When I get home, the house is empty, which suits me fine because I walk to the kitchen, pull out my favorite bottle of bourbon, and take a deep swig before putting it back in the cupboard and propping my palms against the counter.
I’ll find Willa and Luke after catching my breath and sorting my thoughts.
Head falling low, I try to shake off the mental image of Luke struggling under water.
I kept my conversation with Betty fairly contained. It’s a small town, and there are only so many bridges you can burn. Everyone will talk about this anyway. Particularly with the way Willa went off.
I shake my head at the memory. The way she’d called her Bunny even after Betty corrected me. The girl has a real pair on her—I’ll give her that. Especially after watching her on that filly this morning.
The sound of delighted giggles draws my attention out the open kitchen window toward the back hay field where the first cut bales are stacked. When I see a flash of copper hair, I know they must be out there.
Playing. Laughing. I let my eyes flutter shut and listen to them.
“Ready or not! Here I come!” Luke shouts breathlessly.
It’s perfect.
I smile to myself and then open my eyes, knowing the only place I want to be right now is out in the field with them—even if I am dead on my feet after working all day and dealing with small-town-mom drama.
Within minutes, I’m stepping into the huge maze-like structure made of big round bales, the dark passageways between them almost too narrow for me to pass through.
“I can hear you giggling, you little goose.”
“A goose?” he shouts.
“A silly goose!” she calls, voice back to the light singsong version I first noticed, all traces of the earlier anxiety gone.
I run into Luke first as he hunts Willa down with a serious expression on his face. He instantly holds a finger over his mouth, signaling me to be quiet, like he didn’t just totally broadcast his location by calling out to her.
Crouching down, I pull him into a quick hug, needing to feel him—the beat of his heart, the little whoosh of his breath, his chubby cheek against my stubbled one.
“I love you, buddy,” I rasp out, feeling emotional.
“I love you too, Dad.” He pats my back. “But you’re going to make me lose.”
I chuckle. I’m sure Willa knows where he is. What he doesn’t know is he’s only going to catch her if she wants him to.
It seems crazy that I ever thought she wouldn’t be able to keep him safe, and now she’s done nothing but. Sure, his nannies and babysitters always watched him, but I don’t know if they’d have gone to bat for him the way Willa did today.
The way I would have in that same situation.
“I’ll go that way, see if we can track her down together. Divide and conquer.”
He bobs his head. “Yeah. Yeah. That’s a good plan.”
I give his hair a quick muss, pressing one more kiss to his head before he turns and darts away. I know we need to talk about what happened today, but now’s not the moment. I’m sure it will all come out when I lie down with him at bedtime.
I turn into the bales, heading in the opposite direction, the dry points of stray pieces scratching at my arms as I move in toward the center of the structure searching for Willa.
I hear the dull thump of small feet around me, Luke winding his way up and down the rows. Every sense feels elevated in here, the hay providing a sort of soundproofing, a privacy. The walls of it press in around me. It smells comforting.
It smells like nostalgia. I’m taken back to days when Beau and I would chase Rhett and our little sister Violet through here. Same field and everything.
To my right, I see a flash. Daylight blocked out for a moment before it shines through again. I turn and follow, knowing I’ve got her now.
My strides lengthen as I veer right, catching sight of her creeping along carefully.
“Red,” I whisper-shout.
Her head flips in my direction, her eyes twinkling. Because, if nothing else, Willa Grant is a shit disturber, waltzing into my life and complicating it without even trying. Looking all pleased with herself over it.
With a wink over her shoulder, she shoots off, running from me.
And something primal in me roars to life.
I chase her.
Luke is way over on the other side of the bales, and while I wouldn’t say that I’ve forgotten about him, it’s Willa who has my full attention right now.
I jog as best I can in the cramped space, my mind laser-focused. All I see is her, and all I hear is blood pumping in my ears.