I shook my head, still trying to contact our pilot. “I don’t think she’d leave without telling me.”
We made it to Jax’s, where Grant stood on the porch waving. Kids normally annoy the shit out of me, but this one was pretty cool.
“Hi, Zoey!” He nearly knocked me over, hugging my waist.
“How you doing, big man?” Austin held up his hand as Grant gave him a high-five.
Jax appeared on the porch, looking around. “Where’s Madison?”
“She, uh, well, her stuff is gone.” Austin shoved his hands in his pockets.
Disappointment crossed Jax’s face. “What? She wouldn’t leave.”
I grabbed my phone and dialed the pilot again.
Jax started pacing the porch. “No, she didn’t go. I know it.”
I disconnected the call. “No answer.” I took a breath. “They could be in the air.”
“No. No way.”
The steely determination in his eyes took me aback.
“She’s here.” He pointed. “Grant and I will walk down to the river and look. Austin, you check the barn and chicken coop.”
Austin took a step towards him. “Bro, all of her stuff is gone?—.”
Jax walked around him. “No, she would not leave like this.” He shook his head. “She’s here. I can feel her.”
I got chills as I watched him clench his jaw, so certain of Madison. Instantly, I knew this was no mere hook-up between him and my sister.
They all headed out the door, with me trailing by a few steps as they dispersed in different directions.
“Where should I check?”
Grant pointed. “The she-shed. See if she’s there.”
“What the fuck is a she-shed?” I threw my arms in the air.
“Language, Zoey,” Jax yelled over his shoulder.
“Sorry!” I felt flustered. “What the hell is a she-shed?”
Grant laughed as Jax shook his head. “Up behind the house!”
I galloped (when in Montana and no one could see you) to the back of the house, and sure as shit, there was a shed. I pulled open the door, but my eyes could not comprehend the adorableness before me. What the what?
I stepped inside and sighed. I was particular…okay, a little snooty when it came to where I spent my free time. The rooftop pool of the Miami Magnolia Hotel, the bistro on Old Cherry Road in Paris, and now, a she-shed in Montana. Who knew?
I pulled the door closed behind me and let my gaze travel from the little window letting the morning sunshine in over the loveseat that screamedlay downat me to the loft and canned food with circles on the label. Hmmm.
“Hi.”
I jumped and looked up to see Madison’s head hanging over the loft bed.
“First of all, glad to see you’re still here. Secondly, what in the hell is this place?” I climbed the ladder and plopped next to her on the mattress. “This is pretty cool.”
She rolled on her side. “Jax and Grant made it for me.”
