Page 77 of Still Afraid

He placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll get it taken care of. Please don’t worry.”

She chuckled. “You know me too well. Breakfast?”

“Please.” He kissed her head, and they went to the kitchen. He tried to put the situation out of his mind and focus on enjoying the morning and the wedding planning they needed to do today.

Chloe walked through the barn by herself after lunch. They’d had a successful talk firming up details about the wedding, including tent set-up, port-a-johns locations, and parking. Details had been plaguing her mind since she woke up, and she was glad to put a few more to rest. At least these things could be solved and taken care of without too much fuss.

Eight days.

Brush in hand, she went into the stall of one of her favorite horses, Misty, who was stuck inside nursing a wound on her ankle. “Hey, girl. Mind if I brush you?”

The horse whinnied her approval.

Chloe had never been horse-crazed like her big sister had been, but she’d had the tendency to dislike anything Lydia did on principle. Plus, Chloe’s nose had been too deep in a book to be bothered with horses when she was a little girl. They were simply part of her life. She loved them, but not overly so.

But there was something magically relaxing about the majestic creatures, so coming out to see them this afternoon made sense. Josh said he’d join her when he was done calling the lawyer, and Poirot had ditched her to play with the kittens that had taken up residence in the tack room.

She’d been brushing the horse for about five minutes when her phone rang. Seeing Lydia’s name, she answered it.

“Chloe! How are you holding up?”

She resumed brushing the horse. “Hanging in there. It’s been a doozy of a week.”

“That’s what Mom said. I’m excited for your wedding. It’s getting close.”

“Eight days too long.”

“I remember that anticipation leading up. It’ll be here before you know it.”

Chloe didn’t want to tell her sister she didn’t know if she’d live that long, but her sister never worried about things like Chloe. “I hope so. How are you doing?”

“I’m fine, but concerned about Aaron. That’s actually why I called.”

Chloe’s heart sank. If her sister hit concerned, it must be bad. “What’s happened?”

“Well, he stopped by this morning in rough shape. I think someone beat him up recently. He took a hot shower and ate some food before leaving again. He wouldn’t tell me anything, but just pray. I called because I know you’ll pray for him.”

“Did you let Mom know?”

“Of course not. He made me promise not to tell anyone I saw him, but I had to tell you. Just pray.”

“I will pray, absolutely. Any idea what kind of trouble he’s in?”

“No clue. I thought he was trying to clean up his act.”

“So did I. Thanks for letting me know, Lydia. I can’t wait to see you and the kids.”

“We can’t wait to see you either. Love you, sis.”

“Love you too.”

They hung up, and Chloe continued brushing Misty while praying for Aaron.

About fifteen minutes later, while Chloe was putting the brush away, Josh came into the barn with news the conversation with the lawyer had gone well. He could help and would make sure they didn’t have to pay anything more. He also said he would do so as a favor, considering everything they had to deal with following the destruction of Chloe’s house.

Chloe called Poirot, and they headed back toward the house. The June sun was once again quite warm, but, thankfully, a gentle breeze flowed across the farm. Josh lightly held her hand as they talked about the call from Lydia.

While climbing the front steps to the house, Chloe asked, “What time does that donation drive start?”