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When I’m finished, I reach up, my fingers skimming Arrow’s muzzle. “Hey,” I whisper, a wobbly smile tipping my lips. “We’re gonna do this, okay? Then I’m going to talk to Charlie. What do you think about that, you sweet, beautiful boy?”
Serious black eyes stare back at me. I press my face against his cheek, inhaling his hay and horse scent.
Then I swing myself up on Arrow’s hulking black back. My mother’s face flashes in my mind, and I touch the bracelet on my wrist.
Honor your heart until you become it.
This wild heart knows the answer.
One last ride.
It’s five p.m. by the time I make it home from Bozeman.
This morning when I woke up, Ruby was gone. She left a note when she should have been in goddamn bed. All day I’ve been on edge. Not even signing the paperwork that declares Runaway Ranch safe has eased the ache in my gut. All day my mind’s been on her and it’s no different when I storm through the front door and toss my keys and wallet on the counter, growling at the empty house.
The ranch without Ruby is like the sky without the sun.
Unnatural.
“Ruby!” I call out, my pulse quickening. I feel like every vein in my neck is about to pop.
I scan the kitchen, the living room, bathroom, before sprinting upstairs.
She’s not here.
“Fuck.” I tear a hand through my hair, returning to the kitchen.
She’s avoiding me, avoiding what happened this morning.
I pace the kitchen, dragging a hand over my beard. Except for a text that told me she went into town, my calls have gone straight to voicemail. Her laptop’s on the kitchen counter, her car’s in the driveway, but the worry about her taking off still eats at me. Where the fuck is she?
I eye her bucket list on the fridge. Something I once chalked up to an excitable girl’s dreams, but now ...
The entire summer plays back in my head. Her refusal to tell me why she’s running away. Hand to her heart. Pills at midnight. Fainting in my bed. Ford’s words:What do you know about this girl?
And her list.
That goddamn bucket list.
“Fuck,” I blast out. I brace my hands on the kitchen island and bow my head.
Ruby’s sick.
Something’s wrong with her.
My gut is lined with shards of glass. She’s been good about keeping her secret, whatever it is, but it ends today. I need to find her, and when I do, I’m going to sit her beautiful, stubborn ass down and make her tell me the truth. I’ve gone easy on her, but not anymore.
If it is anemia, I plan to drag her to every doctor in the state of Montana.
I twist around at the clatter of the screen door.
Ford stands there, wild-eyed. “Charlie, Ruby saddled up Arrow.”
I go cold, then I get pissed. He knows as well as I do she isn’t supposed to ride without me.
“Shit.” I tear a hand through my hair, keep it there. “When?”
“Ten minutes ago. She’s in the pasture.” He hesitates, then says, “She doesn’t look so good, man.”
