Page 104 of The Brave and the Reckless

One day, I’d install completely new horse stalls out here. I wanted to get the kind of doors that allowed you to openthe upper half, so the horses could stick their heads out. They were going to be great for first-time riders to meet the animals. For now, I focused on getting the place fixed and polished.

I was packing up the tools after the light of day had faded from the stables when the sound of tires down the driveway gave me pause. Sanny and I were the only two people who ever came here. As far as I knew. I grabbed the hammer from my toolbox and inched toward the stable doors.

A small car stopped right by the front steps of the main house. It looked familiar from the Bravetown parking lot, but I couldn’t place it yet. It was almost dark out, and the porch light didn’t shine bright enough to illuminate the license plate either. So I waited. Nobody emerged from the driver’s side.

It wasn’t until I stepped outside and could see a head of dark hair through the windows, the car lit up from inside, that I remembered who it belonged to.

My throat closed up.

The hammer dropped from my hand and landed in the dirt.

The woman inside the car turned, finally ready to open the door, and her big brown doe eyes met mine through the window and across the distance.

We stayed locked like that for a moment, neither of us moving.

She was here.

How was she here?

It didn’t make sense.

But she was here, and her shoulders rose and fell in adeep sigh, and she was here, and she tilted her head and shrugged, and she was here, and the car door clicked open.

At the sound, my muscles sprang into action instinctively. I jogged down the small slope toward her.

“Esra?”

“Hi.” She climbed out of the car but leaned against it heavily, her head flopping to one side. As I got closer, I could make out the dark crescents under her eyes and the shadows hollowing her cheeks. She looked exhausted to the point of collapse. “I prepared something that I want to say. I just don’t remember it right now.”

“What are you doing here?” I asked, stepping closer with outstretched hands because I didn’t need her falling down again. She probably shouldn’t even have been driving with her shoulder still in a sling.

“I need to apolo—” Her good intentions were cut off as she swayed dangerously and closed her eyes. Her left arm waved through the air, grasping at the car for support.

I jumped forward. My hands closed around her middle, steadying her frame before she could topple over.

“Oh no,” she gasped.

“Let’s get you inside.” I wasn’t sure what was going on. She’d just been touring Yale with that walking hair gel tube and now she was close to fainting in my driveway– but she needed to lie down.

“No, no, no, I need to get this out, please.”

“Do you need to throw up?”

“Not like that.” She straightened back up and took a wavering step backward.

My fingertips brushed across her stomach as I untangled myself from her unusually bland T-shirt, only for me tohesitate and bring the back of my hand up to her forehead. “Jesus, Esra, you’re burning up.”

“Yeah.” She hiccupped a laugh. “I thought I was having a panic attack. But I think I’m getting sick.”

“I think you already are sick. Let’s get you to bed, come on.”

“One second, please.” She held up a single digit, then grabbed my forearm for support. Her nails dug into my skin as another dizzy spell had her leaning on me.

“Well, at least the manners are impeccable, princess.”

She giggled, then moaned and clutched her hand to her chest. “Ouch. No laughing.”

I maneuvered Esra on to the sofa and got her a bucket just in case she threw up, but that was as far as she let me take care of her. I tried offering a cold compress and she swatted me away.

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