Chapter 36
Never Let Her Slip Away – Andrew Gold
Wilder
I’d been up and about since before dawn broke. I hated lying in Tally’s bed without her there. It didn’t feel right. Like when you went to a wedding party and the bride and groom left early. It kinda felt pointless.
Walking back to the main house, mug of coffee in my hand, my mood lifted a little.
That was what our land did to you. The quilt of emerald fields and soft lavender rolled toward the horizon like something out of a dream.
Stretching wide and quiet. The scent of the earth and the mountain air curled into my chest like a breath I didn’t know I needed.
It calmed me. It got into my bones and settled me, reminding me that my peace came from my home. My home and my woman.
The house was already a buzz of activity when I walked through the door.
The clatter of pans and bursts of laughter.
The warm aroma of sage and cinnamon clung to the air like a comforting quilt as Lily and Cassidy prepped the turkey and vegetables while Gunner made Mom’s pumpkin pie, peering at the recipe like it held the answer to everything.
“What can I do?” I asked, leaning against the door frame.
“Hey, sweetie.” Lily grinned at me. “Sleep well?”
“Eventually.”
“Aww is the little pussy missing his girl?”
“Fuck off, Gunner.” Drinking back the last of my coffee I went over to him and scooped a finger through the filling he was making. “And for your information, yeah I am.” Pouting like a toddler, I took my mug to sink and washed it. “Okay ladies, put me to work.”
“Potatoes?” Cassidy suggested.
“No problem. Where’s Nash by the way?”
“He’s checking in with the guys who are working today.” Lily opened the oven and put the biggest turkey I’d ever seen inside. “Ruby made them all dinner last night so hopefully they won’t feel like they missed out on the holiday.” She nudged me. “You heard from Tally this morning.”
Instinctively I pulled my phone from my pocket and looked at the screen, even though I knew there would be no message.
And then…is it called manifestation? Well, it looked like it worked.
Tally
Morning. Happy Thanksgiving. I’m in charge of the turkey because my brothers are both hopeless. Hopefully I don’t give us all food poisoning xx
It was quickly followed by another one.
Tally
I miss you. Can’t wait to come home tomorrow xx
And that was it. I was gone because she said this was home.
We spent the day eating, drinking, playing games with the kids and then once they were in bed us adults played poker.
Peggy, Lily’s grandma, cleaned up because that woman had the best resting bitch face I’d ever seen.
I’d have a couple of messages from Tally but not as many as I’d have liked.
They were only responses from mine, too, which also felt a bit off.
The last one she hadn’t even read, but like the sap that I was, I checked again anyway.
Me
What time do you think you’ll be back tomorrow? Just so I know when to be lying naked in your bed xx
Two hours and still not read. My stomach flipped at the idea that maybe she was driving home and couldn’t read it.
Then I got to thinking that maybe she’d had an issue while driving home.
She might need to swap out her tire. What if she’d broken down on that part of the road that was a blind bend without any lighting?
I’d halfway convinced myself to get on the road to Sweet Maple Falls when there was a loud knocking at the front door.
“I’ll get it.”
Everyone looked up from their cards, barely caring that it might be someone to let us know that Tally had been involved in an accident.
My feet skidded across the tiles in the hallway, and I almost collided with the coat stand as I grabbed for the door.
When I saw it was Glenn on the other side, I wasn’t sure which emotion I felt the most. Disappointment. Anger. Concern.
“Hey there, boss man.”
Anger heavily laced with ‘you annoy the fuck out of me’. “Hey Glenn, what can I do for you?” Irritated, I ran a hand through my hair. “If it’s ranch stuff then Davey is taking care of business today.”
“I was just wondering when erm…” He took off his hat and waved toward the stables. “When is Tally back?”
I blinked slowly, not sure whether warning him to back off would be enough. Maybe warning him and a knee to the balls would work.
“Why do you want to know?” My hands fisted so I shoved them to my hips to save me from punching him.
“I went by the stable and Dreamy seemed a little off.”
My back straightened. Dreamy was her baby and if anything happened to him while she wasn’t here. It would devastate her. I’d seen what losing Ariel had done to Gunner.
“Let me get my boots on.”
“So, you don’t think we should call Tally?”
I didn’t bother answering him. He didn’t deserve a response. “Gun, bro, we’re needed at the stables.” I began pulling on my boots and was hopping on one foot when Gunner walked into the foyer from the dining room.
“What’s up?” He was already reaching for his jacket from the coat hook.
“Dreamy.”
“What exactly?” His tone and movements became urgent as he looked at the open door. “Glenn?”
“He just seems off. I went past the stables, and he was making some noise. I mean I just thought maybe I should let Tally know. I can call her if you want while you two check him out.”
“Nope. Go get your Thanksgiving dinner.” There was no way that fucker was calling my woman. And how the fuck did he get her number anyway.
“Thanks, Glenn,” Gunner said as he pushed past me, nudging me with his elbow. “We appreciate you letting us know. Wild is right, go enjoy your dinner.”
“I don’t have a problem coming with you. I can warm my food.”
“Glenn, man,” I ground out moving past him, quickly trying to catch up with Gunner, “we’ve got this.”
“And you’re sure you don’t want me to call Ta—”
It took everything in me not to swing around and tell him to wipe her name from his memory because I was sick of hearing it coming out of his mouth.
“Glenn, we’ve got this, and I’ll call my girlfriend about her horse if I need to.” I didn’t say anything more, because what else was there left to say. Hopefully he got the message.
Gunner beat me to the stables by a few seconds and was already checking Dreamy out when I got there. The sharp tang of hay and horse sweat hung in the air as the horse’s snorts echoed in the cool air, Dreamy’s breath curling like steam in the dim light.
“He okay?” My heart was thudding at the idea that there might be something wrong with him.
Gunner crouched down and ran his hands down the horse’s legs. “Nothing so far.” Slowly he worked his way over Dreamy, checking every inch with precision. It was incredible how much he knew about horses and how good he was at it.
When Gunner’s hands moved over his back Dreamy shifted and reared his head with a loud snort.
“Gotcha.” Pulling back the horse blanket, Gunner plucked a bur that was hooked into the fleece.
“I’ll check with Benny and find out who stabled him.
They shouldn’t be missing stuff like that,” he grumbled.
“I always stress to check the blankets.”
He put Dreamy’s blanket back and threw the bur into the trash can. Then he pulled a packet of mints out of his pocket and took a couple out. Laying them on his palm he held it out to Dreamy, who took the mints with a grateful snort.
“At least we don’t need to worry Tally with it,” he said, smirking at me over his shoulder.
“And he’d be the last person I’d let contact her.” Too damn right I was being snippy. Glenn was hanging around too much for my liking.
“I think she might like to know if you want an excuse to call her.”
“I don’t need an excuse.”
I didn’t need a fucking excuse to call her.
“I know you’ve been looking at your phone every two minutes, all damn day, so I’m guessing she hasn’t messaged you. Which means,” he slapped his palm against my chest, “you my friend need an excuse to call her. Because if you don’t your head might just explode.”
As he walked away, chuckling, I realized he was right, I did need to find an excuse to call her.
Thankfully, she answered on the third ring.
“Hey, this is a nice surprise.”
Her voice trickled through the speaker like warm honey, drowsy and tender. I could almost feel the warmth of her skin beside me, like the memory of a favorite song played low in the background and I ached to be crawling into her bed with her.
“I miss you so fucking much, Brownie,” I breathed out. “What time are you coming back tomorrow?”
She giggled. “I’ll be leaving at six, I have work at seven-thirty. Do you plan on being in my bed when I get back?”
Looking at her horse it struck me that I didn’t want to be anywhere else.
I could say it was too soon, too quick, but who the hell was I kidding.
After the first month of hooking up we’d become much more than fuck buddies.
We shared our days. We talked about the good and the shit.
I spoke about my mom to her. We were best friends.
“Too right I will be. Now, tell me about your day.”
As we talked for the next half hour I felt the peace seep back into my bones and knew it wasn’t just because of the land. It was because of Tallulah Brown, too.