“I need to grab a jacket and my boots before I go,” she stated, and I nodded before taking her hand into mine and leaving the armory.
She stood patiently waiting as I relocked the room, securing the arsenal behind the steel core door. After losing Pops, I’d spent a fuck-ton of money to make sure the house was protected,which was why that message scribbled on the mirror had me on edge.
We walked downstairs, and Cheyenne grabbed her heavy winter coat and snow boots from the closet near the front door. I took them from her and kissed the back of her hand as she opened the front door and we walked outside. The wind had picked up, and the nip in the air was just the beginning.
With snow predicted tomorrow evening, I wished I could get her to agree to stay, but she wouldn’t leave Granny without her supplies.
“Do you have everything?” I asked, and she shook her head with a smile.
“I have to stop by the clubhouse and pick up a few bottles to take,” she said, and I nodded at her, remembering her asking about taking some liquor to Granny for the cold winter quickly approaching.
“I’ll call Jagger and let him know you’ll be by. Take whatever you need, just let him know so I can replace it next week.”
She looked up and turned her eyes to the west. The sky was slowly turning from bright blue to light gray, and when she looked back at me, I could see she was stalling. I tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as I said, “You and I can go up in the morning and come back in the afternoon if you want to wait.”
She smiled and shook her head as she slid the bag from her shoulder and placed it in the empty passenger seat. “I’ll be okay. I just want to beat the snow back.”
I tossed her boots onto the passenger floor and placed her coat over her bag before pulling her back against me. My brain was screaming for her to stay, but I pushed that domineering thought to the side as I kissed her forehead.
“Be careful and call me when you get there.”
She smiled up at me and pushed to her toes so she could look me in the eye. “I will.” Kissing me softly, she whispered, “I love you.”
“Me too,” I replied, and she kissed me quickly before lowering back to her feet and stepping away from me.
I watched as she got behind the wheel and pulled away from the house. My eyes stayed glued to her SUV as it rolled down the dirt road, and the farther she got, the worse the feeling that something was wrong got.
Shaking my head, I sent a quick text to Jagger about her stopping by before I tucked my phone into my back pocket and walked into the barn to check on the horses.
For the next three hours, we laid out fresh hay, made sure the anti-freezing tablets were in the horses’ water, gave them fresh oats, and wrapped each in their blanket and leg wraps. By the time we were done, the sky was getting darker, and I worried the snow would come faster than predicted.
Checking my phone for the first time in hours, I saw Cheyenne’s text that she was entering the reservation about thirty minutes ago, so she should’ve been unloading at Granny’s now. I fought the urge to call or text her, wanting to make sure she was all right but knowing she would be busy with Granny for the next few hours, putting away the food and completing other small tasks she needed help with.
But part of me felt like I was missing something, that the danger I’d sensed was right outside the door, waiting to break it down and destroy us all.
Chapter 8
Cheyenne
Granny made us each a cup of hot chocolate after I finished unloading the groceries into the house. Her freezer was empty, and I shook my head as I placed bag after bag of fresh meat and frozen veggies into it. She was always giving food to those who needed it, but I was afraid she was giving her last meal to others instead of taking care of herself.
Sitting at the small table in her kitchen, watching the children across the street play in their front yard, I sipped my cocoa and waited for the right time to ask Granny some questions. On the drive up here today, I started thinking about what would have brought Nitro up this way and I was stumped.
“Can I ask you something?” I started, and she smiled and nodded as she broke another piece of Ms. CeCe’s pound cake off her slice and popped it into her mouth. “Do you remember Trent’s dad coming up here before he passed away?”
She brushed her hands over the small plate and took another sip of her cocoa before she spoke. “I saw him a few times in town in the months prior to his passing, but I never spoke with him.”
“Where was he when you saw him?” I inquired, and she looked up, showing she was in deep thought.
“He was downtown when I saw him, but I didn’t see where he was going.” I cast my eyes down, and she reached her tiny, frail hand across the table, touching my hand. I looked up at her, and she added, “Your uncle may have spoken with him, but I’m not sure.”
My mother’s older brother and I didn’t always see eye to eye, so I wasn’t sure how much he would tell me. He blamed my father for taking my mother away from the tribe and her family, and her dying without them having reconciled caused him enormous pain.
When he sees me, he usually tells me how much I look like my mother then turns his head and leaves. My grandmother said it was because he blamed himself for them not reconnecting, but I wasn’t sure.
“Maybe I’ll ask Jackie.”
“She may know,” Granny responded before she stood from her seat. “I’m going to start dinner, but you can give her a call if you want to. Her new number is by the phone in the den.”
