Chapter Fourteen #2
Still no Summer. Adrenaline slammed like a bullet.
“Summer!” he hollered over the noise, but the auction swallowed his voice.
She didn’t pop up from between ranchers or dart around a stand.
Heart hammering, he strode through the crowd, checking aisles and pens as the worst-case scenario slammed through him.
He reached for his phone and dialed Summer’s number. It rang several times and went to voicemail. He called again and when the same thing happened, he reached out to the only person who could help him now.
As soon as his boss answered, Pope choked out, “Carson.”
“What’s wrong?” The severe tone made fear spiral through him faster.
He shoved through another cluster of people. “I lost her.”
A beat of silence.
Then Carson’s voice came out even sharper. “Explain.”
“She was right here, a few feet away from me.” Panic clawed under his skin, and he wildly scanned the heads in the crowd.
“How long has she been out of your sight?”
“Three minutes, tops.”
“Does she have her phone on her?”
“She’s not answering.”
“Stay calm.”
Easy for him to fucking say. Every nightmare Pope carried from Baghdad—of failing to protect the man he was supposed to be guarding—crashed violently into the present. Sweat rolled down his spine and the crowded auction grounds suddenly felt too big, too loud, too impossible to search fast enough.
Carson was still talking to him.
“Colt is closest. Do you hear me, Pope?”
His senses dragged back into place hard enough to hurt. “I hear you.”
“He’ll meet you at your truck. In the meantime, keep looking.”
“I will.” Pope shoved through another cluster of people, scanning frantically for her brown hair or the denim top she’d worn—anything. “But Carson, I swear to God, if something happened to her on my watch—” His throat worked hard against the tide of panic climbing into it.
“Pope.”
But he barely heard him anymore.
Because for the first time since Baghdad, he felt that same cold certainty crawling up his spine again.
He wasn’t just about to lose someone he was supposed to protect.
He was about to lose someone he loved.
* * * * *
Summer stood beneath the faded yellow umbrella beside the lemonade stand. The bright scent of lemons and sugar made her mouth water…and so did the man standing across the crowded grounds talking to Flint’s new owners.
Her heart was so full, seeing how he interacted with the child who was clearly thrilled to be Flint’s new owner. All she really saw was Vander. The love of her life.
Her future.
He bent to speak to the little blonde girl, and she laughed when Flint nudged her shoulder like he owned her instead of the other way around.
Vander’s smile was quick and genuine, and oh, it did things to Summer’s heart that made her think about dragging him home for round two on the kitchen counter.
The child’s father stood nearby listening to Vander explain something with that steady patience he used around kids and animals.
Even selling his horse, Vander made sure Flint would end up loved and cared for before he let him go.
That was just who he was.
Protective. Loyal. Steady in ways she’d spent years convincing herself didn’t really exist.
Warmth spread through her chest again, thick enough to ache.
“Looks hot out here.”
The male voice beside her startled her, and she turned quickly.
The truck driver from the bar stood there holding two lemonades.
Gary.
He smiled easily and held one cup toward her. “Thought you might want something cold while you wait.”
“Oh.” Summer blinked once before accepting it. “Thank you.”
“No problem.”
She glanced back toward Vander again. He still stood with the little girl and her father near the pens. Summer smiled softly to herself before taking a sip of the lemonade.
The sweetness hit first. Then something bitter underneath it. Maybe too much lemon.
Her stomach turned faintly.
Gary leaned casually against the stand beside her. “Auction’s packed.”
“Yeah.” She swallowed again and frowned slightly down at the drink. “Busier than I expected.”
“Gets worse every year.”
Summer took another sip as her eyes drifted back toward Vander.
The crowd between them suddenly seemed thicker somehow. Louder too. The bright sunlight pressing down across the grounds felt sharper against her eyes.
A strange wave of dizziness rolled through her head.
“You all right?” Gary’s eyes creased in concern.
She laughed weakly and pressed her fingertips briefly against her forehead. “I think the heat’s getting to me.”
Concern darkened his face. “You look pale.”
Summer blinked hard once.
The movement felt oddly slow. Like her body wasn’t responding correctly.
“I’m okay.” Her voice came out softer than she intended. “Just dizzy.”
Gary reached carefully for her elbow. “Come sit down for a minute.”
Honestly, sitting sounded amazing.
The ground felt uneven beneath her feet as he guided her slowly through the shifting crowd. Summer glanced back over her shoulder toward Vander, but another group had moved between them.
“I should tell—”
“I’ll let him know,” Gary assured her. “Let’s just get you cooled off first.”
Summer nodded faintly because that made sense.
Didn’t it?
Her thoughts already felt strangely snarled together as they moved past rows of trailers reflecting the sun in a way that made her even dizzier. The lemonade sloshed in her hand and heat pressed heavier against her skin.
Then confusion flickered through her head.
Where was the bench to sit down?
Looking around, she frowned. “I thought—”
“Truck’s closer,” Gary said. “Has air conditioning too.”
Truck?
Something about that word snagged awkwardly in her brain.
Summer slowed. “I don’t want Vander thinking I disappeared.”
She stumbled, and Gary tightened his grip on her arm. “Easy there.”
The world tilted beneath her feet.
God.
What was wrong with her?
“I’ll tell him,” Gary promised again. “You just need to sit down.”
Her thoughts felt slippery. Hard to hold on to for more than a few seconds at a time.
Summer looked back again toward the crowded auction grounds, searching for Vander through the haze thickening steadily inside her head.
Couldn’t see him at all.
Fear stirred low in her chest.
The semitruck sat near the edge of the lot shimmering in the heat as Summer struggled to keep her balance beside him. By the time they reached the passenger door, her legs barely wanted to cooperate anymore.
Gary opened the cab and steadied her. “Easy.”
Summer stared up into the truck. Something inside her screamed this wasn’t right.
Vander wouldn’t know where she was.
The thought surfaced harder this time, cutting through the fog clouding her brain.
“I need to call him.”
“You can after you cool down.” Gary’s tone stayed patient. “You’re dehydrated.”
The word caught in her spinning thoughts.
Dehydrated.
Maybe.
Maybe that was all this was.
Her body felt heavy and distant as Gary helped her into the passenger seat. The cab smelled like coffee, motor oil and a staleness underneath.
“I think I’m gonna be sick.”
“You just need to cool off.” He shut the door firmly.
Panic fluttered harder beneath her ribs.
No. She needed Vander.
The thought pushed through the haze again, stronger now.
Need to tell Vander—
The driver’s side door opened.
Gary climbed inside and handed her the cup of lemonade. “Drink more. You’re more dehydrated than you realized.”
Summer’s fingers fumbled around the cup. Everything felt wrong. Slow. Heavy. Like her mind floated several seconds behind reality.
“I should call him,” she tried again.
“After you rest.”
His voice sounded farther away now.
Summer barely realized he’d helped guide her toward the sleeper compartment behind the seats until she found herself propped against the narrow mattress in dimmer light.
Fear clawed harder through the fog clouding her head.
This was wrong.
The lemonade coated her tongue sickly sweet as she swallowed several desperate gulps in an attempt to ease the awful dryness in her throat.
Then the truck engine roared to life, vibrating beneath her.
Panic slammed through her chest.
“No—”
She jerked upright, but her muscles collapsed halfway and her body refused to cooperate.
The sleeper compartment blurred around her, and sunlight flashed through the windows. The truck shifted into motion beneath her.
No.
Vander wouldn’t know where she was.
She tried reaching toward the front seat. Tried speaking again. Her arm barely lifted before darkness dragged hard at the edges of her vision.
The last thing she heard was the low growl of the engine carrying her away from the man she loved.