“Lu!” I shouted, checking closets, bathrooms, and under beds. “Lauren Weatherby! Where are you?”
The panic intensified with every passing second, and finally, I raced back downstairs, grabbing my phone off the counter with shaking hands.No. No, no, no. This can’t be real.
Just as I dialed 911, headlights swept across the front windows. A vehicle pulled into the driveway below. My knees almost gave out, but I rushed for front door on wobbly legs, bursting out as the engine cut off outside.
CHAPTER 35
ZACH
It was getting dark by the time I reached the private road leading up to the ranch house. The drive in was a few miles long, mostly wooded with stretches of open field between dense trees, and there wasn’t a single damn streetlight along the route because I’d decidedrustic isolationwas relaxing.
Idiot.
At dusk though, the place looked like the opening shot of a horror movie, but maybe that was just because I was tired and irritated after today. My mind was still replaying the argument with Alex on a loop when my headlights swept across something small wobbling along the side of the road.
I frowned, slamming on the brakes as soon as I realized what it was. “What the…”
Lu was huffing and puffing on her bike, pedaling furiously down the road while Bear trotted faithfully beside her, but apart from him, she was alone and clearly very upset. I shoved the slug-bug into park and jumped out. “Lauren!”
She pedaled harder, riding a little like a drunken raccoon swaying from one side to the other. I jogged after her, my stomach churning as worry and confusion set in. “Lu!”
Finally, she skidded to a stop near the ditch and whipped around to glare at me with watery blue eyes. “I’m running away.”
Bear sat down proudly beside her, his tongue hanging out and his tail wagging.Awesome. Apparently my dog is aiding and abetting a fugitive. This day really does just keep getting better.
When I reached her, I dropped into a crouch, trying not to sound as alarmed as I felt after finding her all the way out here on her own. “Yeah, I gathered as much.”
“I don’t want to see you anymore.”
Ouch.
Instead of reacting immediately though, I studied her for a second, noticing the scraped-up knees and dirt streaked down her little legs. There were also tear tracks covering her face and her nose was red. By the looks of things, she’d fallen off the bike at least once during her dramatic escape into the wilderness.
“Okay,” I said carefully. “Does this have something to do with me and your mom being friends?”
Her face crumpled instantly, but at least she didn’t drag out the suspense. “You left!”
Surprise smacked into me.Whoa. That’s what this is about?
“I had to go to work for a minute,” I said slowly. “Is that really what you’re so angry about?”
She narrowed her eyes at me, her voice shaky but ringing with accusation. “You didn’t even say goodbye.”
Fuck. Okay, yeah. Maybe I messed up.
“You’re right,” I admitted after a beat. “I should have. I’m sorry.”
She scrubbed angrily at her face, smearing dirt from her hands across her cheeks. “You just left.”
I glanced down the dark road behind her and suddenly understood exactly what had happened. She’d thought I wasn’tcoming back and it’d upset her so much that she was trying to run away. The realization damn near leveled me.
“Hey.” I kept my voice steady. “I wouldn’t leave you guys, Lu. Never. I just had to go handle something back in Chicago, but that’s all.”
“You still left.” She crossed her arms tightly over her midsection, trembling despite the warm air. “I didn’t even know when you were coming back.”
She didn’t say it, but there was a definiteifthere. She hadn’t only not knownwhenI would be coming back. She’d also not knownifI’d be coming back at all.
My mind raced, but it made a devastating sort of sense. In her limited experience, men who left ended up disappearing. With time, I would prove to her that wouldn’t happen with me, but right now, I just had to find a way to reassure her.
