Page 43 of Hero Next Door
Someone kicked the door in, the lock busting through the wood of the frame in an explosion of splinters, and I staggered back, horrified. I heard steps coming through the doorway, loud and angry, and when I looked up, wondering what the hell was going on, I saw Kevin.
“I thought I told you to leave,” I snapped. “You just broke my door!”
He slammed the door behind him, his face arrogant and uncaring. “Sure did. And I’m here for one reason, Parker. You’re going to reconsider your answer to me, and you’re going to think long and hard about whether you’re doing the right thing by refusing me.”
CHAPTER26
Dev
Iswerved into my driveway, intent on turning the truck around and going back to Parker’s and talking to her about what I’d just realized. But evidently every man on my ranch had been standing in line, waiting for me to arrive.
And they had things to say.
Ten men rushed toward the truck in single file, all of them already talking, and I groaned. There were times when I really, really hated having to be the man in charge.
That said, this was my ranch and my responsibility, and I couldn’t just turn around and leave if there were things that needed doing. I rolled down my window and motioned to Hank to come on up, and then we started a sort of assembly line of sorts, the men stopping and talking to me through the window, asking questions and making suggestions and getting a final answer from me before they moved on. I heard about everything. Sections of fence that had randomly gone missing overnight, and cows that had escaped through the resulting holes. Horses who had managed to get cast overnight and now needed the vet. One mare who looked like she might be going into labor a lot earlier than she should, and a question of whether we should move her up to the horse barn or leave her in the pasture with her herd mates, where she might be better taken care of. The barn needed painting and the houses needed a new heater and none of the Wheatings were here to answer questions, and so it was all up to me.
I ground my teeth and solved problems as quickly as I could, 3/4 of my mind on wanting to get to Parker while the other 1/4 reminded me again and again that she’d be there when I managed to get away. She wasn’t going anywhere.
Yet.
After the last man finally got his answer, I glanced down at my phone, which was buzzing. That mess had taken an hour of time, and it looked like Parker had texted me. She’d said she was coming over.
What?
I glanced at the time stamp and saw that she’d sent that message an hour ago. Right after I left her house.
I looked over at her SUV, which was still sitting in my driveway, and then glanced at her house. She didn’t have a car, but it would have taken her half an hour, max, to walk from her house to mine.
She’d texted an hour ago.
I knew immediately that something was wrong. She wouldn’t have said she was coming over unless it was important, and she would have been here already if she’d left when she texted me. The girl didn’t have any patience, so if she texted, it must have meant that she was on her way out the door, which meant...
God.
I threw my truck into gear and screeched out of my driveway, gunning it for the hill. Something was wrong out there, and though I didn’t know what it could possibly be, I had a bad feeling it had to do with Kevin Farlan and the contacts he evidently had with men who looked like they’d just gotten out of prison.
God, why had I left her there with him? I’d known he was trouble, and I’d turned around and driven away! If something had happened to her, I’d never forgive myself. Sure, the girl acted like she didn’t need anyone else, but that wasn’t true. I’d seen into her soul, and though she hadn’t told me her secrets herself, I knew what they were, and I knew just how fragile she actually was under that armor she wore.
She needed someone to take care of her, at least some of the time, and instead of doing that, I’d turned and driven away.
Again.
I hit the asphalt of the road and swerved onto it, hitting the accelerator with my eyes already on Parker’s house. I could see her driveway from here.
And that meant I could see the car still in the driveway.
CHAPTER27
Parker
Iwas running out of time, and I knew it.
Kevin Farlan had already been in my house for half an hour, talking, and I could hear that he was getting more and more worked up the more he talked. He didn’t think I was listening to him or taking him seriously, and he was right about that much.
Or rather...
Well, I wasn’t taking what he was saying very seriously. I was taking him—and the gun he was holding—very, very seriously.
