Page 20 of Love Me Back (Diamond Creek #2)

Jessie

I was insane. That was the only explanation for why I was on the back of a horse strangling Hudson’s guts. Ellie was going to kill me after she told me how freaking proud she was of me.

“How much further?” I mumbled against Hudson’s back.

He chuckled before saying, “Almost there. As long as he hasn’t moved.”

“You didn’t leave someone here to watch him?” I refused to look over Hudson’s shoulder. My eyes were tightly closed shut, and my forehead was buried between his shoulder blades.

“I was by myself when I found him.”

“By yourself?” My head snapped up, and I glared at the back of his head. “Why the hell were you out here alone? Someone stole that horse. Or at least tried to. They could be out here right now trying to do exactly what we’re doing.”

“They could. But I know this land.”

“So does your brother, and he’s now in a wheelchair.”

“How do you feel about that?”

“I feel awful. I wish it had never happened. My heart breaks for him every time I see him struggle and get angry because he can’t do something he used to do without thinking about it.”

Hudson and I weren’t alone. There were others who rode out here with us, but they were back a way, so I felt comfortable opening up to him.

“I meant, how do you feel about him being in a wheelchair?”

“Are you asking me if I see him differently?” Hudson was quiet, as if he didn’t want to put the real question out there.

“I don’t see him differently. I mean physically, I see him differently; I don’t get a stiff neck looking at him anymore.

But his ability to walk has no bearing on him as a person. He’s still Grayson.”

“Sometimes people see you as a different person after a tragedy.”

“Those people need a swift kick in the ass.” I felt him stiffen beneath my arms.

“Trauma affects everyone differently. Some people lose who they are in grief, and they blame the people closest to them.”

“Sounds like you have some experience with that.” He shrugged.

“If you need someone to talk to. Someone who’ll listen.

I’m here, Hudson. I can’t give you any advice.

I suck at that. I’m too blunt. Most people think I don’t know how to be empathetic.

But I know how to listen. Sometimes it helps just to have someone there to hear your pain. ”

“Thanks, Jessie. I’ll keep that in mind.”

I hugged him. I’d learned enough from Ellie to know that sometimes a hug helped. He patted my hands that covered his stomach.

“There he is.” Hudson held up his hand, letting the others know to stop. I peeked over his shoulder and saw Thunder standing about fifty feet away eating some grass.

“How do I get down?” Emerson helped put me up here after Hudson sat in the saddle. There was absolutely no way I could get down on my own.

“Just hold tight.” Hudson swung his leg over the horse’s neck and landed on the ground with a thump. He lifted his arms up to me, and I stared at him.

I leaned toward him, and he smiled. “Swing your leg over first, Jessie. Like I did.”

“I’ll fall.”

“You won’t fall; I’ll catch you. Trust me.”

I looked into his eyes and found that I did trust him. Hudson, Emerson, and Addie had been nothing but friendly and accepting of me being at the house to help Grayson. Tyson was withdrawn, but Carson and Pops also seemed to be ok with my presence in the house.

I swung my leg over, and just as I expected, I slid off the horse, and had it not been for Hudson catching me, I would have hit the ground and landed on my ass.

Hudson held me up until I was steady on my legs. It hadn’t been easy, but I conquered a fear today. Ellie would be so proud of me. After she was done threatening my life for doing something stupid.

“You have the sugar cubes?”

I patted my pants pocket and nodded. Looking over my shoulder, Thunder was now watching us. His ears flickered as he watched me walk slowly toward him.

Our eyes were locked on each other until I was about ten feet away, then he snorted and stomped his hoof.

“Hey, big guy, no need to be mad. I’m here to help you get home.” I took a few tentative steps closer as I dug the sugar from my pocket.

I held my hand out flat the way Grayson showed me. Thunder took a few steps closer and sniffed the sugar. He shook his head and snorted before taking a few steps back.

“What’s the problem? You watching your weight? Grayson said you love sugar cubes.”

At the mention of Grayson’s name, the horse neighed loudly and danced around. His giant head snapped up, and his ears twitched. He moved beside me and bumped me with his body. I dropped the sugar and placed my hands against his belly.

“Hey, watch it.” I tried to push him back, but he kept pushing me back in the direction of Hudson.

“You okay, Jessie?”

“Not sure. This big lug doesn’t seem to want the sugar, but he’s moving at least.” I kept my hand on his belly as we walked closer to Hudson. Thunder looked around, and I could feel his muscles ripple under my hand. I didn’t know much about horses, but he seemed nervous.

“Hudson?”

“Yeah, Jessie?”

“You see anything? Any bears or mountain lions or anything? ”

“No, why?”

I looked behind Hudson at the others who had followed us. They had stayed back close to the edge near the clearing.

“Can you tell Emerson to get everyone back? Thunder’s nervous about something. Not sure if it’s me or them.”

Hudson pulled his phone out and made the call. Moments later, the men who had followed us out here were out of sight.

“How’s he doing now, Jessie?”

“Still nervous.” Thunder had stopped about twenty feet from where Hudson waited for us. “I need you to head out too.”

“No, Jessie. I’m not leaving you here alone.”

“You have to if you want this horse to come with me. Go back to where Grayson is and get them back further. If there is a crowd waiting for us when we reach the clearing, I think he’ll bolt back in.”

“Jessie.”

“No, Hudson.” I tried to sound firm while still relaxed, not wanting to spook the horse.

“Grayson’s gonna kill me,” he muttered.

“I’ll deal with him. You just go and leave us here.” I returned my focus to the horse. “It’s okay, big guy. It’ll just be you and me soon. We can talk until you’re ready to go home.”

Hudson mounted his horse, but didn’t leave right away. The horse he was on danced around a bit before he finally turned and headed out of the deep brush.

“There. It’s just you and me. What’s got you so riled up?”

I ran my hands over his big body, hoping to relax him enough to settle. But he was still on edge. His ears twitched and his tail flicked around. I dug out some more sugar and held out my hand. He sniffed the treat before slamming his nose into my hand.

“Hey, what the hell? If you didn’t want it, you could have just turned your nose up like last time. No need to break my hand.”

I crossed my arms and pouted as if the horse would care that he had hurt my feelings. I mean, he didn’t really hurt my feelings. He was actually doing a better job of helping me relax than I was doing for him.

He nudged me with his head as if he were trying to push me behind him.

“I need to be in front unless you know the way out. Do you? ’Cause I have to be honest here. This is not my idea of a good first date.”

Thunder’s head snapped up, and his eyes bulged. I knew enough about horses to know he was afraid of something out here. I put one hand on his neck and the other rubbed his belly.

“Let’s get out of here, shall we?”

I tried to step away, but Thunder swung his head around and stopped my progress. Every time I tried to move, he held me in place.

“Listen, either we walk out of here or I ride on your back. One way or another, we need to get you home. Grayson’s worried about you. You’ve been gone two days. Take a step with me, okay?”

I grabbed a handful of his beautiful dark mane and tried to lead him in the direction the others had gone. He would take a few steps and then stop again. His ears twitching as he looked around.

Something was out here with us.

Or someone.

“Is someone here? Someone watching us?” I asked and laughed at myself inside. Maybe I watched too many old reruns of Lassie as a kid, but I asked the horse questions like I expected him to answer.

When he didn’t answer, because well, he was a horse, I tried to move him closer to the clearing. He took a few steps and stopped again.

“Listen, big guy, we don’t have all night. Grayson’s got guests coming. Addie’s been cooking all day. And you have a nice stall to get back to.”

We continued on. I was determined to get him out of here. Every few steps we stopped so he could look around before continuing. I didn’t know how much time had passed, but I knew Grayson was probably going nuts waiting for us.

“Just a little further. We’re almost there.”

Famous last words.

We were twenty feet from where I knew the brush opened up, and Grayson would be waiting, when a shot rang out, hitting a tree in front of us.

Thunder reared back, and the force of his mane being ripped from my hands tossed me backwards onto the ground. I expected him to run, but instead he stayed by my side.

Standing up, I brushed off what I could, then reached for Thunder when another shot rang out. This time the horse only sidestepped. As if he had been expecting it.

He nudged me with his nose until I was at his belly. Then he did something that made my eyes bulge. He dropped his front legs to his knees and snorted.

“What are you doing? Get up!” I hissed. “This is not the time to take a break!”

He nudged me again, swinging his nose to his back and up.

“Oh no! Not a chance in hell. Are you insane?”

Thunder stood up and nudged me again before dropping to his knees once more.

“I can’t do this,” I whined as I grabbed onto his mane and swung a leg over his big body. I was barely seated when Thunder stood and launched himself forward.

I tucked my head against his neck like I had seen in movies and tried to squeeze my knees together as hard as I could. My arms wrapped around his neck, and I held on with everything I had as Thunder ran through the brush as if the hounds of hell were chasing us.

I tried to ignore the surrounding sounds—the cracking of branches as he stomped over them. Gunshots ricocheted off the trees around us, the sound echoing in the dense forest. At least whoever was shooting at us wasn’t trying to kill us. Well, not trying to kill Thunder at least.

Pretty sure I would be considered collateral damage. Minutes felt like hours until we finally broke free of the brush into the clearing. Hudson had done what I asked and moved everyone back, but Thunder didn’t care where they were. He never stopped moving.

I heard Grayson and the others shouting my name and Thunder’s, but he didn’t pause. He ran as if his life depended on it. And maybe it did. Right then, all I could concentrate on was my own life and surviving the ride from hell.