinely made me think I was about to cry.
“Val!” Reece rushed out, making the dog leap to its feet and rush to her feet. “Where have you been?”
Reece dropped to her knees to fuss over Val, who immediately rolled onto her back, whimpering and crying in a way that I’d never seen before.
“I checked her over quickly,” Cole said, prepping a syringe of something. “She’s fine. A bit shaken up I think, nothing else. Hank found her locked inside one of the stalls when we were bringing Bullet in.”
My forehead creased in a frown, and I moved to my best friend, dropping to my knees as I ran my fingers through her soft fur. “What did you get yourself into, girl?”
She whimpered and wriggled closer to me, shoving her cold nose into my hand, which was partially covered by the cast, and sniffing it.
If Val hadn’t been shut inside the stable, I dreaded to think what would have happened to her when I came off Bullet in the herd. She would have tried to reach me. I know she would have. And she would have been hurt. Whoever had shut her in there didn’t do it for noble reasons, but it had most likely saved her life.
Cole finished giving Bullet the shot and then started packing up his bag. “I’ve done all I can,” Cole said, his gaze roaming over Bullet as he spoke like he was checking to make sure that he hadn’t missed anything. “I think he should pull through fine. Once we reset the leg, we were able to get him up on his feet. He’s not putting any weight on the injured leg for now, but that’s to be expected. I’ve given him painkillers, antibiotics, and something to bring the swelling down. There’s nothing to do but wait and see for now. I’ll come by and check on him in the morning. If he lies down, let him. There’s no point stressing him by trying to keep him on his feet. But I have to warn you. If he goes down and we can’t get him back up again…Well, you know the rest.”
I nodded, moving to Bullet’s side and laying my forehead against his neck. “Thank you,” I whispered, running my hand across his neck.
I had no idea how we’d both made it out of this. We might be hurting, but there was no way I was losing Bullet now. I meant it when I said whatever it took.
Cole ran through the care routine for Bullet with Hank and Reece. I’d be relying on the ranch hands even more over the next couple of months while the cast was on. Maybe now was the time to bring on some more help. We could ramp up the renovation plans and get some movement on the project while I had time to concentrate on it.
But first, I needed to get Reece alone and have a long overdue conversation.
Someone was on the ranch. Whoever had broken into the cottage hadn’t left like we’d assumed.
It was time to show them what happened to people who thought they could put the people I cared about at risk.