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Raine gave a wry grin. “So what you’re all saying is seven a.m. is sleeping in?”
Amidst a chorus of yeses, Roxanna raised her glass. “I’m with you, Raine. I don’t open the shop until eight.”
She clinked glasses in solidarity with the brunette, and then sat back for another sip of wine as the fire crackled in the center of their circle. The emotion swelling in her chest now had her speaking past a lump in her throat. “I have to thank you guys for these nights. I’ve really enjoyed being here these past three weeks and getting to know everyone. And I pray my brothers find partners even half as awesome as all of you.”
“I’m going to miss you,” Shelby said with a pout. “I can’t believe you’re leaving in a week.”
Neither could she. Truthfully, she was torn over going home. With Reyes camped out behind a brick wall as formidable as the mountains, it annoyed the hell out of her he wouldn’t even try to be friends. She was sad the month was almost over, and yet she couldn’t wait until she didn’t have to see him every single day while her heart longed for so much more.
Saying it over and over doesn’t make it true.
Still, she needed to keep repeating it, in hopes it would help her to stop wishing for what she clearly couldn’t have.
“How’s everything going with Reyes?” Roxanna asked.
Raine’s stomach flipped, the psychic brunette’s question too close to reading her mind. To admit things were strained would be an understatement, and invite questions she didn’t want to answer. It would also invite confessions she was doing her best to avoid.
“It’s fine. I’m sure he’ll be glad to get back to his regular schedule.”
Shelby leaned back in her chair and propped her feet on the brick edging along the fire pit. “Are you still helping him with the new thoroughbreds? What were their names again?”
“Saving Grace and Willow Moonlight. And yeah, that’s been great.”
Other than time with family, that had been the one bright spot over the past couple of weeks. Reyes may have been one hundred percent business-like in the process, but he’d gone over everything with her step by step, from picking the horses, assessing how to retrain them, the paperwork involved, and anything else she needed to know to get started.
Unfortunately, his knowledge and devotion had impressed her on a whole other level, making the distance he was forcing between them hurt even more.
“I love the names they come up with for those horses,” Mae said.
“Me, too,” Raine agreed. “In fact, I talked to Loyal earlier about helping me set up a business plan to start my own rescue when I get home.”
“Seriously?” Shelby grinned when Raine nodded. “Wow—that’s great.”
They peppered her with questions until a side tangent changed the conversation, leaving Raine thinking about how she’d have to call Jessica at Retired Racers to see if she had any contacts in Texas, and if not, hopefully she could get a couple of horses from her. Or the trainer in California Reyes had mentioned earlier. Or, she could do what Reyes had done and take the time to visit some racetracks to make her own contacts. Horse people loved talking about horses.
It wasn’t much longer before the approaching storm had her and Celia saying goodbye and heading home. A few minutes after she dropped Celia off at her house, Raine’s phone sounded a severe weather alert for a tornado watch for the Greater Denver Metro area and surrounding suburbs until midnight.
By the time she turned into her uncle’s winding driveway, the wind buffeting the car sent a small surge of apprehension along her spine. Things could get a little wild tonight.
She parked her aunt’s car in the guest house garage, then tossed the keys and her purse on the island counter before plugging her nearly-dead phone into the charger. Thunder rolled overhead as she went to stand by the window to look out at the stables.
At nearly ten-thirty at night, the building was dark save for the lights shining from the second floor windows. The same lights that were on every night in Reyes’ apartment. All night.
An ache throbbed in her chest, and she rubbed at the sensation. If he wasn’t so determined to keep her at a distance, maybe she could’ve helped him like he’d helped her.
Vivid flashes of lightning revealed the trees swaying in the wind and uneasiness had her heading back to her phone to check the local radar. The estate was right on the edge of a red cell, but any indication of possible tornados were north and east a good thirty miles. Still, future cast showed they weren’t out of the woods yet.
A deafening boom shook the house and ground beneath her feet—and everything went dark.
Raine jerked so hard she fumbled her phone, barely rescuing it before it crashed to the floor. Heart lodged in her throat, she spun to face the pitch-black living room with her phone clutched to her chest. That thunder had been so loud, she’d swear a bomb had gone off—
Bomb.
Reyes.
Her pulse revved like a freight train as she whirled to look out the window again. Reyes was over there in the dark.
Alone.
