Page 113 of The Nanny and the Beefcake
“No, you’re not going alone,” she replied sternly, leaving no room for him to protest, then kneeled in front of Sebastian. “It’ll be okay. Your dad and I will find the donkeys and bring them home. Go inside with Augie and Luanne. Dry off, and then you have an important job to do.”
“I do?” the boy asked and sniffled.
She nodded. “After the thunder and lightning pass, check the barn and make sure everything is ready for Beefcake and Plum. You won’t have to wait long. Summer storms in Colorado rumble in and are gone before you know it. I’m sure the donkeys will be grateful for a dry, comfortable place to relax after their adventure.”
The lad swiped his tears away and lifted his little chin. “Yeah, I can get the barn ready for Plum and Beefcake. You can count on me, Mibby.”
Mibby.
My Libby.
That word was a salve to his battered heart and sucker punch to his gut all at once.
“Do you have the aquamarine stone with you?” she asked.
“Right here,” Sebastian answered, pulling it from his pocket.
“Rub it with your thumb and think positive thoughts. The donkeys will be safe and happy. We’ll manifest our best destiny to make it happen.”
Manifest their best destiny? What the bloody hell did that mean?
But it worked. Sebastian brightened.
“Okay,” he answered as the pound of the rain intensified. “I’m sending love and light to the donkeys.”
Augie patted Sebastian’s shoulder. “Come on, now, lad. Let’s get back to the house.”
“You’ll bring the donkeys back, right, Dad?” Sebastian asked with such trust in his tone.
“We’ll find them. Mind Augie and Luanne. Off you go,” he said, holding his son’s blue-green gaze.
He couldn’t let the kid down.
With Luanne on one side of the boy and Aug on the other, the trio navigated the front yard’s uneven terrain and made it to the safety of the covered porch. Sebastian stood at the railing, calling for them to hurry.
The urgency in his son’s voice cut right to his heart.
“Sebastian’s safe! Let’s go,” Libby called, taking off like a shot.
He followed a step behind, trying to get hold of himself. Sure, he was concerned about the animals, but that wasn’t the only thing on his mind. He couldn’t seem to untangle the memories of Meredith that swished around in his brain, colliding with images of Libby and Sebastian.
In the blast of light, it was as if Mere was there. He’d half expected to see her, standing on the mountainside, giving him that smile that meant it would be all right—that there was nothing they couldn’t do if they did it together.
His pulse kicked up, and it wasn’t because he was sprinting down a mountain trail, dodging slippery rocks, water-logged ruts, and protruding branches. No, he was a bloody mess, thanks to the insanity that had ensued from the second they’d arrived in this mountain town.
Whatever remnant of balance he’d had left had been obliterated.
From the pun-chi-yoga pandemonium to his stubborn donkey farting up a storm to watching the plonker Zen Dougie drool over Libby to two bloody lightning bolts damn near hitting them, he wasn’t sure if he could discern up from down or left from right. What he did know was that he had to pull himself together and find the donkeys. What the hell would he say to Sebastian if the animals were injured, or God forbid, killed? Ice crackled down his spine.
The donkeys had to be okay.
Sebastian didn’t deserve more heartache.
Mere, show me the way.
He’d never asked her for anything from the great beyond. He’d barely allowed himself to indulge in her memory. But he couldn’t let Sebastian down—not for what must be the millionth time.
“We can do this, Raz. We’ll follow their hoof prints. And look, the lines from the lead ropes are there, too,” Libby called, then glared at him from over her shoulder. “Is that all you’ve got, beefcake? Can you pick up the pace? We can’t let the donkeys careen off a cliff.”
