Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 74211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
“Tell us what’s up,” I asked, catching that something was seriously wrong from Nick’s expression.
“Melissa is going back and forth to the stables a couple of times a day, presumably to feed the horses.” We nodded. That wasn’t surprising. “But she is sleeping around the clock at the hospital. We accessed the files under her last name. I told you it was her mom. It’s bad, Nick.”
“How bad?” he asked gruffly.
“She’s dying. Cancer.”
“Fuck,” Nick breathed. I knew he cared about Melissa’s mother, too. He’d known the family for years. Now the fact that the girl had gone MIA made perfect sense. She was probably losing her mind, handling the mess all by herself.
“I know you didn’t ask, but I did a little more digging and . . .”
Nick tensed up. Hell, I did too.
“They’re on thin ice with the banks. Might lose Honeycutt Stables. The house, too. Everything was recently transferred to the girl’s name.”
“Okay, man, thanks. Shit.”
“Oh, and Nick, she’s nearly invisible on social media. No boyfriends. A couple of pictures she’s tagged in at horse shows and at the dorms. Nothing racy.”
Nick made a face. I knew he hadn’t asked them to look into her. But Trace was the kind of guy who looked into a rabbit hole and jumped, hoping he’d end up at a damned tea party.
“I could have told you that.”
“Right, well, Cain believes in being thorough.”
“I owe you guys one.”
“Don’t even sweat it. I could do this in my sleep.”
“Let me know how much. If you can.”
“How much?” Trace asked. But I knew. I knew exactly what Nick was asking.
Nick looked at me and I nodded in agreement. We had to know. If Melissa belonged to Nick, then she was one of us. I knew Becky had immediately taken a shine to her as well. It wasn’t just about the girl or the horse, either, although that would be enough to get the Devils to step in. Nick loved that place, too. If we had to, we would all chip in to save it without batting an eye.
“How much it will take to save Honeycutt Stables?”
Chapter Sixteen
Melissa
Just put one foot in front of the other . . . that’s it. You can do it, girl.
I slugged yet another forkful of hay into yet another stall. The horses needed tending. Food, water, walk, food, water, put in for the night. Thankfully, I was so used to it I could do it in my sleep, which I pretty much was.
Sleep . . . it seemed so trivial. I was afraid to do more than doze. I didn’t want to miss a second with my mom. I didn’t want her to be alone for a moment. Even when I had to come home to do chores twice a day, I was terrified that she would slip away while I was gone. Without me there to hold her hand. And some ridiculous part of me thought I could stop it.
My mom was dying.
I checked the troughs, making sure everyone had fresh water. I was about to let them out into the paddocks when I heard footsteps.
Scratch that. I heard bootsteps. Familiar bootsteps. My heart started to thud.
“Melissa?”
I turned, and there he was, looking like he stepped out of my daydreams. I gave him a wobbly smile. He looked so good, so real and solid and healthy and alive. It nearly undid me.
“Hi, Nick,” I said, feeling like I was about to cry. And then he was there, holding me against his big, warm, strong chest. I couldn’t hold back the torrent a second longer.
Even though I’d been crying here and there, I hadn’t let the dam burst. I couldn’t do it in front of my mother. I hadn’t even let myself go when I was alone with the horses, though I did leak tears almost constantly like a drippy faucet.
I knew I looked awful. Red eyes and mussed hair and everything. I hadn’t looked in the mirror in days or thought about how I might look. But it didn’t matter. For a moment, the whole world slipped away.
With Nick’s arms around me, I felt safe. I felt everything I’d been holding back. I put down my load only because Nick was there, willing to pick it up for me. Just for a minute.
I was well aware that crying all over a guy was definitely not the way to a man’s heart. Even I knew that. Didn’t matter. He offered and I took him up on it. I had to. I had no other choice. And it felt so good to let the tears come. It felt so good not to be alone in my pain.
It feels like coming home.
Suddenly, I was a little girl again, crying my eyes out in someone’s arms. Not ‘someone’ this time. Not my mother or my father or the bossy grandmother I had known as a child. Nick. Nick was here and he was going to make it all okay.