Page 52 of Live for Me

I whirled at Dave’s declaration. “What? No! You came here to get me—”

“—yeah, and Beau ran after you on horseback. I know you don’t want to hear this, but I agree with him. Your stalker is in Denver and you’re here, three hours away.”

“This is my hometown,” I argued. “Whoever the hell he is probably already knows my connection to it.”

“Yes, but he sure as shit doesn’t know about Beau,” Dave countered, looking behind me.

Something nudged me from behind, shoving me forward a bit. I turned to find Spirit staring at me. He neighed in greeting, and I reached up to pet him. “Hi, pretty boy,” I cooed as I looked at his rider. I shook my head. “I don’t want this coming back on Hallow Ranch, and Mason made it very clear this morning that I wasn’t welcome.”

Beau looked out to the road and nodded. “Well, he’s right. You aren’t.”

My hand froze on Spirit, and I jerked back. Beau rubbed his jaw and looked at me again. “But that doesn’t fucking matter, because this is life and death. The cowboys will get over it soon enough.”

“If she isn’t welcome, then…” Dave trailed off, looking at me.

I glared back at him, hating him for suggesting I should even stay here.

The warmth and purity of that kiss faded away, and now, the only thing I was left with was shame. “Dave, I want to go home.”

He opened his mouth, but the sound of his cell ringing cut through the air. He pulled it out of his pocket, answering it. “Harris, babe, I can’t talk—what?”

Dave’s eyes shot to mine, a look of horror painting his face. I took a step forward, nausea swirling in my gut.

Was something wrong with Harris?

“Babe, slow down,” Dave said, looking at Beau, his skin growing paler with each passing second. Slowly, as he held the phone to his ear, he looked over to me. “Abbie…your house was broken into and ransacked.”

“What?” I breathed.

My best friend looked pained as he pushed out the next words. “Your art room has been destroyed.”

The next thing I knew, my knees were giving out, and I was heading for the pavement. A strong arm banded around my waist as a gut-wrenching cry escaped my mouth. I doubled over as Beau hauled me back against his body.

“No! No! Dave, tell me you’re lying!” I cried out, my voice echoing through the summer day.

Beau hauled me back against him with a low grunt, his other arm banding around me, just under my breasts. I felt his mouth against my ear next. “Steady, Abbie.”

I shook my head as Dave put his partner on speaker.

“They—oh, God, Dave…” Harris trailed off.

“What?” I shouted, desperate for answers, silently praying for mercy. “What is it?”

“Abbie, sweetheart, they destroyed your art pieces. All of them.”

Chapter Thirteen

Beau

I folded myself out of the truck as soon as Mason put it in park on the street in front of Abbie’s house.

There were two police officers standing on the front porch, talking with a man in a suit with a purple plaid tie. He looked over to us for a moment, and then his eyes slid over to Dave’s Audi, which pulled in behind Mason’s truck. Denver slammed the passenger side door as his boots hit the ground and he looked back at me, his gray eyes flashing with anger as Dave and Abbie walked up. Dave had his arm wrapped around her, guiding her down the sidewalk. She had her eyes on the ground, looking lost.

The sight gutted me.

Mason rounded the front of his Chevy, putting on his hat before lifting his chin to me. “We going in with her or not?”

Silently, I moved, my boots hitting the sidewalk, following Dave and Abbie. In the daylight, her neighborhood looking like something out of a magazine. Every single house was different, each one having their own unique character. The lawns were trimmed, the sidewalks clear. A few front yards had some toys scattered across the bright green grass. A Black couple stood in the yard next to Abbie’s, looks of concern on their faces. As Dave turned Abbie to head up the driveway, the man stepped forward.

---