Page 27 of Rekindled Heart

He leaps about a foot in the air and squeals. “Dang it!”

I lift a brow at him and smirk. “Pretty strong language, buddy. What’s going on?”

He groans and pushes the outside door closed. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It always matters. What’s going on?”

“I’m worried about Harold. What if he’s scared? Or something happens and we don’t know about it because he’s all alone out there.”

I sigh and kneel down in front of him. “Hey. Harold’s good. He likes his house. And there are other animals in that barn. He’s got plenty of company.”

“But…”. I take his hand.

“Do you want to go take a look and see that he’s totally fine? He’s perfectly content where he’s at.”

He nods his head quickly but looks around. “Where’s mom?”

“She’s resting. We can just go take a quick trip out there and you’ll be able to see that all the animals on the ranch right now are very well taken of.”

He glances around. “Are you sure mom won’t care?”

I can’t say that. But I nod my head seriously. “We’re just gonna have to be very careful and make sure that she’s alright with it. She’s super-tired. I’d like to let her sleep.”

Not for any nefarious reason. The thoughts of her being shot are still in the forefront of my brain. I cannot even believe that someone shot her. Cannot believe that I almost lost her for good and I might never have known it. The thought eats at me.

I’d like to think that if the world as I know it ended, I’d feel it. But would I? I don’t know. Realistically, I’m just not sure and that thought tears at me like you wouldn’t believe.

She’s so damn sweet that it’s enough to give you cavities. Who the hell would want to hurt her?

I grunt under my breath as I hold Christopher’s hand and open the outside door. I can tell you one thing… the motherfucker better not show up here or I will personally end him. He took something from me that I didn’t know yet that I wanted. Now I know. I want it. And I want it with that woman sleeping in my bed. And he hurt her. He deserves to fuck roast in hell for that and I’m just the guy to send him there.

My cell rings as I open the door to the barn. I open the door and then pick up the call as Christopher runs forward, Harold sleepily hanging his head over the stall and whickering at the little boy like he’s asking what he’s doing out here this late.

I feel you, Harold.

“Hello,” I whisper and then clear my throat and say again, “hello,” in my normal voice.

“Hey, Ricky. What’s going on around here? Misty and Sebastian were in town this evening and they were looking around at everyone all suspicious. Like they were looking for someone. Or something.”

I groan under my breath. The last thing I need is Louise and granny getting involved in this clusterfuck. The mind pulls away from what they could do. What kind of damage they could cause.

But I pull myself up. “Not sure what you mean.”

“Don’t you bullshit me, Ricky. Something’s up and I think it has to do with the new guy I saw in town yesterday.”

My head comes up and I growl under my breath. “New guy? What new guy? When did you see him and why didn’t you say anything?”

She huffs. “Because nobody told me a damn thing, Ricky. You’re still not saying anything. You’re just grumbling at me. Tell me what the hell is going on?”

“It’s Caro’s story to tell. But suffice it to say that there may be someone coming to town who might be a problem for her.”

“That darling girl? Well, don’t you worry. I’ll take care of him the next time I see him.”

My heart freezes in my chest so fast my head almost spins. “What does that even mean, granny?”

“It means that I know how to kill a sidewinder, my boy. I know exactly how to take care of a snake in the grass and make sure he doesn’t cause that darling girl anymore trouble.”

“Granny, you need to keep out of this. I’ve got too much going on to try and keep you out of trouble too.”

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