Page 1 of Love Me Steadfast
Chapter One
WILLIAM (NOW)
The tones wakeme just past midnight. I autopilot into my jumpsuit and boots while the dispatch relays details from the loudspeaker.
Medical call triggered by the crisis line. The address is familiar, but I can’t place it.
My pulse thickens in my throat as I race for the pole and slide down to the truck bay.
Who do I know who lives on Salt Creek Road?
Burton is right behind me, and climbs behind the wheel while I jump into the passenger seat. An engine is also dispatched, and both of us pull out of the station, sirens wailing.
I check in with dispatch. “EMS Four underway. What’ve we got?”
“Patient is a twenty-seven year old female reporting a mental health crisis,” our dispatcher replies. “Possible substance abuse.”
“Is anyone with her?” I ask.
“Not that we know.”
I hope the crisis line folks are still talking to her. If anything, it will buy us some time.
“Sheriff’s department is ten minutes out,” our dispatcher says.
“Does she know we’re coming?” I ask.
“Affirmative,” dispatch replies. “Evergreen medics are on standby.”
I set the radio back in its cradle while Burton accelerates onto Sunnyside, which curves around the south side of Bear Mountain. It’s a narrow paved road that turns to gravel after the first few miles. The rig vibrates and dips over the uneven road. There’s no traffic at this hour, so I kill the siren but leave the lights.
When the GPS indicates our turn is approaching, it hits me.
“Oh fuck,” I say, running a hand through my hair.
Burton frowns. “What?”
“I think I know where we’re going.”
The faded sign for Salt Creek Road flashes in the headlights, and Burton turns. The road’s in even worse shape than the one we left behind, and our heavy rig bounces and jerks over the potholes and washboards.
“You been out here before?” Burton asks as we take the left fork, passing beneath the Thunder Mountain arch.
“Yeah,” I reply. When Morgan started the rescue almost six years ago, she had four horses and a hundred acres. Now it’s grown to over 300—plus some public land she won the right to lease for cheap—and dozens of animals. “It’s…been awhile though.”
“Some kind of horse rescue?”
It’s normal to make conversation while responding to a call, but my throat is too tight for words right now, so I just nod.
What are we about to walk into?
The last time I talked to Morgan was in the cereal aisle at the grocery store a few months ago. Did I miss signs that she wasn’t okay? Or was I too distracted by the gnawing questions I refused to let myself ask about her sister that I didn’t notice?
No matter how hard I’ve tried to get over Charlotte, she owns my heart and always will.
Burton parks the rig just past the front door of a two-storyfarmhouse that’s seen better days. All the windows are dark, except for a faint glow coming from one upstairs.
Beyond the house stands the refurbished barn and several fenced pastures, everything in shadow thanks to the pale bulb shining from the peak of the roof.
