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“So is it?” Grace asked, more gently than Lena.

I nodded.

“I’m calling the police,” Lena said.

“No.” The word exploded out of me like lightning. “No, you can’t.”

She leveled her gaze at me, and if she weren’t on my side, that look would kill. “Well, I’m sure as hell not going to stand here and do nothing.”

My voice disappeared entirely. How did I explain that calling the police would make it worse? How did I tell her about years of trauma?

She sighed. “Okay, I won’t call the police. Yet. Do you want me to call Lucas?”

His name was like the sun breaking through the clouds. Light. Safety. Warmth. I nodded.

Putting her hand on my shoulder, Grace guided me toward the office. “Let’s get you sitting down. You look like you’re about to pass out.”

Half of me wished that I would. If I was unconscious, I couldn’t feel. If I was asleep, I couldn’t fear. Lena was already on the phone. And it was only seconds later that I heard the only words that could bring me relief. “He’s on his way.”

Chapter 13

Lucas

Liam stood across from me, staring down the horse. We were starting to push him a little harder. Gently, but pushing all the same. If we never confronted the barriers that kept him skittish, he’d never get better.

“He’s stubborn, that’s for sure,” Liam called.

“Tell me about it,” I muttered under my breath. I’d never met an animal so averse to change. But that only made me more determined.

My phone rang in my pocket and I pulled it out to silence it. Didn’t need it spooking the horse. But the number on the screen stopped me midmotion. It was Deja Brew.

“Hello?”

“Lucas,” Lena said.

I was already moving to the edge of the paddock. “Is she all right?”

“I’m not sure. It’s not an episode like last time, but she needs you. You’re the only one that she would let me call.”

I waved to Liam, and he nodded, having heard my part of the conversation. “Who else did you try to call?”

“The police.”

Swearing under my breath, I started to jog. My truck was parked at the lodge. “Why?”

“I think it’s better that you see for yourself.”

“Why, Lena?”

She sighed. “Because I don’t want you getting in an accident on the way here.”

“I’m coming,” I said and ended the call.

Fuck. Visiting her at work the past couple days, I’d only become more invested. That kiss, the things that she was still hiding, Evelyn was a puzzle I wanted to solve.

But along with those things, the same urge to protect her overwhelmed me. It was screaming at me to get to her now. She had let Lena call me. Me. That made me run a little faster. I couldn’t leave her alone—had to get there in time.

I skidded to a stop in front of my truck as Harlan came out of the lodge. “Where are you going?”