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“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. I think it’s really nothing. I think she’s just out and needs some space. I can’t blame her for that. If I was in her shoes, I would need it, too.”
“You’re talking inconsistent circles, Blake.” I shook my head, my boots squishing in the soft ground. The sky was darkening more and more with each passing second, thunder rolling in the distance.
“I figure she’ll see the storm and she’ll come back.”
“Yeah, maybe she’s at the house right now,” I said the words as more of a hopeful reassurance to myself because I knew if I made it to the main house and she wasn’t there...
I’d be going hunting for her.
My stomach churned, thinking of her safety—and the fact that she was hurting. I knew that the ranch hands’ words cut deep.
Especially after all the times I’ve pushed her away.
However, a part of me was also frustrated with her for just taking off instead of finding me, and the two of us talking about it. We should be firing ranch hands together, not leaving each other to worry.
Well, leavingmeto worry.
As the house came into my line of sight, I squinted, trying to see if the Tahoe was parked in the driveway. I couldn’t see it from where I was at, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there.
Blake must’ve been thinking along the same lines. “It could be in the garage.”
“Yeah, they probably would’ve had her park it in the garage since it’s supposed to storm again. It doesn’t need any more hail damage than it already has.”
He chuckled, though it lacked much humor. “I don’t think you’d be able to tell if it got hit by any more hail.”
“Touché.”
The rain started to fall as we made the final few hundred feet trek up to the back door. As soon as we entered, I could hear chatter coming from the kitchen, which seemed to be the central gathering point for my family these days.
“I don’t know where she went,” I heard Hazel say, her voice strained.
“There is a storm coming in fast from the southwest. Call her again,” Dad barked.
Blake and I entered the kitchen, and Dad, Hazel, and Mom all whipped their heads to look at us.
“She’s not back, is she?” Mom asked, her face contorting with concern. “Surely, she’s okay. We’ve been trying to reach her but haven’t had any luck.”
Takoda ran to me, jumping up on my legs. I picked him up, shaking my head. “I don’t know where she is. I haven’t heard from her, but I think I’m going to head out and look.”
“I’m sure she’s just tired of us bombarding her,” Hazel reasoned, shaking her head. “It’s not like she left or something. She’s coming back. I mean, it’s only been a little over an hour.”
The sound of the rain dumping from the sky caused us all to pause, sounding as though we were suddenly in a warzone as the thunder and wind roared. My heart jumped, racing like I was in a marathon.
“She said that she would come back before the storm,” Blake said, his voice carrying on loudly over the noise of the storm. “She’s too smart to still be out in this.”
“I think you all are stressing out too much,” Hazel reasoned. “The rainjuststarted. She could be pulling into the driveway at any time.”
“How long should we wait?” Mom asked, her gaze bouncing between my dad and myself. “I’m sure you boys could take off and go look for her.”
“We gotnoidea where she went,” Dad exasperated. “Our best bet is going to be to get her on the phone—which she sure is bad about answering.”
I felt overwhelmed and panicked as I stood there, listening to them all go back and forth, contemplating the right thing to do. Their voices sounded like they were a mile away, the sound of the storm battering my head like I was out there standing in the middle of it.
Cheyenne is somewhere out there in it.
That thought alone was enough to send me spinning on my heel and heading toward the garage. I was still pissed—pissed that I had ranch hands who thought they had the right to talk shit about my family.
But that would have to wait.
