I couldn’t muster the corners of my mouth up.I just stared back at her blankly.
This never would have happened a month ago—hell, two weeks ago.I never let myself get distracted.My life was about the animals and the land.About preserving my wife and son’s legacy.And now … now, I couldn’t figure out what my life was about anymore.
Danica gave my arm a gentle tug.“Let’s go,” she said softly.I hadn’t even noticed, but we were the only ones left in the barn.Everyone else had already left.Several trucks started up, and gravel crunched beneath tires.We were just outside the door, Portia dutifully beside me, when I stopped in my tracks, causing Danica to lurch a little.“What’s wrong?”
I shook my head.“I have to stay here.”
“What?Why?I don’t think he justranaway and will eventually make his way back.He was horse-napped, Tom.Everyone saw the footage from the security cameras.”
“They did?When?”
“I showed them.Don’t you remember?”
I was in such a fugue state at this point, doing everything I possibly could to keep myself from letting the panic attack completely take over, that I had no idea what time it was, or how long any of those people had even been here.
“But what if they come back?”I said, my voice sounding like it was in a tunnel.
“The people who stole him?”Her brows pinched in disbelief.“You think they’d be that stupid?”She glanced up the driveway, then back at me.“You don’t think it was Vincent, do you?That he’s going to use Midnight as leverage.Ransom him back to you for the property?”
“I don’t know what to believe anymore.”I untangled our fingers and grabbed the security system tablet from under her free arm, then headed to the front steps of the house.Portia never left my side, and when I sat down on the top step, she sat on the one below and rested her chin on my thigh.
Danica stood in the driveway, watching me.But I couldn’t bear to lift my gaze to hers and see the confusion and disappointment staring back at me.Because I knew it would be.I was confused and disappointed in myself at how everything had transpired.How I’d handled all of this.
Clearly, I wasn’t meant to have more in my life than the animals.
“Tom?”she said, her voice cracking with emotion.
I refused to look at her.
“It’s not your fault.You know that, right?”
I still didn’t say anything or look at her.
“These things happen.You’re still getting used to having an alarm system.You’re bound to forget to set it once in a while.”
“I forgot because I was distracted,” I said softly.“Because I confused my priorities.Forgot what was important.”
“Y-you mean me?”
I lifted my gaze to her for just a moment, but the look of hurt on her face was too much to bear, and I dropped my focus back to the tablet in my hands.
“Whether I was here or not, you would have slept through the break-in because the alarm wasn’t set.It’s a new system; you’re still getting used to the habit and are bound to forget once in a while.And besides, someone trespassed on your property, broke in, and stole something from you.None of this is your fault.It’s not mine either.And we will get Midnight back.”
I clenched my jaw to the point where I could very well have chipped a tooth.I deserved it.A throbbing pain formed in my temple, but I ignored it, even when my vision went a little blurry.
“So you’re staying here then?”she asked, her voice hurt and tight.
I nodded once.
“Right.”
A moment later, my truck engine started, and she drove away in it, having obviously grabbed my keys from inside the house at some point.Something else I didn’t remember happening.
Portia snorted and nudged my hand, prompting me to scratch her ears.
“What are we going to do, my love?”I asked her in Italian.
She blinked up at me.
