All this time.
“Lucille?”
All this time.
Thunder rolled in the distance as the brewing storm began, and I found myself running. Not away from my past or from the truth, but towards it.
All this time.
Chapter Twelve
Forsythe
The storm outsidegrew wild and heavy as rain poured and flooded the ranch. Dallas and Torchy had scrambled to bring the cattle into the barn while Cooper got Wimberly settled inside the bunkhouse. I was helping settle the yearlings inside the stalls, hoping Lucille and her family wouldn’t get stuck in the storm.
“Hey, Forsythe!” I heard my name from outside the barn. “Forsythe!” It sounded urgent.
What the hell is going on?
I rushed outside into the rain to see Torchy, wide-eyed and pointing up the hill. I followed his aim and saw Cooper speeding down in the old pick-up truck. He was driving fast as hell. “What the hell is that old man doing?” I shouted.
Torchy shrugged. “I don’t know but watch out!”
Cooper swerved right up to the barn, nearly hitting us.
“What the hell?” I shouted. “You trying to get yourself killed? Huh? Shit, you almost hit Torchy!”
Cooper shot from the truck and came barreling towards me in the rain. “She knows!”
What?
“Did you hear me? She knows!” He stopped a few feet away.
“H–how? I thought she couldn’t remember!?”
Cooper shook his head. “I don’t know, but she ran, Forsythe.”
No. No, she can’t run. Not this time.
“Where did she go?” I asked. “Where is she?” I shouted through the heavy rain.
If she runs now…she may never come back.
“The place it all started.”
Chapter Thirteen
Lucille
“All this time…”I cried against the floor of the old, burned-down barn. Rain poured down on me, leaving my body completely soaked as I sat there sobbing, feeling all the pain of that night as flashes of it played like a nightmare. “I don’t understand!” I slammed my palm against the floor. “I don’t understand!” I hit it again and again until it hurt.
I have all these pieces, but none of it makes any sense!
Thunder rolled overhead, and I stared up into the dark sky, past the skeleton of the barn, past the memories, and straight up at the gray clouds. “I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! You shouldn’t have tried to save me,” I cried. “Why did you try to save me!” My heart completely broke with my words. “It’s all my fault!”
“Lucille!”
Dad?
