Page 40 of His Cowboy Heart

I didn’t ask Brooks how his conversation went with his father as he practically raced back to the main highway. He was in complete control and despite his concerned expression, I had a feeling it had nothing to do with his father. It wasn’t until Brooks began patting down his body and then scanning through the console of the vehicle that his distress kicked in. “My phone,” he said.

I easily found the phone lying at my feet. “Here.”

“I didn’t leave a long enough note,” Brooks muttered as he took the phone from me. “I just wrote that there was something I needed to do and I’d be back. What if he thinks I left? I ran away before, so what if he thinks?—”

“He won’t,” I tried to reassure Brooks. I knew he was more worried about Xavier’s reaction to the note and lack of a phone call than he was about his uncle’s response. Brooks dialed his phone. I was able to hear the other side of the conversation, but unfortunately, it was Xavier’s voicemail. He tried again, each time getting the same result.

“God, please don’t let anything happen to him…” Brooks whispered as he began using the talk-to-text feature on his phone to send text after text, waiting only a few seconds between each one. My heart broke for Brooks as his efforts to reach Xavier failed. Calls and texts to his uncle also went unanswered.

Despite never having been truly in love before, I knew in my gut that I’d be as desperate and scared as Brooks if I were in the same position. Even though it was logical that Xavier could have left his phone somewhere, turned it off or even just ignored Brooks’s attempts to reach out altogether, I would have been in the same boat if I couldn’t see or feel or hear the man I loved. I’d only be able to think about the worst possible outcomes…

The sudden image of Flynn’s lifeless body on a gurney as some random doctor was calling his time of death made me nearly throw up right there in the SUV. It was that thought and many others that consumed me until Brooks came to a jarring stop in front of the old farmhouse that I was finding harder and harder not to think of as home. As Brooks leapt out of the vehicle and ran into the house, I found myself looking in the direction of the barn, though I wasn’t sure what it was that I was hoping I’d see.

I glanced at my phone to check the time as I opened the car door. I hadn’t realized how late it had gotten. It’d still been light out when we’d left, but I’d forgotten how late it was before the sun fell in this area in spring. I also forgot how cold it got.

“He’s not in there!” I heard Brooks shout and then he was rushing down the porch steps.

“I’m sure he’s fine, son,” Curtis called as he trailed behind Brooks at a slower pace. Something about the way Curtis said the words sounded off—like he wasn’t so sure. It didn’t matter because Brooks wasn’t listening anyway. He began running in the direction of the woods where the foreman’s house was. I’d finally gotten a chance to see the small house from the outside but had trouble thinking of it as anything other than a death trap since the place looked like a stiff breeze could knock it down.

As Brooks searched in that direction, I sucked in my gut and hurried to the barn. I wanted to find Xavier for Brooks’s sake, but I shamefully had my own reasons for wanting to check the barn.

BJ was standing in his stall, his head hung over the half door. He greeted me with a soft whicker as I approached him. A couple of weeks earlier, I would have been horrified at the idea of having drool of any kind, including equine spittle, anywhere on my person. Between Lovey, the chicken who didn’t realize my pants weren’t for crapping on, and how fond I’d become of BJ so quickly, I couldn’t imagine what my problem had been.

You’re a selfish dick, Jules… how about that?

I sighed because it was true. The only thing I’d cared about when it had come to animals had been the way their hides had been tanned to create exquisite shoes and clothes. I’d never once given any thought to whether the makeup I used was cruelty free or not. How had I grown up in one of the busiest and biggest cities in the world and known so little? How many creatures as beautiful as BJ or as sweet as Lovey had suffered terribly at the hands of corporate America and customers like me who never thought beyond their own little worlds?

“Just tell me he’s okay,” I whispered to BJ. Since I was desperate, I gladly took another horsey kiss to be the equivalent to yes and then left the barn so I could continue the search for Xavier.

A search which came up empty-handed.

A couple of minutes later when I met up with Brooks and Curtis and we compared notes, we were no further along. That was when Brooks realized Grover, the horse Xavier rode all the time, was missing. Several seconds later, a plan was being hatched to form a small search party instead of waiting for Xavier and Grover to return.

When Curtis directed me to find Flynn, a man he referenced as the new guy, meaning it was someone I shouldn’t know, I didn’t hesitate.

Or mention I knew who he was talking about.

All too well.

I was panting by the time I reached Flynn’s door. I pounded on it several times, not caring about the late hour and anyone else I might end up waking up in the process.

Flynn yanked the door open so fast and hard that I actually fell inwards, forcing him to catch me. “Jules?—”

I didn’t give him the chance to say anything, partly because more important things were happening but also because I didn’t want to know what kind of mood he was in when it came to seeing me again.

“Xavier is missing. Curtis sent me to find you. Says you can track people or something…”

Flynn left my side long enough to get dressed and grab his jacket and rifle. Jesus, did that mean that going after Xavier could be dangerous? The wolves he’d talked about… he’d said they hunted at night, right?

Despite knowing Flynn could handle himself, especially with his devoted horse as a partner, I was still terrified.

By the time we reached the main driveway, BJ was already saddled up. Curtis and Brooks had horses too. A poorly timed strike of lightning chose that moment to light up the night sky, reminding me how truly pitch black it would be as the men searched.

“What about me?” I blurted without thinking as I watched the trio start to head out. I knew it was stupid to want to go with them, but all I could think of was Flynn out there alone. What if he got separated from the other two? What if he split off to do his tracking thing alone, just him and BJ?

All those wolves and only one rifle…

I opened my mouth to demand that someone saddle a horse for me, but before I could say anything, I was being lifted in the air by a strong, warm, welcome arm. My ass landed on BJ’s back, right behind the saddle. Remembering the last time I’d tried to ride the horse without actually coming into physical contact with Flynn was at the forefront of my brain. It hadn’t been a particularly successful endeavor. I didn’t want to be the reason that the men had to slow down, so I wrapped my arms around Flynn’s waist. I kind of felt like I was copping a feel because I’d gotten the sense that Flynn hadn’t been happy to see me when I’d roused him from his sleep. He’d been bleary-eyed and moving slowly, like he’d been walking in mud.

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