Page 78 of Perfect Cowboy

“What?”

“My phone keeps buzzing and it’s Henry calling me,” I explain. “I don’t know if it’s as my friend or the sheriff, so I better answer it.”

Chapter 20

Ashley

Gavin’sfaceisunreadablewhile he listens to whatever Henry is saying on the call. He holds up a finger to indicate he’ll be right back and then heads outside, presumably to hear his friend better.

A cold shiver of dread moves through me because something tells me it isn’t a social call. A friendly message would be a text and then waiting for a reply. An official reason would be calling over and over again until he reached Gavin.

It’s about me.

I know it.

But maybe it’s a good thing and Henry somehow identified the black pickup truck that was outside my dad’s cabin. In a town where so many people hate me and potential threats are everywhere, it would be welcome to know who the biggest one is.

“Hey,” Cade says, closing the distance between us. “You’re really pale. Let’s go and sit down. I’ll order you some of that cake you wanted.”

Victory puts her arm around my waist and leads me back to the table. My legs are rubbery and all the sounds of the Moose are filtered through the blood roaring in my ears.

Henry didn’t identify the truck.

How could he? We didn’t get a license plate number.

Something happened.

And it isn’t good.

“I should go find Gavin,” I say.

It’s ridiculous to be looking at a dessert menu while Gavin deals with my problems – again.

“He’ll be back soon,” Cade assures me. “And I highly recommend we order some brownie earthquakes while we wait. If he takes too long, he won’t get any. That’s all.”

I appreciate what Cade is trying to do, but anxiety buzzes through my chest like it’s a beehive. I force a smile and agree to order whatever he suggests because I no longer care about chocolatey goodness.

The desire for cake was back when I was carefree and enjoying the night.

Now I’m just scared and dread is weighing down my stomach.

Gavin is outside for what feels like forever, and I’m halfway through eating dessert that I don’t even taste by the time he returns to the table.

“What happened? Why was Henry calling?” I ask, the second he sits down beside me. “It was about me, I know it.”

There’s a flicker of sympathy in his eyes before he masks it. We’re sitting so close together that I’m basically on his lap, but he pulls me the rest of the way across and wraps his strong arms around me like a shield.

“Did someone die?” I whisper.

The only family I have left are my relatives in Chicago and my brother in Europe. Surely if something happened to them, Henry wouldn’t be calling Gavin.

So, what the hell could it be?

“No,” Gavin replies, “Everyone is fine.”

All I want to do is go back in time to when we were sneaking out to the parking lot together for a bit of fun. Maybe if I had suggested going back to the ranch, we could have driven away from my problems and gotten lost in each other.

We could have bought ourselves another day.

---