Page 54 of Baked

This was not the end. It couldn’t be. He wouldn’t let it be. She loved him; he knew she did. And God knows he loved her more than life itself. Something had to have happened over the past few days. Something he had to fix. You couldn’t just go from madly in love one minute to tearing down a hospital corridor the next. It just didn’t make sense.

Once he was free of this hospital bed, he’d find out exactly what had happened and sort it out. He had to. There was no other outcome that he could fathom right now.

***

Three days withoutRachel, and Hunter had finally had enough. He just couldn’t take it anymore. Not seeing her beautiful smile, not hearing her fairy-like voice, and not wrapping her in his arms every night felt like the end of the world.

Could you be any more dramatic?

He could. Three days without Rachel proved that. He’d been giving her space. Understanding, she needed time to process what had happened. But now he was done waiting. He needed to see her.

He still wasn’t cleared to drive, so that was out. But he could use his phone. He pulled it out a second later. Leaning back into the couch cushions, he held his breath as the ringing sliced through his ears.

When the ringing came to a stop, his heart rate kicked up, only to plummet again when the automated voicemail recording played.

She’s screening your ass.

Was that true? There were not enough curses in the world to convey what he was feeling, but he tried anyway.

“Fuck it.” He swiped on his phone again.

This time, someone actually answered.

“What’s up?” Luke’s deep voice filled his ears.

“I need you to come pick me up.” Hunter got straight to the point. “I need to see Rachel.”

The line went quiet. Another test to his patience.

“Luke? Did you hear me?” he prompted when his friend still hadn’t replied.

“Look, man,” Luke started, preparing Hunter for something he no doubt didn’t want to hear. “I can’t take you to see her, ’cause Rachel’s not in Woodvalley. She skipped town.”

“She fucking what?” Hunter roared, jolting up from the cushions.

He heard Luke sigh down the line. “The day you were discharged, she up and left town. Closed the bakery and just took off. No one’s heard from her since. Libby and Cat have been trying to reach her, but they said she’s not answering their calls.”

Hunter’s mind immediately went to her safety. What if more guys came looking for her? What if Den and Rudy weren’t the only men her father owed money to?

“Did you speak to Cody? Shit. What if she’s in trouble?” Panic crawled up his spine as all the what-ifs just kept coming.

“Chill, man, of course I spoke to Cody. Den, Rudy, and her dad are all locked up. No one’s coming for her. She’s free. She’s not in danger anymore, I swear it.”

You would think that would make him feel better, but it didn’t. He felt no less calm. “Then where is she?”

“Honestly, I think she’ll be back,” Luke was quick to reply.

“Oh yeah, and what makes you so sure?”

What if she’s gone forever?

“Well, first off, the sign on Fairy Baked saysClosed until further notice. Which means she’ll be back, if only to sort out the store. Plus, I get the feeling she just needs some time to clear her head. A lot of shit went down. And you should have seen her in the hospital, man. She wasn’t okay. She was spurting off all this crap about how it was her fault you got shot and weird shit like she didn’t deserve you.”

“What?” Hunter was on his feet now, ignoring the sharp burn in his side and pacing the room. Well, more like limping slowly up and down the room. “And you didn’t think to mention that to me earlier? Maybe, I don’t know, around the time she dumped my ass?”

Un-frigging-believable.

“Uh, no, dude, I didn’t. Maybe I just wanted my friend to focus on getting better after hismajor fucking surgery. Have you already forgotten that you’ve got a big-ass hole in you?”

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