Page 9 of Finding Chloe

“Yeah.” I still had to unload the rest of my things from the trailer.

“What are you going to do?” Abbey asked, snuggling into Liam’s side, her worried gaze never leaving mine. There was no way she didn’t know something was going on between Chloe and Matt.

“I don’t know. I honestly didn’t expect to see her again.” My heart clenched at the truth. I hadn’t wanted to say the words out loud, but after five months, I’d given up hope of seeing Chloe again. “And it seems like we might be too late. How long has she been seeing Matt?” I glanced at Kyle. The lines on his forehead grew more profound. He knew how I felt about Chloe—how excited I was that I’d possibly found the woman I thought would be perfect for the two of us.

Kyle was much like me. He’d also been searching for a place to call his own. It was one of the things that had brought us together. But after seeing Chloe outside, I was afraid we’d lost our chance.

Seeing him now, my heart nearly broke. I’d given him hope, and it was slipping through our fingers. I wasn’t going to let that happen. I’d spent too much time searching for her, and there was no way I was going to give up that easily. Plus, I didn’t actually know what she and Matt were. They could be hooking up or old friends. My gut twisted.

“You know what? I’m gonna find her, and I’m gonna win her back.” I lightly punched Kyle on the shoulder. He narrowed his eyes.

“But you just said?—”

“I don’t give up that easily. I’m going to find her, and this time, I’m not letting her go. I still think she’s the one for us, dude. We just have to show her she belongs with us. Right, Liam?”

“Absolutely. And you won’t know if it’ll work out until you try.” Liam pushed off the wall, squeezing Abbey against him. “Right,dulcinee?”Liam planted a kiss on Abbey’s lips, and she giggled. “Just be careful. You don’t know where she and Matt stand with each other.”

Voices traveled in through the open barn door, quickly followed by the other riders with their horses or tack. It was time for us to finish unloading. The faster I completed my duties, the sooner I could find Chloe and start over.

Rounding the corner of the barn, I searched the slightly chaotic area for the petite blonde, but I couldn’t spot her.

“Good luck, Chloe,” I heard someone to my left say.

I lengthened my stride so I wouldn’t miss the chance of seeing her.

“Thanks, guys.”

I spotted her at the farthest trailer. She had a messenger bag thrown over her shoulder as she made her way to the big house. Her project. Could it be an event the Kingstons asked her to help with? I ran over some of their past events in my mind, but none of them lined up with timing. Christmas was over, and their fundraisers usually happened later in the year.

Then it hit me.

Their wedding.

Was she here to help with the wedding?

If so, that meant she wouldn’t be here for long. The wedding was a month away. I had that long to win Chloe and make her mine.

Well, mine and Kyle’s.

I finished puttingaway my tack and gave Atlas a full bubble bath. He deserved it. Team Kingston is ranked second in the Longines Global Championships. Our team racked up a lot of points at this last show.

It was still early in the tour, but we planned to keep our rankings. Our next show wasn’t until after the wedding, but it was in Florida. The hard times were coming in May, June, July, and August, when we would be having back-to-back international shows. It was a brutal summer lined up for all of us, but we’d signed on for it.

I was determined to win Chloe over before we left.

“I promise I’ll find the perfect location. I’m going for a ride tomorrow to see if I can spot anything,” Chloe’s voice echoed through the barn. I glance up from oiling Atlas’s hooves to see Chloe, Alex, and Declan entering from the opposite end.

“I’d start with the far-left pastures. Those are empty now that the cattle are in the summer fields.” Declan grabbed Alex’s hand and kissed the back of it before turning to Chloe. “I know everything is last minute, but we’ve all been too busy to get anything done.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got you covered. With Alex and I being locals, everyone already had their calendars marked, even though they weren’t booked yet. Even if you hired someone else from out of town, locals keep things open in case you need abackup. It’s kind of how we do things around here.” She patted Declan on the shoulder, and Alex snorted.

“She’s right. When you’re from a small town, everyone is planning your wedding from the day you’re born. Or the day they open shop. When I made my first rounds to give dates, they were already throwing ideas at me. Now we just need to finalize everything.”

“And find the location,” Chloe pointed out.

“At least we know it’s going to be here. It’s up to you to find us the perfect spot.” Declan returned Chloe’s shoulder tap.

“No pressure,” Chloe laughed. “All right. Let me get on it. I’ll touch base with you later.”

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