Page 108 of See It Through
This was Henry, who’d once said those same words to me when I found an injured pronghorn at the edge of the property and the only thing that could be done was putting it out of its misery.
Henry, who’d given Graham baths in his final wretched days.
Henry, who’d stood beside me at Graham’s grave and had shed tears as his old friend was lowered into the ground.
My eyes snapped shut without a beat of hesitation.
Boom.
The shotgun blast deafened me, but I felt the fall of the body at my feet. Still, my eyes remained closed. I did not want to see. I’d already witnessed enough horror to bring me a lifetime of nightmares.
The scent of tobacco and dirt drew near before strong fingers dug into my arms. “Come on, girl. Yer safe now. Keep yer eyes shut. Let’s get you out of here.”
I let him lead me out of the bedroom, only opening my eyes once we made it to the stairs, and held Henry’s hand all the way down them.
That was when the front door burst open. Remi rushed inside, sheer panic in his wild eyes, streaks of soot painting his face.
“I heard a gunshot,” he panted. “Hannah, I—”
Walking straight up to him, he opened his arms and only then did I let myself fall apart. Without question, I knew this man would pick up my pieces and put me back together again, maybe even better than before.
Chapter Forty-one
Remington
The next couple weekswere filled with confusion and action. Some questions were answered, but others might always remain a mystery. Our family and town rallied around us, showing support in the delivery of flowers and food, stop-ins, phone calls and, most helpfully, rebuilding the garage that had been destroyed.
There was no replacing the contents that had gone up in flames, but fortunately, not everything had been lost. Most of Graham’s tools had been salvageable, which was really what Hannah had cared most about.
We were on our way to having a whole new structure. A dozen guys from the ranch had come out to demo the charred remains and returned this week to frame out the walls.
We’d gone through something ugly, and our town had answered in beauty. That beauty had helped heal Hannah and me, reminding us the universe tended to bend toward goodness even when it felt the opposite.
“Remington Town, come on, you slow poke. You’re falling behind.” Hannah laughed over her shoulder before urging her horse to go faster. The breeze caught her hair and the tails of her white eyelet bow as her horse galloped toward the creek beyond the crest of the hill ahead.
“Maybe I just like the view from back here.”
Her laughter echoed off the endless sky, and my heart lurched. The night she’d fallen into my arms, fire blazing outside, dead woman upstairs, I’d wondered if I’d ever hear that sound again. But my woman rallied, and she did it quickly. There’d been tears, nightmares, new fears awakened, but Hannah had wanted to move on and get back to good, so she’d worked at it. And I’d been right there with her for all of it, no matter how hard going it got.
No way out but through.
I clucked my tongue, and Dynamite, the black mustang I regularly rode when working the ranch, gave chase, galloping over the rough, rocky terrain as easily as a fully paved path. His ears twitched as we drew closer to Hannah and her mare, the view opening to the true vastness of the Kelly ranch and all the wonders it held.
“There you are! I was wondering if you’d fallen asleep back there.”
“Nope. My boy just likes to stop and smell the roses.” I patted the mustang’s neck and murmured, “Didn’t mean it, Dynamite. You go at your own pace. Doesn’t matter if our girl is faster. We like seeing her win.”
Hannah watched me over her shoulder. “Are you gossiping about me?”
“That’s between me and Dynamite.”
Another throaty laugh, and she took off, her hair flowing behind her like chocolate streamers.
We finally caught up to her when we reached the creek. She’d already dismounted and was in the process of tugging her boots off. I let Dynamite graze with Hannah’s mare and sat on the ground beside her to take my own shoes off.
She leaned over and pressed her lips to mine. “Hey.”
I took her chin between my fingers. “Hey yourself.”