“Please,” she rolls her lips.
“She’s not yours!” Cal comes running down the porch steps, tripping over his own feet in his attempt to get to Juni. I can’t tell if he’s talking about the horse or Juni herself.
Either way, I put myself between him and her.
“Juni, baby,” Cal tries to look past me, but I block his view of her. “Juni, I’m sorry. I love you. No one can love you like I can.”
My spine stiffens. “You don’t get to speak to her.”
“You didn’t love me, Cal,” Juni says from behind me, stepping away from the shelter of my body, but she remains close. I offer her my picky and she takes it immediately, something Cal doesn’t miss.
“You loved the idea of me. The control. But you didn’t love me.”
“Do you think he’s better?” Cal snaps, “Please. You’re good for fucking nothing. When he tires of that tight little body of yours, he’ll throw you out and you’ll come crawling back.”
Fuck. I didn’t hit him hard enough.
“You’re fucking mine.” Cal continues.
“No, I am not,” Juni replies quickly and firmly before she reaches into her pocket and throws something at his feet. The sunlight glints off the wedding band just in front of his shoe.
“I will never be yours again.”
Chapter Twenty-eight
My whole body is trembling, palms clammy as I walk away from Calvin. He shouts after me, his pleas turning to insults, but I tune them out until they’re just noise, there in the back of my mind, but I don’t hear the words. Silas is tense at my side, his anger toward my ex-husband vibrating his entire body so I reach down and grasp his hand.
It takes him a moment, but then his strong, rough fingers wrap around mine, and the trembling juststops.
He makes it somuch easier to breathe.
By the time we reach the stables Ginger is kept in, Cal’s words are nothing but a distant hum, annoying but tolerable, but I completely forget about him when I spot the horse that I truly believe kept me alive for the past five years.
Ginger shoves her head over the stable door, her dark eyes finding me immediately before she lets out a whinny, the sound of her hooves thumping the ground joining it.
“I’m here,” I whisper, stepping toward her and Silas lets go of my hand, keeping a step back as I go to my horse. Her head tucks over my shoulder, and she practically drags me into the door, lips nibbling at the ends of my hair as she keeps me close. My soul eases with the feel of her mane on my fingers.
After a few minutes, I gently coax myself away so I can unlock the stable door and get inside. The quicker we get out of here, the better.
“Can you grab the lead rope?” I jerk my chin towards the tack wall behind Silas, and he complies silently, getting all the equipment we need to get Ginger into the trailer. She’s exactly as I left her, though a little dirtier than I would like, but I can fix that.
Once I have her halter in place, I lead her from the stall and toward the exit, guiding her back toward Silas’s truck. I don’t see Cal anywhere, and his truck isn’t in front of the house anymore. It’s eerily quiet and apart from the inspectors still loitering by Silas’s vehicle, I still don’t see anyone.
“Where is everyone?” I say as Silas takes the rope from me to get Ginger into the trailer.
“They quit,” it’s one of the inspectors who answers. “About a week ago. First it was one or two, then everyone just left. I think he might have one or two guys still hanging around.”
My brows lift, “Why?”
“Your husband is a piece of work, Ma’am.”
“Ex,” Silas bites.
The inspector’s cheeks turn a little ruddy. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I assure him, “But he’s always been like that, not sure why they decided to suddenly have an issue with it.”
“There’s only so much someone can take.” He shrugs, “But while I have you here, is there anything you can tell me? We have a solid case, but the more information we have, the quicker the case will be closed.”
