Page 91 of Slow Burn

“Son?”

I glance over my shoulder as I stride over to my truck in the driveway.

“When you find her, do the hard thing.”

I give him a solemn nod, get in my truck and stick the key in the ignition. The engine turns over as it roars to life, and I slam on the gas. The tires squeal, a dust cloud forming behind me as I peel out of the driveway and head into town.

My eyes scan the road in front of me, looking for signs she might have twisted her ankle and gone rolling into the ditch, or that she’s been mauled by a pack of hungry coyotes. But with every kilometre I gain toward Sage Valley, the knot in my stomach tightens when I don’t spot her.

I grip the steering wheel with one hand, knuckles going white. I have the window rolled down in case I hear anything, but there’s nothing but the crickets chirping in the fields.

Where the fuck is she?

I slow the truck as I turn onto the main strip. Drunken bar patrons are scattered on the sidewalk in front of Lucky’s, and I squint to make out their faces, but I’d know that head of brown hair anywhere, and none of them are Lyla.

Finding her contact on the screen in my truck, I try her cell again. Straight to voicemail.

Shit.

Since I left the house, I haven’t given myself a moment to think. I peeled out of the driveway, and had there been anyone else living around us, I would have woken the whole neighbourhood. But now, I’m not sure where to go, so I pull over to the curb and think.

No new answers come to me, because the only thing I can hear in my mind are my dad’s words from earlier.

Just because you made a mistake, doesn’t mean you can’t fix it.

I can’t help but think Lyla running off like this was because of me, and it seems only fitting that I should drive around all night to find her. I would. I would drive until the sun came up if it meant that I’d have another chance to tell Lyla how fucking sorry I am, how stupid I was, how much I love her.

How I’d set aside anything else just to be with her.

Including my friendship with Austin.

“Fuck!” I shout, slamming the heel of my hand into the steering wheel.

Lyla is my world, she’s my everything. She’s been that way to me ever since the day the Morgans walked into my life. Ten years, I spent trying to get over her. Ten years wasn’t enough, and I don’t think another lifetime would let me forget about her.

I heave a sigh.

Austin might be ready to disown me as a friend, a brother. But if there’s one last thing I can do for him, it’s find his baby sister.

Lyla is the last person Austin has on this earth. She’s the last person who remembers his parents, who holds shared memories of them. She’s the last person with the Morgan name, the last person who keeps Austin connected to his roots. Losing her would mean losing everything, including the chance to rectify the mistake he made when he sold the property.

The property.

The Morgan’s acreage is technically behind ours, but in order to get there by vehicle, you’d have to drive through town and down the back road on the other side. I accelerate, and leave town, driving with a new, clearer mission in mind.

Because I know exactly where Lyla is.

Chapter 35

Lyla

I step out into the night air and wish I brought a jacket, crossing my arms over my chest to keep the chill away. My heels serve me fine as I make my way through town, but once I hit the back road that heads out to my family home, my feet are aching and sore, so I opt to take them off and walk barefoot on the pavement instead.

I don’t know why I decided to make the trek all the way out to our old property. It’s not exactly on the way back to Wild Sage. The land backs onto the ranch, but in order to get there by car–or by foot–it’s nearly an hour walk.

But, I figure if I’m leaving town tomorrow, I should at least go and see it. I never got to say goodbye properly. Austin sold it to a retired couple who were willing to pay cash, sight unseen, closed within twenty four hours. Possession was only a week later.

I had cleaned out my room long before that, so there was nothing left of mine I needed to come back to get. And that was it.