Page 69 of Let Me Be the One
Huffing every breath, precariously perched, she dared to look at Dirk and Lang. The two of them wore identical expressions of awed amazement.
After a few dazed seconds, Dirk moved forward. “Darlin’, what the hell are you doing?”
Staying out of reach. But she said, “Looking for my goat.” It infuriated her that they’d put her in this position. Well, not the position in the tree, but a position of feeling like she had to be in a tree.
“Thought I heard a goat,” Lang said with absurdly feigned confusion. “But I wasn’t sure.” He, too, moved closer.
Callie scampered up higher, just in case.
Laughing, Dirk said, “I know you’re a city girl and all, but your goat isn’t up there.”
Feeling ridiculous, she said, “I know goats can’t climb trees.” How absurd. “I can see better up here,”she lied. With all the leaves and twigs, not to mention the rain and the dark, she couldn’t see a thing, not really.
“Actually, goats do climb trees, but if you stopped to listen, you’d know your goat is deeper in the woods.”
Goats climbed trees? No, she refused to believe that. Like many things since moving here, she’d look it up later. For now, she said, “Kam is coming to help me look, so in the meantime I was trying to spot the goat.”
“No,” Dirk said. “Kam isn’t coming.”
“He is,” she insisted, hoping to convince them. “Should be here any minute.”
The brothers exchanged a look. “Sorry, darlin’, but Kam is out on the town. Don’t expect he’ll be home tonight at all.”
Lang added, “They’re twitchy about bringing women around Addie.”
“Respectful,” Callie corrected, assuming that was the reason why Kam and Tanner didn’t bring home casual dates. “They love and respect Addie, as they should.”
Dirk lost a bit of his “good old boy” routine. “Sure, whatever. They’re fucking choirboys.”
She wouldn’t gothatfar.
“We’re all getting soaked,” Lang pointed out. “Come down from there and we’ll help you find your damn goat.”
Right. Godeeper in the woodswith the two of them? Not happening. “I’m fine,” she said inanely, uncaring that her hair stuck to her face in wet clumps, while rivulets of rainwater ran down her nose and dripped off her chin. A combo of cold and fear made her tremble so badly that “fine” sounded like three syllables. Embellishing her lie, she said, “Kam cut his date sh-shortonce I t-told him a goat was missing.” Damn her chattering teeth.
Warily, Lang glanced around.
The brothers wore rain slickers with the hoods up, so other than wet boots, the weather wasn’t affecting them much, not like it did her. Already it had saturated her shirt and jeans, and chilled her to the bone.
“This is dumb,” Dirk barked, startling her. He came forward with a scowl and a purpose. “You can’t sit in a damned tree during a thunderstorm. You’ll get hit by lightning.”
The goat cried out again, further rattling her, but what could she do? As Dirk advanced, she felt the same fear she’d experienced in college when Warren had nosedived off the deep end of rage. It stole all the breath from her lungs. Back then, Warren had started destroying things and in the process he’d thrown things out of his way—including her. His strength had been terrifying, especially since she’d assumed that once he finished attacking her apartment, he’d turn on her.
“Callie?”
The sound of her name, called out from a slight distance, sent a surge of hope and happiness through her.Tanner. How he was here, she didn’t know, but her relief was enough that she let out a sob.
“Callie?” Kam called next, turning her lie into truth. “Where are you?”
In that moment, she loved both men, and as soon as she was safely back in her home she’d tell them so.
Getting it together, she shouted back, “Here! In a tree.” Looking down at her dumbfounded neighbors, she called with warning, “And the Garmet brothers are here.”
CHAPTER TEN
TANNER POUNDED THROUGHthe woods, every awful scenario he could imagine slamming into his brain. Had Callie said she was in a tree? The storm had intensified and with the downpour and whistling wind, he couldn’t be sure.
The name of the Garmets had come through loud and clear, though.
