Page 142 of Fire and Icing

Nothing else needs to be said. We ride the rest of the way into town in silence. I put on the radio just before we turn towardPatrick’s neighborhood. And I can’t help myself. I sing along when Luke Bryan and Jordan Davis start singingBuy Dirt.

“They should have you sing that one,” Patrick says. “I’d pay good money to hear you sing that again.”

“Thanks, man.” Emberleigh’s face fills my thoughts—the way she looked when I told her about Gavin’s offer. “We’ll see.”

Patrick hops out and waves goodbye. Greyson stays in the back. I drop him at his place, and then I drive back to Mrs. Holt’s.

I’ve been dirty before in my life. Right now my dirt’s got dirt. I feel like a guy in a laundry detergent commercial, so I sneak through the back door and straight down into the basement to clean up.

Once I’m showered and dressed, I feel like a new man. And I want to see Emberleigh—need to see her. This is her day off. She should be here. I walk through the kitchen, into the front room. She’s not down here. Then I check the porches—front and side screened-in porch. I can’t find her or Mrs. Holt. Maybe they’re out running errands.

A smarter man would text Emberleigh, but I’m not one to use my phone much. Besides, I need to see her. She’s probably upstairs resting. I take the staircase, gripping the banister and climbing like her room is on fire. When I reach the top, I knock on her bedroom door. She doesn’t answer. I knock again.

When she doesn’t answer again, I try the knob. “Emberleigh?”

I say her name softly in case she’s napping. But loud enough to give her notice that I’m coming in.

The door pops open.

What I see takes my breath away.

All her stuff is gone. The room looks as if no one ever occupied it.

I run down the stairs two at a time. Mrs. Holt is just coming in the front door. I nearly run into her. I have to brace my hands on the wall over the door to stop myself.

“Whoa, Dustin. Goodness me.”

“Sorry, Mrs. Holt. I’m looking for Emberleigh. Do you know where she is?”

“Yes. I do. She got the call that her house is finished being repaired. She moved back home earlier today.”

My face contorts. I can feel my brow wrinkle.

She left without telling me? Is this her pulling away before I can hurt her more deeply?

Then again, I was out on the ranch all day. I wasn’t easy to reach. Still, she could have texted me.

“I thought she’d tell you,” Mrs. Holt says, shaking her head lightly.

“I’m sure she’s planning on telling me.”

“You’re right. You’ve been gone all day. I’m sure she just wanted to tell you in person.”

“Well, thanks,” I say. Then without wasting another minute, I squeeze past Mrs. Holt and head to my truck.

I’ll probably find her at the bakery. Yes. It’s her day off. But I know Emberleigh. If she’s emotional, she’s going to bake. And she’ll want to be around Syd. She usually pops in there on her days off anyway.

I pull up into one of the open spots and basically run through the door into the bakery.

Syd looks up from where she’s helping a customer.

“Dustin? Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah. I’m fine. Just … is Emberleigh here?”

“No. She was. She left a while ago.”

“Okay. Thanks.” I turn and dart out the door as quickly as I entered.

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