Page 53 of Out to Find Freedom

“Ryan,” I whispered, and it sounded like I was shocked by a magical creature. In a way, I guessed Ryan was one. I hadn’t seen him since leaving his house that night. All I knew was that he’d been working the case. More recently he was out searching for Phillip Burrows.

Other than that information, I’d heard nothing.

Messaging him never strayed far from my mind, but I stuck to my guns and didn’t. I was sure my phone was getting worn down by the number of times I looked at our exchanged messages though. I hadn’t seen his last one until I opened it the day after getting to Julian’s.

But Ryan had been here. Why?

I cleared my throat. “Um… what was he here for?”

Julian played with my hair, twirling it around and through his fingers. I loved it when he did that. He seemed to know it relaxed me, because I started to settle into him more.

“He popped in to see how you were.”

Forget relaxing.

I sat up and turned to Julian. “He did?”

He smiled knowingly. Yes, he knew my obsession with Ryan. After I’d asked about the man so many times, Julian sat me down and asked exactly what went on between us. He didn’t give me hope to think I could have something, even a friendship, with the man. He just listened and then said at the end, “You never know what the future may bring.”

“Yeah, he was in the area and saw the light on. It was lucky it was the one night I stayed up.”

I wanted to shake Julian to give me all the information in seconds.

“And?” I pushed, throwing my phone to the bed.

He reached up and tugged on a strand of hair. “And I told him you were doing well.”

“Julian,” I scolded.

Julian shrugged. “He wasn’t here long, but I may have mentioned the nightmares. He gave me something that he thought could help if you can’t get back to sleep right away.”

“What?” I whispered.

He picked up my phone and pressed a few things on there. The next second, music started up.

My breath caught as I drew it in sharply.

I was over crying. I’d cried a billion times. Only a couple of times had there been tears of happiness, and this was one of those moments.

Ryan had suggested music.

Straight away, it conjured up the image of Ryan singing—even though it wasn’t his voice or a song he’d played before. A small smile slowly crept onto my lips.

How could I have been so stupid? Of course music would work for me. I could have hit myself for not thinking of it sooner. Though, I was glad I hadn’t, because then Ryan wouldn’t have been able to suggest it.

“This music is something you like?” Julian asked.

I nodded.

“Country?”

“Yes. Country had always been playing when I was with my dad.” I’d also heard an amazing man sing a certain song, which happened to be the moment my feelings had grown for him.

“Where did you use to live before…?”

Reaching out, I took my phone from his hand and smiled down at it. “A long way out of town on a lot of acres. My dad was a farmer, but he also owned a couple of food stores, along with stocks and shares.” I glanced up. “He didn’t run them. His life was on the land.”

“You miss him,” he said.

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