Page 94 of Chaos

Suddenly, Lux finds a wheelbarrow full of shit infinitely more interesting than our conversation. As she wheels past the stall I’m in,whistlingcasually like that’s something she has ever actually done, I duck into the aisle and block her path. “Alexandra.”

Dropping the barrow, Lux shucks the protective gloves she’s wearing, tucking them into her waistband before bracing her hands on her hips. “It’s really not a big deal.”

My eyes narrow.Bullshit.

“More of an annoyance, really.”

“Lux, will you just tell me?”

“They’re just…” She rakes her fingers through her ponytail, twirling the end around her index. “Well, they’re not all that happy about us taking their horses.”

“Taking?” I frown. “I thought they dumped them on you.”

Lux’s gaze drifts to the rafters. “Some of them.”

“And the others?”

She exhales heavily. “A couple of months ago, animal welfare seized a bunch of their horses, and since we’re a registered rescue, they gave them to us.”

Some sixth sense warns me that I willnotlike wherever this is going. “Which horses?”

Lux rattles off a few names, still not fucking looking at me, and even before she reluctantly utters the final one, I know exactly who it’s going to be. “And Ruin.”

Of course. Offuckingcourse. “So, what, they want him back? That’s… that’s ridiculous. They can’t do that. Can they?”

“No.” A loaded pause. “Not legally.”

Briefly, I try to recall the last time the Webers gave a flying fuck about legality.

Flexing and stretching my fingers repeatedly, I try to tamp down on the pressure tightening my chest; try to stop it from spreading, metastasizing, materializing into something angry that I throw at the wrong person.

“Hey.” Gripping my bicep firmly, Lux gives me a shake. “It’s fine. It’s not your problem. Don’t worry about it. Let’s get something to eat before your meeting, yeah?”

Meeting.Fuck. That’s the last thing I feel like doing. Which, I guess, probably means it’s the exact thing I should be doing. “I thought Jackson was driving me.”

Jackson always drives me. It’s our thing—or at least as much of athingthat a three-week habit can be. Yet suddenly, “He’s busy now.”

Not unfathomable, considering his wedding is just around the corner, but in case I hadn’t already made it clear, my sister is a terrible liar.

As Lux tugs me out of the stable, I smirk. “You’re gonna sit outside and wait for Caroline’s dad to show up, aren’t you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she scoffs, then eyes me sideways. “I’m gonna sit in thecarand wait for Caroline’s dad to show up.”

Knew it.“I doubt he will,” I muse, reminding her that, “He didn’t last week.”

“You never know.”

“What’re you gonna do if he does?”

She doesn’t even hesitate. “Run him over.”

Snickering, I poke her in the ribs. “You’re bad.”

“Tap him with my bumper, at least.”

“Huh. Maybe we reallyarerelated.”

Looping an arm around my shoulders, Lux knocks our heads together playfully. “You’ve got more than just my face, kid.”

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