This just pointed out the irreconcilable differences between him and the woman he’d gotten too close to.
“I have to go, but before I do, I need you to call Hugo and get him to come here.”
“I’ll go to him. I’ll be safe at the lodge. Nash.” She reached for him. He stepped back.
It was unconscious, and he was angry. It was more to protect her than him. “I’ll come with you.”
“No. You need to get in your car and drive to the lodge. When you get there go to your room and don’t leave. Text me when you arrive.”
“Okay.” This time it was she who stepped back and away from him.
“Luna—”
“It’s okay. Go,” she said. “I understand.”
“Look.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, okay. I just need to check my horse, and family.”
“I understand,” she said in a polite voice.
They headed silently upstairs. He pulled on jeans. Luna changed and grabbed her things, and together they walked silently back down the stairs. The silence between them was thick and full of tension.
“Text me when you reach the lodge, and I’ll come and get you later.”
She nodded.
“Get in your car now, Luna.”
“I will, and goodbye, Nash.”
“I’ll call you,” he said.
After shooting him a look, she did as he asked. Seconds later she was driving away. He locked Monica and her duck in the pen and left himself.
He spent the drive thinking about her and the life she lived. To Nash it was what hell looked like. The differences between them were vast right in that moment, but he’d think about them later.
When he got to SRR, he pulled up at the stables and found the vet there.
“How is he?” he said when Ford came to meet him.
“Hank says he thinks he’ll be okay, but it’s going to take time.”
Relief made his knees weak. He headed into the stable Rebel was in. He whinnied when he saw Nash.
“Hey, big guy.” He stroked the soft muzzle.
“He’s okay, Nash. Close thing, but he’ll recover.” Hank had been their vet for years. Big, gruff, and good with animals. He shook Nash’s hand.
“I’ll watch him, boss,” one of the hands said.
“Thanks, Tim.”
“Coffee.” Ford sighed.
“Those reporters gone? I didn’t see them on the way in.”
“Yeah. I think they must have come into town with that Olivia Tyler, and she set them on us. Where’s Luna?” Ford looked around him as if she’d appear.
“At the lodge.”