Page 100 of Bourbon and Lies

As soon as he gets close enough, he shouts, “Baby, we need to move! This place is going to go up.”

“Julep’s hurt. Take her.”

He leans down as I try to lift her up higher. He gets a good grip on her and maneuvers her so that she’s cradled in front of him across the horse’s lower neck.

“Give me your hand,” he says as he turns back to me. I reach up and he grips my bicep, hoisting me up on the horse that he’s already started moving. Tucking myself behind him, I hold on tight. With the reins gripped in one hand and keeping a hold on Julep in the other, we take off. Twerk gallops quickly and my hair whips at my tear-streaked face. Seconds later, behind us, the rickhouse explodes. We’ve gotten far enough away that I can’t feel the heat or the pressure from the blast. And I know that if Grant hadn’t shown up when he did, I wouldn’t have made it.

Fire engines with their sirens blaring fly in the opposite direction than we’re going, up the narrow road toward the explosive fire. I turn my head, looking behind to catch a glimpse at the entire rickhouse burning bright in one massive blaze. My eyes blur at the roaring flames. I hold on to Grant tighter, but he twitches, tilting his side like something’s wrong.

At the crest of the hill to the main house, he pulls Twerk to a stop.

“Careful, baby, not so tight,” he says, wincing, and I realize with a start that he’s hurt and bleeding.

His side is wet and sticky. My hands are covered in it, and I know immediately that it’s blood—I’ve felt this before. It's not good, and my panic kicks back into gear.

“I’m fine, baby. Are you hurt?” he says over his shoulder, knowing I’m freaking out without even looking at me.

But I ignore him. “You arenotfine.” And I’m not even close to being fine, but I’m not bleeding. Both Grant and Julep are hurt, and we need help. Shaking off my emotions, I slide down from the horse.

“Where are you going?”

I turn toward the road. “You’re bleeding. I’m getting help.” I start waving my arms above my head, trying to pull the attention of the police cars and ambulance as they get closer. “Hey! We’re over here,” I shout. A set of lights slows.Thank goodness.

When I turn back, I see his thigh. He has it wrapped in a tourniquet with his belt. “What happened?” I try to hold back another sob that wants to escape. Not yet. Not until they’re okay.

But he doesn’t answer me. He holds Julep against his body and gets down from the horse, and then moves her into the grass, petting her head reverently. “You did good, girl. You did so damn good, Jules.”

Still crouched over her, he turns toward me, stands, and just keeps moving. He doesn’t stop until he wraps his arms around me. I breathe him in as he kisses the top of my head and into my hair, then my forehead, and then buries his face in my neck. “I tried to get there. I tried so fucking hard.”

“But she did,” I say, nodding to Julep. She’s hurting, but her tail wags as I drop lower to comfort her. “She found me, warned me, and then got a good grip on him when he raised his gun. That’s what started the fire. When he dropped it, it went off,” I say, looking at the rickhouse now completely engulfed in flames.

“Fuck.” He bends as best he can to pet her head again.

“He kicked her, I think, and then she hit the ground hard. She can’t put any weight on her backside.”

“My brave girls.” Grant keeps one hand on her chest as he holds me close. He kisses the side of my head, letting his lips linger there.

I crouch next to him, and he pulls back, searching my eyes. His hands move up to my face, framing it and bringing me closer until his lips crash into mine. We kiss each other as if we both know how close we came to never being able to do it again.

When he pulls back this time, tears falling down his face, he asks, “Did he hurt you?” He looks around my face and body,ensuring I’m alright. “I couldn’t get to you.” He kisses me again. “Ah fuck,” he says, wincing when he shifts his weight, trying to stand.

I look down at his leg, and my eyes widen at the reality of his injury. “Oh my god. Grant? Your leg.”

With a small shrug, he glances down. “It was a clean shot. Went right through.”

“And you’re just making out with me while there’s a bullet hole in your leg?”

He chuckles, but as he tries to move again, he still winces. “That one doesn’t feel as intense as the one that grazed my side.” When he twists to look at it, even that small movement has him hissing between his teeth.

He smirks at me. “Looks like no piggybacks for a while.”

I snort out a laugh, but my eyes water. As I rest my forehead on his shoulder, both of us are starting to lose the adrenaline that has us standing and not falling completely apart.

“Ace came riding up as soon as he heard the gunshots at my place. I woke up with him slapping me in the face. We made a quick tourniquet—I hadn’t bled out, so he didn’t hit an artery. And there wasn’t anything that was going to keep me from getting to you. I took the horse and started yelling and riding right toward where he said you were.”

I hold my side as I shift on my feet, my ribs hurting with every inhale as I watch the blaze. Julep barks as another explosive sound rings out. There’s no way this fire would be contained or survived. The dark sky fills with even darker smoke, billowing fast and strong.

“The fire department won’t make a dent in that until it burns off.”

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