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“Fuck,” I swear before sprinting out of the house at a dead run. Ford’s right behind me as we clear the gravel road, picking up speed when I’m within eyesight of Ruby sitting atop Arrow.
Behind her, Wyatt comes up on Pepita.
Thank Christ for my brother.
I storm toward her, but when Ruby glances down at me, my entire body locks. My heart drops to my boots.
She looks beaten down. There’s no other word for it. Her face is pale, her rose-gold hair in a wild tangle, and red rims her blue eyes.
But it’s her spirit dulled, broken that scares the shit out of me.
“Hi, Cowboy.” She says it so casually, like she hasn’t been avoiding me and my calls for the last eight hours.
“Ruby,” I say, fighting the urge to growl at her and instead channeling a gentle calm I don’t feel right now. “Get down from there.” I grab the bit, stilling her and Arrow, but he snorts, stomping his feet and backing up.
She stares at my hard gaze. “You’re going to yell.” Her lower lip trembles.
“I won’t yell.” I blow out a frustrated breath. “Baby, I’m worried.”
Tears well in her eyes and she shakes her head. “Don’t be.”
I take hold of the saddle horn. “Give me your hand. Let me get you down.”
“No. Not yet.”
I edge closer, my hand moving to grip her thigh. “We need to talk. Right the hell now.” My voice is rougher than I’ve ever used to talk to Ruby, but I need her to hear me. To listen.
She flinches. “I know we do. I just need to ride first.Please. Let me do this, Charlie.” The tremor in her voice nearly knocks me off-balance.
With a gentle nudge, she leads Arrow into a slow trot.
I hustle beside her to keep up. “Your list. What’s it really for, Ruby?”
Fear flickers in her eyes, and her voice turns to a whisper. “Charlie, it is what it is.”
“Bullshit,” I growl, and then my stomach drops when I see it.
Instead of letting the rein lay across her palm, she has it wrapped around her left hand. A motion that tells me she’s distracted, her mind elsewhere.
She should not be on a horse right now.
Worry rips a hole through me. “Ruby—”
I go to grab the back of the saddle and pull myself up behind her, to force her down, but she’s quick. With a graceful movement, she squeezes her legs, moving Arrow into a bouncy trot across the pasture and away from me.
She’s a fast learner and I’m the fucking idiot who taught her to ride.
Worried eyes meeting mine, Wyatt follows behind as I head after her.
Shoulders tense, Ruby closes her eyes as she tilts her head back and lets the sunshine warm her face. Like she’s trying to charge herself back up.
The thought hits me like a sucker punch.
She’s had a thorn stuck in her this entire time and I’ve been too blind to see it.
I was right.
All this time Ruby’s been running, but she’s not running from me.
