The line went dead.Willow felt sick.Opening the door, she got out of the car, inhaling the crisp, cold air.Minutes later, she was so cold, she quickly got back in her car and checked her phone.No call or text from Cooper.
It had to be Hunter.Everyone else was fine.Five minutes passed, then ten, then fifteen.Just as she was about to call Cooper again, he phoned.
“Sorry.Hunter wasn’t answering his phone, so we went back to Hayden’s office to find the phone numbers of his family.I’ve just spoken to his sister.She doesn’t know where he is, his horse returned without him… just wait, she’s trying to call me back.”
“Cooper?”Willow tried, but he’d ended the call.
For another moment, she sat there before she started her car and made U-turn.She was flying to Colorado to be with Hunter, whatever happened.
Of course she couldn’t switch off knowing what was in Hunter’s heart, she loved him.Missing him, aching to hear his voice, to feel his touch was killing her anyway, she might as well be with him and enjoy knowing he loved her.
Something had happened to him, she didn’t have to hear from Cooper to know that.She had to get to him and tell him she wanted to be with him.
*
It was alreadydark when Willow drove through the gates of the Grant family ranch.It was easy to find the homestead, Christmas lights shone brightly all around the place.
As she parked in front of the house, her phone rang.It was Cooper.Instead of answering, she texted the family group to say she had arrived safely on Hunter’s ranch in Colorado.
The front door opened.Her heart lurched, but it wasn’t Hunter who stepped out but an older man and woman.His parents.
Quickly she got out of her car and walked to them.
“Hello, young lady,” the man said.Hunter had his eyes, the same indigo blue color.“Can we help you?”
“You’re Hunter’s parents?”
They looked at one another before the man nodded.“Yes, we are.I’m Harlan Grant and this is my wife, Tess, but…”
“I’m Willow Weston.Hunter worked on our ranch and I… well, I know something has happened to him…”
“Why do you say that?”Hunter’s mom asked, frowning.
“Where is he?”Willow asked.“I’m sorry to barge in like this, but something has happened to him, I just know it.”
A phone rang and Hunter’s dad took out his.“It’s Jade.She left a while ago.Jade?”
As he listened, his eyes widened, and he nodded.“Willow Weston has just arrived here, we’ll wait.”As he ended the call, he took his wife’s hand.“Hunter is fine, but apparently when he went for a ride earlier, Nellie, his horse, was spooked by something and she reared.He fell off, hit his head and was lights out.When Nellie arrived back here when you and I were still in town, Jade knew something was wrong.With the help of some of the cowboys she found him quickly and took him to the hospital.The doctor wants to keep him overnight, but you know Hunter.They’re on their way back.”
“But he’s okay?”Hunter’s mom asked the question Willow couldn’t get out.
“He’s fine, honey,” Hunter’s dad said.“Willow, come on in.I think we have a lot to talk about, don’t you?”
Willow nodded.Talking was difficult, she was close to tears.Her senses were overloaded with sensations.“But his head… if he’s hit it, shouldn’t he stay in the hospital?”
Hunter’s mom smiled.“The doctors wouldn’t have allowed him to leave if they’d been worried.”She took Willow’s arm as they entered the house.“The paintings you’ve made of my son are beautiful.”Inside, she angled her head.“So, tell me, Willow Weston, are you the reason my son doesn’t eat and has lost weight?”
*
“Maybe you should’vestayed at the hospital,” Jade was saying to Hunter as Wilder parked his car in front of her parents’ house.
“I’m fine,” Hunter said, his eyes on the strange car in front of the house.
“Whose car is that?”Wilder asked as they all got out of the car.
“Let’s go and see,” Jade said with a smile as she got out.
The porch light was switched on and the front door opened.His mom stepped out, her hand against her heart.His dad was just behind her.
