She’s free.
Alive.
Living boldly for those who can’t.
Watching her, I can’t help but smile. Not the tight, restrained version I’ve grown used to, but a real, genuine smile. It pulls at muscles I have long forgotten existed.
The setting sun ignites the horizon in streaks of orange and fire, bathing her in light, like the land itself is showing me how amazing she is.
“Go, wildfire!” I shout after her.
Teagan Wilson….She’s so free and alive that it’s contagious. She wakes up parts of me I thought died with Rosie. Wanting her feels like betrayal, but denying it feels like another kind of death.And I’m so tired of grieving.
The first drops of rain fall without warning, light at first. Nothing more than cold pinpricks against my overheated skin. Teagan doesn’t slow. Instead, she tips her head back further, letting them fall upon her face. The rain droplets dot her cheeks and cling to her lashes.
A lively laugh billows from her, bright and reckless. The bold sound carries across open land like something untamed. It hits me square in the chest.
The clouds shift faster than they should. I glance away from Teagan to the west. The sky is dark.Too dark.
BOOM!
Thunder splits the air so violently it rattles my teeth. The rain grows from scattered drops to icy sheets in seconds. Startled, Teagan squeals as she snaps upright, grabbing for the reins when Daisy tosses her head.
“This wasn’t on the radar!” she shouts over the sudden roar. “Deacon never would’ve sent us out in this!”
Wind slams into us sideways, biting and merciless.
“We can’t stay out here in this!” I yell back as Ranger sidesteps with unease. “We need to set up camp!”
“In this?!” she scoffs with wide eyes, rain plastering her golden locks to her face.
“You got a better idea?”
“Yeah!” she shouts as a bolt of lightning forks across the sky dangerously close. Daisy lunges forward into a sprint.
“Teagan!” I bark, but she’s already tearing along the fence line. Left with no choice but to follow, I nudge Ranger hard, and we give chase. Rain soaks through my clothes within seconds, turning the fabric heavy and useless. The icy rain burns against my skin. The ground turns slick beneath pounding hooves.
Wind howls across the prairie, bending grass flat as we race the storm. Teagan rides like she’s done this before—bent low over Daisy’s neck, reins tight now, and focused.
Another crack of thunder explodes overhead, and my pulse pounds in my ears. Water blinds my vision, lashes sticking together. Ranger fights for footing as mud begins to form under the impact.
“Where are you going?” I shout, but the wind swallows it, and she doesn’t look back.
Fence posts blur past, and the temperature drops fast.Too fast.The rain is relentless. Lightning splits the sky again, illuminating the land in stark white for half a heartbeat. Inthat flash, I spot her silhouette ahead, strong and unyielding against the storm.
Fear coils tight in my gut. Not for me, but for her. I hesitantly push Ranger harder, and we close the distance slightly. “Teagan!” I shout again, my voice raw.
She angles left suddenly, cutting toward a low dip in the land near a sparse line of pine. I follow without question, racing straight for whatever she believes will save us.
Rain blinds me so completely, I have to squint through it. My breaths come in sharp bursts, tearing in and out of my lungs like I’m swallowing shards of glass. The storm swallows everything, leaving nothing but gray sheets of water, violent winds, and the crack of the sky repeatedly splitting open.
I know this land. Not every inch of it, not like Deacon does, but enough. Enough to remember a shelter tucked past the old cottonwoods, where the ground curves low and the wind doesn’t hit quite as hard.
My heart lurches as Daisy crests the rise beneath me, her muscles bunching and straining in the slick mud. Lightning rips across the sky again, bleaching the world white for a split second. It’s so blinding, I nearly miss the silhouette resting against the curve of the earth. I blink hard, dragging a soaked sleeve across my eyes.
It’s the house.No, not a house… A shack.Relief hits so hard it’s almost painful. My chest aches, like I’ve been holdingmy breath since the first thunderclap and only now realize it.
“I see it!” I pull Daisy under a cluster of pine trees huddled tight along the shack’s north side, their branches thick and hanging toward the ground, offering at least some barrier against the sideways rain. “Under the trees!” I shout over the wind, though Easton is already following. He doesn’t hesitate, angling Ranger in tight beside us. We dismount almost in sync. I nearly lose my footing as I fumble with Daisy’s reins. My fingers are so cold and stiff, they feel detached from my body. I force them to work, looping leather over a low branch, knotting it tight and quick.
