She freezes, her lips parting in shock. "Fired? Toby was fired for coming into the kitchen last night?"
Fuck.
"Letty, I—"
"I need to get back to the kitchen," she mutters, not even meeting my gaze now. "Um, enjoy your lunch."
"Letty, dammit. Wait."
She bolts like her ass is on fire.
Fucking hell.
By the time Imake it to the kitchen, Letty is nowhere to be found. I go to her place next, determined to explain, but she isn't there, either. I snatch another sign off her door, though. I can't even laugh about it this time, because I'm too fucking worried that she's actually serious about banishing me from the property.
I damn near tear the ranch apart looking for her, desperate to explain why we let Toby go, but I can't fucking find her anywhere.
"Tanner," I growl into the phone, worried as fuck. "Have you seen Letty?"
"Not lately. Why?"
"Blaze let it slip that we let Toby go last night. She ran off, and no one has seen her since."
"Shit. Is her truck still out there?"
"Yeah, her truck is still here."
"I'll check around the main house. When I saw her this morning, she mentioned the ponds. Check there," he growls into the phone. "And call me back if you find her."
"Will do." I disconnect, shoving my phone into my pocket.
"You find her?" Blaze asks, shielding his eyes from the sun as I stomp past the west barn.
"No."
"Fuck. I'm sorry, Walker. I didn't mean—"
"Not your fault," I mutter, tossing a hand up to halt him. He doesn't owe me an apology. I should have told her this morning. Instead, I just kept it under wraps like that'd keep her from realizing that he was no longer on the property.
I'm an asshole. I walked into her house the other day and promptly lost my mind. It's the only excuse I've got for the way I've been acting. And I don't think she's interested in accepting it.
I need to get my shit together and learn to handle this like a goddamn big boy. She needs soft and sweet, not a raging, jealous asshole. If I can't figure out how to be that for her, the only thing I'm going to do is guarantee that she'll never give me the chance I desperately want. And just so we're clear, I desperately want a chance with her.
So much so that seeing Toby standing in that kitchen, knowing that any one of the hands might sweep her off her feet before she softens toward me, realizing that she'll be here every day, surrounded by other men, is making me fucking rabid.
I'm halfway to the pond when I hear a growl, followed by a whimper that makes my blood run cold.
"Please don't eat me," Letty says, her voice shaking. "Please, please, don't eat me."
I stop moving, trying to pinpoint exactly where she is…and then I see it.
"Fuck," I breathe, my heart in my throat. She's hemmed up against a fence beside an old well, with a bobcat blocking her only path out.
There's nowhere for her to go.
Chapter Seven
Letty
