He was scared spitless that Hannah would enjoy the temptations and conveniences that their simpler life here in Sanctuary Springs couldn’t offer.And never return.
Biting down hard enough to bruise his lip, he urged Flame into a trot before settling into a mind-clearing gallop when he reached the end of Cattleman’s Way and followed the trail to the ranch.
Except his mind wasn’t settled.Dammit, Hannah. We had everything ahead of us.No way was he headed back to the house. Everyone would be up his ass about him staying and letting Hannah go—Will included, who he knew had followed him. He’d be no use to anyone, including the animals under his care.
He arrived at the only comfort left to him—Big Red—the lone ponderosa pine where he and Hannah had made so many memories. Their first time. The endless picnics she’d made him go on where she’d mostly talked and he’d watched her face glow from recounting everything from how she’d found a new patch of lady’s slipper on Wild Mountain to her dream of helping people live through life-threatening fevers even doctors had no cure for. Like Sarah.
He’d never said it aloud, but he swore Hannah hadn’t died like her sister because he’d refused to let her, infusing her with all his strength and will to keep her with him.
And now?She’s leaving me. Hope’s gone.He couldn’t trust that Hannah would come back for him, which meant…I need to let her go completely. Carve her out of my heart for good.
He swung off the saddle and took the reins, leading Flame to the lone tree in the bright green valley, charging off toward Big Red after tying Flame’s reins around a smaller aspen. The cinnamon roan was as angry and tense as he was. Funny how animals were as smart as, if not smarter than, people. The horse must believe Hannah was abandoning her too.
When he reached the trunk resembling gray, black, and red puzzle pieces, he settled on the ground in front of the heart he’d carved along with their initials. Tracing theHof her name, the vanilla-and-butterscotch scent of the bark gave him a flash of her making him cookies on a snowy day they’d been cooped up. He’d often imagined her doing the same with their children as he looked on.
Dammit. This hurts.
He had a powerful need to punch something. Anything. Because all this pain inside him threatened to tear him apart.
The first thing he’d do was whittle away their carving on Big Red. As he went to remove his Swiss Army knife, a crack of thunder shook the earth. Thank goodness he’d tied Flame in place, because she would have bolted otherwise. As he settled her, dangerous clouds rolled over Wild Mountain. A fast summer storm.Great. Just another thing to be thrown at me today.He was going to get soaked.
But first, he needed to start moving on without Hannah. As he took out his knife, a lightning flash practically blinded him. He heard the loud crack of wood splintering, ozone covered his skin and clothing, and the smell of burning wood and butterscotch reached his nose.
What the hell?
Lightning had struck Big Red. Her two north-facing branches had split open and fallen toward the ground.God. It only just missed us.
His gaze tracked to the carving he’d been about to destroy and gaped.
Of course.
The damn thing was still there.BM loves HM.Right beside the strike. Almost like the lightning had meant to stop him…
Chills broke out over his arms. He studied the exposed bare bark as the rain started to fall. It looked almost like an open book. Ironic somehow but accurate.
Life without Hannah was a new chapter.
Completely different to how I thought our story would go.
Would he be like Big Red here, broken and exposed, living with half a heartbeat?
CHAPTER ONE
PRESENT DAY
Secret locations.
Black hoods.
Mysterious investors.
If Hannah had known what she’d be facing for her upcoming meeting, she would have turned the invitation down.
“Neil, I feel like we’re characters in a James Bond movie,” Hannah whispered to her business partner whose large body sat next to her in the back seat of the Escalade. “Don’t they know we’re wellness experts?”
“I guess we’ll find out, lass,” he whispered back in his Scottish-tinged accent.
She clutched her thighs.Must he drive so fast?“Are you sure we aren’t in danger, Neil?”
