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“I don’t know. I just don’t know.” I run my fingers through my hair again, scratch my forehead, nearly breaking skin. “We’ve got to find her. Where are you? Still at the house?”
“Yeah. The rain is finally starting to die down.”
“Why don’t I—”
Miles runs into my room. He’s got on jeans and a shirt, still unbuttoned. His feet are bare and he’s wet, clearly having been out in the rain. “Hey, I’ve got some news.”
“Hold on a minute, Mayor. I’m going to put you on speakerphone. Miles says he knows something.”
“Hey, Mayor,” Miles says. “Can you hear me?”
“Yeah,” comes Vance’s voice to the phone.
“I talked to Lexie at the stables. That’s Dr. Davis, our vet. Apparently Carly got a call from one of the hands in the middle of the night to come look at a colt that just had surgery. They called her because they couldn’t get hold of Lexie.”
“So she’s there then, at the ranch?” Vance says, his voice full of worry.
I feel a hint of hope that she’s okay.
Miles glances my way. “No. Lexie says she left around five-thirty, said she had a breakfast date with you.”
“She’s not back yet,” he replies.
“All right.” Chance’s voice remains steady. “Then we know she’s somewhere between here and your place, Mayor.”
“The storm,” I say. “You don’t think…”
“Carly grew up here,” Vance says. “She’s seen storms like this.”
“I’ve never seen a storm like this,” Chance offers. “I grew up here as well. Austin, let’s go. We’ll get in the four-by-four and find her.”
“I’ll start the other way,” Vance says.
“All right.” Chance rubs his unshaven jaw. “Whoever finds her first, call the other right away with the location.”
“You got it.” Vance ends the call on his end.
My body has gone numb. Completely numb. My fingers lose their feeling, and Chance’s phone clatters onto the hardwood floor at my bare feet.
He picks it up. “Hey. We’re going to find her. Carly’s a smart girl. Resourceful. And she knows how to help herself.”
I don’t reply.
I don’t doubt any of my brother’s words. I have full faith in Carly to take care of herself.
My faith, however, stops when others are involved. What if someone blindsided her and she ran off the road? What if she’s lying somewhere in a ditch? Unable to help herself?
Or worse…
I can’t go there.
I absolutely cannot lose Carly.
Because…
Fuck.
I love her.
