Page 104 of Falling for Her

“We have to wait for Theo,” I tell Asa. “He’s going to be here in a little bit.”

“But I’ll be late,” he whines, looking over at the clock and seeing he has about fifteen minutes to get to the barn.

“You’ll get there in time,” I assure him. “Get your shoes on, and we’ll wait outside and leave as soon as I’m done.”

I put on my boots at the same time he puts on the new cowboy boots he made me buy him this weekend. Supposedly, they are better than his running shoes, and, apparently, he’s going to be a cowboy, so it’s a necessity.

I open the door and we walk out as two trucks pull up to my house. I look at them and stop walking, stop moving, stop fucking breathing.

Sierra gets out of the first truck and smiles as if everything is okay. But one look at Theo’s face as he gets out of the other truck, and then the tightness in Caleb’s as he comes around to stand by Sierra, tells me everything is not fucking okay.

“Hey,” Sierra says, “I heard someone is going riding today?”

Asa smiles, clueless that anything is going on. “It’s me.” He points to himself. “Me and Wyatt are going to go riding. Sage and Lucy are going to do their own riding, and then we’re going to meet up.”

“Well, I’m on my way over there right now,” Sierra shares. “If you want, I can give you a ride since your dad has to have a meeting.”

“Cool,” Asa says. I have to put my hand on the railing because shit is about to go down. For the fucking life of me, I don’t know what the fuck it could be, but I know whatever it is, it’s going to cut me off at the knees.

Asa hugs me around my waist. “Bye, Dad.”

“Bye,” I reply on autopilot. “Your mom is going to be picking you up, so I’ll see you in three days.”

“Okay.” He rushes to Caleb’s truck. “Can we go now? I don’t want to be late, and I want to help saddle the horses.”

“I’m waiting for you,” she teases, looking at me as she takes the keys from Caleb. I can see tears in her eyes. She opens the back door for Asa, then gets behind the wheel and speeds off.

I wait until the truck is at the corner of the street before I turn to look at them.

“Talk,” I say.

“We should go inside,” Caleb suggests, “and sit down.” My head moves slowly toward him.

“Burke, you need to sit down,” Theo agrees.

“No, you two need to stop fucking around and tell me what the fuck you need to tell me.”

“I’m not sure how to say it,” Theo starts. The hair stands up on the back of my neck. I want to swallow but my mouth is suddenly dry. “We just got a call. Finley was attacked.”

I know I heard the words, but my heart is echoing and there’s a roaring in my ears. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Collins called her, because she hadn’t checked in for the last two days and”—he runs his hands through his hair—“a detective answered the phone.”

I bend over and think I’m about to be sick. “Fuck, I did that.” I close my eyes, and all I can do is picture her smiling at me. Lying in my bed on her side, her hand in a fist, holding up her head as she looks at me coming out of the bathroom. The lightness in her eyes, the smile on her face. The pain, the guilt, hits harder. “I did this to her. Fuck.” I get up because getting sick is not going to catch the people who did this to her. I have to call Captain and then Johnson and Martinez.

“You didn’t do shit to her,” Theo retorts. “It was her husband.”

It’s all too much for me. I fall onto my ass on the step, my breaths coming in little spurts like a bull, ready to charge. “What did you just say?”

“We don’t know all the details,” his voice wavers, “but he attacked her and she⁠—”

I hold out my hand, not ready for the rest of it. Not sure I can handle the rest of it. “Where is she?”

“She’s in the hospital.” My shoulders slump. “Collins is packing now.” I get up on my feet. “We have a plane waiting. Charlie’s grandfather is in town.” Charlie’s grandfather is a big tech whiz. He comes to town from time to time, usually in his private plane.

Five minutes later, I’m in the car, calling Captain to take a leave of absence, even if it isn’t approved. I call Maggie next and tell her that I’ll check in with her.

Collins is in tears as she hugs Theo goodbye, and we board the plane. I sink into a seat, put my hand on the armrest, and feel Collins’s hand on mine. “She’s going to be okay.” She wipes her tears away. “She has to be.”