Page 27 of Second Chance for the Grump

The idiot. The brave, stupid idiot.

The brave, stupid, idiot I loved.

Shit. The realization hit me in the chest.

Tick.

I loved Rowan.

Somewhere between him showing up here and that exact moment, I’d fallen completely in love.

And now he was running toward danger.

Tick.

Jonathan shouted something. All the sounds blurred together, making it so that I couldn’t hear anything. I kept all my attention on Rowan as he reached the area where Charlie was tied off at the back of the barn.

Charlie rushed to him, whining as if he knew Rowan was there to save him.

Tick.

I swear the sound grew louder, each beat slightly higher than the last as we all inched closer to destruction, one annoying tick at a time.

Tick.

Rowan examined the area. His gaze followed something. His face darkened when he reached the end. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

His words drifted across the barn. Their slow arrival didn’t match the harsh tone they were spoken. A second later, right as I finished processing them, he yanked something from beneath a pile of boards.

Tick.

What was that? I leaned forward to see.

Rowan held the device out toward Jonathan, who scowled at him.

“A fucking kitchen timer?” Rowan asked, but we all saw the white, round device in his hand.

It was a plain kitchen timer, a squarish white one like my grandmother used to use.

I lifted my ear to the barn as if that would help me hear better. The ticking had stopped.

True silence prevailed as we all stared at Jonathan, and he tried to pierce Rowan with his gaze.

My brain finally processed what had happened.

Not a bomb. No explosion.

Nothing.

Jonathan made this entire thing up. He kidnapped my dog with a kitchen timer. Anger replaced my earlier fear.

Rowan shook his head at Jonathan. “You are an absolute moron.”

Jonathan’s face turned an even brighter shade of red.

“Rowan,” I said, unsure what to say next. I just wanted to get Charlie and leave.

Jonathan didn’t give us the chance. He lunged.