Page 12 of Stay for Me

My head snapped up. “Abbie?”

“Yeah, she’s—”

“Abbie is back?” I gaped.

Valerie leaned forward, holding her hands up. “Wait, wait. You know about Abbie?”

I scoffed. “Don’t insult my intelligence, Val. Beau has been hung up on her for years.”

Valerie hummed. “Well, she’s back, living with Beau in a cabin—”

“The one John Langston built for Jigs?” I assumed out loud.

Her face flattened as she glared at me. “How am I supposed to have any good gossip for you if you know everything already?” she deadpanned.

Laughing, I said, “I don’t know everything. I just know about Abbie—and the cabin.”

“Well, a lot went down last month, and some of it…you know.”

The air in the room shifted then as something in my head clicked, remembering hearing about the incident at the diner. A man had gone into the diner and forced a woman to leave with him at gunpoint.

“Denver told me not to worry about that,” I said cautiously. “Are you saying that was—holy crap, was that Abbie?”

Val nodded, bringing her hands together in her lap, her gaze falling. “It wasn’t just Abbie, Diana.”

Last month, I’d been on the other side of the state, dealing with a client. I’d been wrapped up in a week-long court case that drained every ounce of mental energy I had. When I’d gotten back into Hayden, there were whispers about what happened at the diner, and I didn’t think to question it. I assumed the Hallow Ranch cowboys were on it, and if not, then Sheriff Bowen was. There were a lot of things I knew about this ranch, good and not so good. The not so good stuff, I disregarded. It protected the town. In the eyes of the justice system, it was morally wrong. However, in the eyes of humanity, the things these cowboys did was justice-- justice our own justice system could never deliver.

“Harmony and I were with her when…when that man came into the diner.”

A chill swept down my spine, and the next thing I knew, I was on my feet, leaving NJ to her toys on her blanket and moving around the coffee table to sit beside Val. I took her hands in mine as a shadow fell over her face, her eyes refusing to meet mine. Her focus was on her daughter, and I could tell she was being pulled back into the past.

“Tell me what happened,” I demanded.

“I can’t—”

“—I’m not your lawyer right now, Val. I’m your friend. Now, tell me.” I said gently--but firmly, squeezing her hands.

As my sweet friend began telling me all the horror I’d missed in the town I’d grown to love, the gaping pit of guilt in my gut widened.

Chapter Two

Diana

IstaredatVal.

For how long, I didn’t know.

I didn’t—I couldn’t. I’d missed all that?

“Diana?” she called out softly, leaning towards me slightly, concern coating her beauty. “Diana, what is it?”

“Denver told me not to worry about it,” I murmured, trying to wrap my mind around that very fact.

Why didn’t he want me to worry about it?

Val, my friend, and Harmony, someone I was slowly becoming friends with, had both been in danger. I could’ve helped. I could’ve--

“It wasn’t your problem to worry about. The boys got it taken care of,” my friend whispered, cutting off my thoughts. The tone in her voice compelled me to meet her gaze once more.

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