Page 67 of One Merciful Moment

Now that she was back in the real world, it no longer felt like home. The air was different. She could smell the grass.

Sitting down, she stared at the crates beside her truck. Everything in the back had fallen out. Blueberries were scattered across the ground. Perfect blueberries, untouched by time or weather. Blueberries she'd picked the morning of her wreck.

She closed her eyes an extra beat. Time hadn't passed. Yet she'd spent months with Boone.

The tow truck arrived faster than she expected. Maybe time was still moving strangely.

She stood in the grass, watching the driver hook chains to her overturned truck. It was broken. She felt broken.

The man who had stopped and stayed with her waved goodbye. She lifted her hand.

The driver approached. "Miss? Do you want me to take the truck to your house or to the nearest repair shop?"

She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. "My house. I live at 1313 Bridel Road."

"Do you have someone coming to pick you up?"

"No."

"Hop in, and I'll give you a ride." He helped her out of the ditch and onto the road.

He opened the passenger door, and she climbed into the cab. The seat was warm from the sun, the cab smelling faintly of coffee and motor oil. She stared straight ahead, hands trembling in her lap.

The driver glanced at her as he buckled in. "You sure you're okay?"

She nodded again. Of course she wasn't okay. But how could she explain having a wreck, going to Everstill, meeting Boone, stabilizing the veil, and coming back to her truck?

The tow truck lurched forward as the driver made a U-turn. She pressed her forehead to the cool window and watched the world blur past. The fir trees, the river, the bridge leading to Vancouver. It all looked familiar but felt wrong.

Her chest ached. She thought she might get sick.

The tow truck rumbled on, carrying her back to a life she no longer recognized, and she wondered how she was supposed to live here without Boone.

Chapter 39

Boone

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The storm died down quickly after the veil swallowed Ashley. Boone could still hear the echo of her voice hours later. His hands still shook. His chest ached. His throat was scraped raw.

Copper had knocked on his door earlier and told him to meet in front of the store at dawn.

He walked to the meeting spot in a daze, barely aware of his boots hitting the ground. Brent, Rex, Wade, Mace, and Vaughn were already there waiting for him. The others appeared exhausted, but alive.

Besides Finn and Kallie, Moe and Jillian, Nolan and Levi were also gone. And Ashley.

Copper stood in front of them, scanning the group, counting heads. Boone stood off to the side, misplaced without Ashley beside him.

"All right. Listen up." Copper cleared his throat.

The men quieted, forming a loose semicircle around him. Boone stayed slightly apart, hands shoved deep in his front pockets.

"I've inspected the garden. The storm left the plants untouched. The restaurant held up, and it looks like the only damage was a broken window at Boone's place and a few shingles off the roof of the old feed store." Copper gestured behind him. "The store held up."

"Why weren't the rest of us pulled into the veil?" Wade crossed his arms. "When is it our turn?"

"You're asking why some people were pulled and why the rest of us weren't." Copper paused. "It's about tethers. That's the simplest way to explain it."