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This wasn’t good. This wasn’t the plan. Cole and Prescott would not be happy to see any of us there.
But she was right. If the situation had been reversed, I would’ve moved heaven and earth to get there. I would’ve walked if I’d had to.
So yeah. There really was only one answer.
We had to go.
* * *
Please let them be okay.
Please let them be okay.
Janessa had whispered the words out loud over and over so many times that I had started mentally chanting them with her. I wasn’t sure if it counted as a prayer, but I knew it couldn’t hurt.
Becca and I each held one of her hands as Justin drove us to Cade and Boone’s ranch. I knew it was a long drive from Janessa’s ranch to the Tate ranch, but I hadn’t been prepared for it to feel likeforever.
That was exactly how it seemed, though. Especially since we were all so anxious, so uncertain. So scared.
I squeezed Janessa’s hand. “They’ll be okay,” I said, not at all sure whether I believed my own words.
She didn’t even look in my direction. Her eyes stayed focused on the road ahead. Her lips kept moving with those whispered words.
Please let them be okay.
Please let them be okay.
“We’re getting close,” Justin said quietly, glancing over at his niece as we turned off the main highway onto a bumpy dirt road. “Just a few more miles.”
We rode those last few miles in near-silence, all of us facing forward. It seemed like we all might have been holding our breath, and my stomach had tied itself into knots as I braced for whatever we might see.
I didn’t know what to expect.
Fire?
An explosion?
I’d never seen anything like that in real life. Certainly not someone’shouse. Someone Iknew.
No.
I didn’t want to think about it.Couldn’tthink about it too much, or I would start to cry—and that wasn’t an option. Janessa needed me to stay strong, and that was exactly what I was going to do.
I’d stay strong for her. I’d comfort her no matter what. I’d keep holding her hand, and we’d all get through this together.
“There.” Justin pointed as the trees cleared, but he didn’t have to.
The first thing that hit me was the smell of smoke. It got thicker and darker the more we drove, burning my nose and making my throat feel like it was going to close up.
I looked over at Janessa and her eyes were wide. Her mouth was open and she was shaking her head, but no words were coming out.
The smoke was so thick that it was hard to see anything, really. But as we got closer, I could see the form of a house—or what used to be a house.
Half of it was gone. Just… gone. The part that remained was blackened and burning, with tall flames pouring out of what was left of the second-story windows.
“Oh, my God,” I whispered, borrowing Janessa’s words. “Please, God… please let them be okay.”
Several police cars and three fire trucks were blocking the road, preventing us from getting any closer to the house. Justin pulled over to the side of the dirt road and turned off the engine. The moment we stopped, Janessa lunged toward the door.
