“Thank you.”
“You mentioned malicious intent? Tell me about that.”
Jay was putting the saddle on Spets now. “I don’t have time, but Jay is a ranch hand here. He’s been bribed to help another rancher steal Arabella’s water here at Mending Hearts.” Jay faltered as I spoke about him with calm efficiency, and he glanced at me as he tightened a strap around the horse’s middle. I went on ruthlessly. “He detained me against my will in a shed and sent her into the storm on purpose. If he doesn’t run while I’m searching for Arabella, he will be here at the ranch for questioning.”
“Sir, I must advise you to not—”
I hung up. I knew that the conventional wisdom was to not make Search and Rescue’s job harder by tossing another body out into the storm looking for a missing person. I didn’t give a shit.
Jay led Spets out of the stall, and the horse nickered, sending my heart tumbling down a steep cliff. Fuck. The horse was so huge. Taller than me, stronger than me, and clearly unnerved by the storm outside. Trying to keep my head on my shoulders, I took the reins from Jay, still several feet away from the horse. “If you try to run, I will find you,” I warned him. “Either you face justice legally, or I’ll do it myself.”
Jay swallowed visibly, wilting. “I was going to save her.”
“Go fuck yourself,” I shot back immediately.
Jay left in a hurry, and whether he was going to stick around or run for it, I didn’t care. My attention was on the horse, on his broad, muscular build and sleek, brown coat. The horse eyed me sideways, chewing idly on the bit as if to ask, “Are we doing something or standing here?”
I walked toward the larger exit, hit the button, and waited for the garage-style door to roll open. Icy wind blasted us both in the face, and Spets took a step back, shaking his head in a clear, “Fuck no, bro,” kind of gesture.
I set my teeth and led him through anyway, turning my face away from the onslaught of snow and carefully leading Spets until he was outside before I closed the door again. It was now or never. I was going to get on a horse with zero training like an absolute idiot… in a snowstorm. Seemed like a good way to die. I just had to make sure Spets didn’t get hurt or Arabella would finish me off if I didn’t bite the dust trying to find her.
I remembered Arabella saying something about approaching a horse from the left side, so I stayed on Spets’ left side, keeping myself well within sight and moving slowly. Spets seemed somewhat bored and irritated by the whole standing-in-a-snowstorm-with-a-newb situation, so I ripped off the band-aid. Grasping the pommel, I wedged my foot in the stirrup and then hoisted myself over the saddle.
Genuine fear rocked through me, sucking my breath inward like a black hole. The horse shifted under me, and he felt too high off the ground, too strong, too unstable. “This is insane,” I muttered under my breath.
I didn’t have time to be weak about this. I fumbled in my pockets for the flashlight, and after switching it on, I took the reins in my free hand. After I squeezed my heels gently against Spets’ side, the horse trudged forward. I knew where the path led into the woods because that was where Jay and I had gone to get the Christmas tree, so I squeezed a little harder and encouraged Spets to speed up.
His canter felt abominable. I was sure I was bouncing around like a ragdoll on a wooden rollercoaster, but I held on and did my best as Spets pushed through the snow like a champ. I guided him with gentle movements of the reins, but he seemed to know where he was going. I had no idea how he would know that, but maybe even in the driving snow and miserable conditions, Spets knew where the wooded trail was.
We reached the trees much faster than I expected, and then we were making our way laboriously through snow and dense trees and near whiteout conditions. I yelled Arabella’s name as loud as I dared without spooking Spets, but to the horse’s credit, he remained steadfast through the ride. Suddenly, my flashlight slid over a solid shape.
“Whoa,” I said. Spets didn’t get the memo. Fumbling, I tried pulling back on the reins gently, and he came to a stop. Arabella looked up from where she’d been leaning against a tree. She had her red scarf on. She was covered in a thick layer of snow. Her face was so colorless, I would have thought she was dead if she hadn’t moved.
But she was alive.
She was alive and my heart nearly burst from my chest.
Chapter thirty-two
Arabella
Iwas hallucinating. Dimly, I realized that hallucinations were possible when experiencing hypothermia, but I hadn’t thought they would look and sound real. Spets was here, and the only reason I knew that wasn’t real was because Spencer was riding him. The mirage Spencer shouted my name, and I looked down, squeezing my eyes shut. I had to keep moving. I’d been slowly shuffling forward for what felt like hours. I was close to the trailhead. I knew I had to be. If I could shut out the hallucinations, then I could—
“Ara.” Two strong hands pulled me against a hard body.
My eyes flew open. That felt real. “Spence?”
His arms were around me now, his face pressing against the side of mine and his strength holding the last of me together. “You’re ice. Let’s go, sweetheart. We need to get you to the hospital. Can you walk?”
I wasn’t sure anymore. Was that what I’d been doing? I hadn’t been able to feel my legs in forever. But I nodded, and Spencer half-carried me to my horse.My horse.
“You’re riding,” I said dimly. The shivering had stopped a while back, too. That was probably really bad.
“Let’s not talk about it. If I don’t think,” he grunted, pulling me closer to Spets, “then I won’t become a blathering idiot about it. Can you stand?”
I reached for Spets, and he turned his head to me. I grasped his mane, hooking an arm around his neck and sinking into his strong warmth. “Hi, buddy.”
Spencer took that as a yes and put himself back in the saddle. Then he reached for me. “Come on, love. You can do this.”
