Page 53 of Shadow Sabotage
“Deal.” I grinned. “Thanks again for the invitation. It was delicious.”
“You’re welcome anytime.”
I turned to say goodnight to Claire, but she’d slipped out when I wasn’t looking.
As I leftthe Hawkins home, something drew me toward the stables. The doors were still open and a soft light glowed from within. I poked my head inside, then stopped.
Claire was sitting on a hay bale beside one of the last stalls, her knees pulled into her chest as she faced the starry nightsky. Her golden hair spilled down her back, and her dappled gray horse nuzzled her shoulder. Claire leaned into the beautiful animal, stroking the horse’s nose, though her eyes stayed on the sky outside.
It made a beautiful picture. But it felt wrong to be there. She’d slipped away for privacy, and the right thing to do would be to respect that.
I found myself walking toward her anyway.
“You found me,” she said with her back still to me, before I even made it halfway to her.
“How did you know it was me?”
She let out a little laugh. “I can smell your cologne.”
I didn’t know why I continued to be so surprised by how perceptive she was. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” I asked as I moved toward her.
She scooted over, making room for me on the hay bale. “It’s nice cologne,” she admitted. Then she looked at me and smirked. “Probably cost a fortune.”
I rolled my eyes, despite my grin. I didn’t mind her teasing me—as long as she was talking to me again.
But her smile quickly faded.
I bumped my shoulder to hers. “You okay?”
She sighed. “Yeah.”
“You were quiet at dinner.”
That got a laugh out of her. “Someone needed to be.”
“Your family is great.”
That earned another smile. “They really are, aren’t they?”
So beautiful. Those freckles, that smile… But tonight, it didn’t reach her eyes. The shadows had crept back into them.
I desperately wanted to wipe them away. “What’s wrong?”Let me in.
“It’s stupid.”
“You listened to my woes today,” I reminded her. “Stupid or not, it might feel good to get whatever’s bothering you off your chest.”
Her throat bobbed. “Rhett and Cheyenne are getting married a week from tomorrow.” Her voice was fragile. I’d never heard that tone from her before.
“Is that a bad thing?”
She shook her head. “No. It’s wonderful. They’ve always been meant to be together. Ever since we were kids.”
“Then why do you look like you just lost your best friend?”
Apparently that was the exact wrong thing to say, because her eyes filled with tears. She blinked them back frantically, determined not to let a single one spill.
But she failed.
