Page 7 of Before You Can Blink
As much as I wanted to reassure her that we would make it through this, the words got stuck in my throat because I couldn’t imagine how we would carry on without my father. He wasn’t just a man; he was the backbone of our family.
A hand landed on my shoulder, causing me to jolt and my mom to let out a weak whimper.
“Jett, honey?”
I craned my neck to find that the town physician’s wife, Annie Stevens, had let herself in through the still-open front door.
“Why don’t you let me take it from here?” she offered.
Nodding, I swallowed thickly, allowing her to ease my mother from my arms into hers.
Not knowing what to do, I tugged on the back of my neck. “I’ll just, uh—” My eyes landed on the shattered remains of our living room. “Clean up in here.”
Annie shook her head, eyes softening in sympathy. “Don’t you worry about that. Carly, Beth, and Tori are on their way over, and we’ll take care of everything. Why don’t you step out for a bit, get some fresh air? I can’t imagine you’ve had much time to process with how unexpected and sudden all of this has been.”
She didn’t give me time to argue or protest, turning her back on me as she guided Ma toward the master bedroom and closed the door behind them.
The silence was deafening, and that’s when it sank in that I would never hear my father’s booming voice echoing off the walls of this tiny house ever again. My chest constricted when I realized I had brushed him off this morning when he’d barked at me to take out the trash, because I was late for school, telling him I would do it when I got home. Those words would be the last we ever spoke to each other.
Fuck, if I had known . . .
Regret washed over me, making it so I couldn’t draw in a full breath. Black spots danced across my vision as I stumbled outside. I didn’t make it far before my knees gave out, and my ass landed on the top porch step. Desperate for oxygen, I dropped my head between my spread knees.
How the hell had this happened? He was too goddamn young!
Forty years was all God gave him on this earth, while others got upwards of eighty. It wasn’t fucking fair. Not by a long shot.
Something I’d once heard tickled the back of my brain.
“Every day you wake up, you have no idea if it could be your last. Gotta make the most of what time you’re granted on this earth.”
I stood with renewed purpose. It was time to take charge and live my life. When the Grim Reaper came for me, I was determined that it would be on my terms, no one else’s.
Upon arrival at Livingston Ranch, I made a beeline for the bunkhouse. Skidding to a halt, I raised a shaky hand and knocked on the door.
It opened quickly to reveal a freshly showered cowboy standing on the opposite side. His brows drew down as he surveyed my disheveled, breathless form.
“What can I do for you, kid?”
Kid.
I was a little over a year out from my eighteenth birthday, which would mark my entry into adulthood, but I had a feeling that after today, I’d be forced to grow up in a hurry. My childhood was officially over.
“Murphy around?” Shit. Now that I said his name aloud, it struck me that he might not even work here anymore. For all I knew, he could’ve been a summer seasonal hire the last time I’d set foot on this property two years ago.
The cowboy cocked his head. “You’re here to see Murph?”
“Yes, sir.” Heart in my throat, I asked, “He still work here?”
My question was met with a chuckle. “Guess you could say that. He’s married to the boss’s daughter.”
Well,thatwas a twist I didn’t see coming.
“Think you could point me in the direction of where I might find him?”
He hummed. “I can give him a call, but it’s coming up on suppertime. Might be a while before he’s free.”
“That’s fine.” I wasn’t in any hurry to return home to face my new reality.
