Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
REECE
I stared at my phone screen and sighed. It had been three days now, and there was still no response from Gage. I’d really thought it could work, but he didn’t seem active on any of his accounts. Maybe he’d abandoned them for new ones.
Feeling disillusioned that I couldn’t do this one thing for Booker, I shoved the phone into my pocket and looked up at the little mare in the stall in front of me.
She moved forward, sniffing at my outstretched hand, and then gave me a look I always interpreted as complete disbelief that I’d dare to come around without an apple slice or two for her.
“You know I wouldn’t forget,” I said, taking the Ziplock out of my pocket and laughing as she shuffled closer in anticipation.
“She really trusts you,” a voice came from behind me as the little mare happily chomped down on her favorite snack.
I glanced over my shoulder to see Cole approaching, carrying his bag of supplies.
“I didn’t realize she was due for another check-up today.” I racked my brain, wondering if I had my dates wrong, as Cole shook his head.
“I was just driving past, so I thought I’d come visit my favorite patient. Don’t tell Booker, but this is honestly the best part of my day. It does me good to spend time with the success cases. Helps balance out the sadness with the others.”
Cole came and leaned against the stall door next to me, his gaze moving over the mare as he cataloged the changes in her.
“She’s moving well, and she’s definitely getting some weight on. Has Booker tried her out of the stall yet?”
“We’re all scheduled for tomorrow. I think he’s going to see if she will walk around the training ring first. He wants to see how well she’s moving.”
Cole nodded. “They can get some pretty severe muscle wasting in cases of neglect like this. Giving them too much space to move about can do them more harm than good sometimes. Booker’s definitely one of the best at rehabilitating these horses, though. He seems to have a never-ending supply of patience for them. People, not so much,” he added wryly.
I grinned happily. Everyone seemed to say this about Booker, and yet I’d barely ever seen that side of him.
To me, he was the man who took a chance on a woman on the side of the road. A man who protected what was his and stood up for what was right.
I might even say he was perfect. Not that Booker would ever accept such a label.
“I think you’re selling him short there. Look at what he’s doing here.”
“You’re right.” Cole nodded. “It’s hard to see people differently when you’ve spent your entire life growing up alongside them. The stories I could tell you. It’s the small-town curse, you know. Everyone knows everything, and it’s hard to prove them wrong.”
“I’ve never really had that many people in my life that gave enough of a crap to get to know me that well. It might not be as much of a curse as you think it is.”
“I never thought of it that way,” Cole conceded. “Don’t get me wrong. I love this place more than is probably healthy. I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else in the world.”
I looked around the dusty barn that I spent far too much time in and knew exactly what he meant.
“Do you think it will feel different with more people coming into town?” I asked.
It was the goal at the end of the day, but maybe the charm of Willowbrook was that it was this sleepy little town nestled among the rolling green fields. You didn’t have to fight through the crowds to get where you needed to be. You couldn’t get lost in the anonymity that a city provided. Which probably sounded like a nightmare to some people, but not to me. Not when I’d only just escaped the isolation and the dangers that hid inside it.
“Nah. Willowbrook has this special quality that will always be there, no matter how many come to enjoy it. It’s not just in the place. It’s in the people, and I think the world could benefit from having more people touched by that who then take it home with them.”
“Awww, that’s really poetic.”
Cole was good-looking, rocking those country boy muscles every girl dreamed of, and a goddamn vet to boot. He had to have the ladies beating down his door for a date.
“Yikes, don’t tell anyone. It will ruin this bad boy image I have going on for myself.” And then he hit me with the cutest silly grin that made me cackle.
“Yeah, I can see how well that’s going for you.”
He laughed, shaking his head as he ducked down to grab a stethoscope from his bag. “I might as well check over my favorite patient while I’m here if you don’t mind me barging in on your time together.”
“Go ahead.” I grimaced down at my watch. “I need to run back to the house to check the pie I have in the oven, anyway. Do you need anything while I’m up there?”
“No, I’m good. I’ll only be two minutes, anyway.”
I waved goodbye and set off for the little cottage that was starting to feel like home. I’d spent my time between there and Booker’s place, but there was something about having a space that was my own that settled a part of me. Being around Booker was amazing, especially the nights and the little amount of sleep we ended up having. But there was something about the quiet here that felt comforting. Not like there was something hiding in the shadows, but rather that the world was holding its breath and letting me have time to think. Giving me that much-needed moment to breathe.
It had been so long since I’d felt like I could pause and just breathe. I’d forgotten the sense of peace it brought with it.
I smiled as I approached the cute little cottage and jogged up the step onto the porch. My coffee cup from this morning was still sitting on the table, so I quickly grabbed it as I knocked the dust off my boots.
The smell of sweet caramel apples flooded my senses, and my mouth watered in response. It didn’t even register with me about why I could smell it already as I reached for the door handle.
And then my hand paused midair as I stared at the shadowy line of the door standing slightly ajar.
I pulled my hand back like something had burned me and then took a cautious step back. I could have sworn I’d closed the door this morning. I hadn’t locked it because why would I? There hardly seemed a need to all the way out here with the illusion of safety of Booker’s house standing right next to mine.
Shaking my head, I pushed open the door, cautiously looked inside, and then laughed at how ridiculous I was being. I must have just not closed the door properly this morning, and it was probably pushed open by the wind. All those years of being on edge, in fear of doing the wrong thing, had gotten to me.
I was free of that place now, and yeah, it might take a while for my mind to catch up, but I’d get there eventually. I couldn’t expect it to happen overnight.
I rinsed the mug and sat it in the sink to wash later. Grabbing some oven mitts, I turned…and then my entire world came to a crashing halt.
There on the counter sat the steaming pie with a slice cut out and a plate covered in crumbs at its side. At the same time, a door slammed shut somewhere inside the cottage. The loud, jarring sound finally kicked some sense into me, and I turned and sprinted out of the cottage. I’d barely made it two steps out the door when I collided with another body.
My hands instinctively came up to cover my face, and I cowered back, waiting for the blow to follow. Every muscle in my body tensed, preparing for the inevitable pain.
But nothing came.
The sound of a soothing voice floated around me, but my brain wasn’t online enough to really register it. It was only when hands gently gripped my wrists and pulled my hands away from my face that I realized it was Cole I stood in front of, not the man who stalked my nightmares.
Embarrassment flooded me hot and ladened with an unhealthy dose of shame.
Not again.
I couldn’t believe I was humiliating myself in front of someone else.
“Reece? Reece, are you with me?” Cole said, stepping back away from me and giving me space as soon as I wasn’t freaking out.
“There…there was someone in the house.”
Cole didn’t hesitate. He ran past me and straight into the cottage. I could hear him moving through the rooms, opening and closing the doors as he checked the place over. By the time he came back out the front door, I’d nearly convinced myself that I was hearing things.
“Your clothes are thrown all over the bedroom, and the window is open,” he said, pulling his phone out of his pocket and putting it to his ear as he came to stand beside me. “Booker, you need to come back to the ranch. Someone was in the cottage. Reece is fine. She’s here with me, and I’ll wait with her until you can get back.”
I zoned out then.
Someone was in the cottage.
Someone had pulled all my clothes out of the closet and trashed the bedroom.
“They stole my pie,” I whispered.
Cole looked like he didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t blame him. I wouldn’t know what to do with someone I barely knew having some kind of mental breakdown in front of me either.
“Let’s get you inside Booker’s place,” Cole opted for. His hands came to my shoulders, and he steered me toward Booker’s house.
We climbed the back porch steps and walked into the kitchen, and then I ran into Cole’s back for the second time.
He looked around the kitchen cautiously, and it took me a moment to realize that it was because he was wondering if whoever had been in the cottage was now inside the house.
Cole’s arm came back, and he reached for my hand as he backed up, pushing us back toward the door without taking his eyes off the house.
“Cole?”
“I think we should wait in my truck,” he said slowly as we reached the door, and he went to back outside. “I don’t want to leave you alone while I check through the entire house.”
Because he thought whoever had broken into the cottage had come here to hurt me. Or had Booker said something to him on the phone?
“What did you see in my bedroom?” I asked, my feet planting on the ground before he could back me out of the doorway.
For some reason, the fear inside me was dissipating, and in its place was a whole other emotion rising to the surface.
I’d come here for a fresh start. All I had was what little I could pack into my car from my old life, the one I’d had before it all went to hell.
And now someone thought they got to take that away from me.
They thought they had a right to take away the feeling of safety I was only just getting back.
For god’s sake, they stole my goddamned pie!
“Everyone knows the first slice is the best,” I suddenly shouted, outrage flooding through me as I pushed past Cole and strode back into Booker’s kitchen. “Are you in here, you damn pie-thieving miscreant?”
I was about to charge through the house on a quest for justice against the pie-based crime when Cole’s hand tightly gripped the top of my arm.
“Are you out of your mind?” I didn’t miss the crooked smile on his face or the fact that he was barely holding back his laughter.
“They stole my pie!” I repeated in outrage.
“I got that. I was more worried about them stealing your life, though.”
“Yellow-bellied, pie-thieving piece of trash,” I muttered, trying to storm into the house again, forgetting that Cole’s grip had me locked in place.
I shot him the look I saved for people who abandoned their shopping carts in the parking lot, and he quickly raised his hands in surrender.
“Okay, look. Let’s be honest. If I let you storm into the house to seek revenge for your pie, Booker is going to kick my ass. I am actually begging you right now to take pity on me and wait for him to…oh thank god.”
Cole physically sagged in relief as Booker’s truck tore down the driveway and came to a skidding stop on the gravel outside. It barely seemed to be stationary by the time he was leaping out and charging into the cottage. A few moments later, he came out and tore into the kitchen. Cole darted out of his way as Booker hauled me into his arms and gripped me tightly to his chest.
“What happened?” he asked Cole over my head.
“We were in the barn talking, and Reece went to do something at the house. I checked the mare and the foal’s heartbeat and was coming to find her when she suddenly came tearing out of the cottage, looking like she’d seen a ghost. There was no one inside when I checked, but I didn’t want to go too far into the house in case they’d come in here.”
“Val, with me,” Booker barked and then physically passed me to Cole, who looked like he’d just been passed a bomb. Cole uneasily held me at arm’s length as Booker took off and started tearing through the house.
“He does realize I’m standing here and capable of speaking for myself, right?”
“Right now, Booker is in full-on protection mode. He’s not going to be able to even think about anything else until he knows no one is waiting in here for you.” Cole looked down at me with that boyish smile again and added, “Or your pie.”
“Stole my damn pie,” I muttered in outrage, not caring that Cole was actually making fun of me.
The nerve of some people.
“There’s no one here,” Booker announced as he strode back into the kitchen with Val at his side.
The dog clearly knew something was wrong because the fur down her spine was bristled and at full attention, and she seemed on full alert. Val probably loved pie, too.
Cole gave me a slight shove, and I was suddenly back in Booker’s arms.
“Am I allowed to speak now, or are we still in full caveman mode?” I snapped.
“And on that note, I’m going to head out,” Cole said, backing toward the door. “You know where I am if you need anything. I’ll be by in a few days to check on the foal again. I’m surprised and pleased by her progress.”
Cole darted out the back door before either of us could say anything, and I pried myself out of Booker’s arms long enough to open the door and shout thank you. Cole waved a hand over his head in acknowledgment and then jumped into his truck to leave.
I tried to turn around and head back inside, but before I knew what was happening, my feet had left the floor, and Booker was carrying me into the family room. My mouth opened to object, but then I caught sight of the look on his face.
Booker was scared.
I immediately deflated. He’d done so much for me, and here I was only thinking about myself.
As Booker dropped onto the couch, he held me firmly in his lap, leaning back with a sigh as he stared up at the ceiling. It was like I could visibly see him pulling himself back together.
“Are you okay?” I whispered after the tension seemed to have left his body.
He nodded and then looked at me. “You’re staying here tonight,” he told me. “If you want the guest room, that’s fine, but Val is going in with you. Tomorrow we’re getting the locks changed and looking into getting security cameras.”
“Booker, you don’t need to do all this for me. It was just someone messing about, it’s?—”
“It absolutely wasn’t,” Booker said sternly. “You don’t do that in someone’s bedroom unless it’s personal.”
“It could have just been kids,” I suggested lamely, not really wanting to think about the alternative.
“I’m going to call Xander and see if he can stay at the ranch for a few days. He could take the cottage, and you move in here. Just until we have the cameras in place.”
“I’m sure Xander has better things to be doing.”
“He doesn’t.”
Booker wouldn’t take no as an answer here, and it occurred to me that while I could fight him on this, it wouldn’t cost me anything to let him have this. I wasn’t the only person here who’d had their personal space invaded today. If putting up some cameras and having his brother stay for a few days would make him feel better, there was no reason not to do it.
“Okay,” I conceded. “On one condition.”
Booker raised an eyebrow, and I could see he was getting ready to fight whatever I was about to say. “You need to run me into town in the morning so I can get the ingredients to make a new pie for you.”
“You were making a pie for me?”
“Caramel apple. But it’s been defiled by the intruder.”
Booker opened his mouth to ask a question and then seemed to think twice about it and closed his mouth again. I could practically see the thoughts flying through his mind until he asked, “I’m going to need you to explain the defiling.”
I smiled, sinking back into his chest as I got myself comfortable. “They stole the first slice and ate it! And I made that pie as a surprise for you.”
Booker chuckled and held me tightly. “Of all the crimes that have been committed here today, that has to be the worst.”
Finally! Someone understood where I was coming from.
But then he ruined it and added, “No one eats my baby’s pie, but me.”
Heat blossomed low in my stomach as Booker tilted my head back and kissed me. I had a terrible feeling that whatever had happened here today was just the beginning, but I pushed that thought to the back of my mind. All I wanted to do now was feel safe in Booker’s arms.
He twisted on the couch, gently laying me back against the cushions as he held himself above me.
“If you want me to stop, if you need time to process what’s happened…”
“Don’t stop, Booker. When it comes to you, I never want it to stop.”