Page 83 of On the Land, We Shoot Straight
Grady faced her. She was looking at her coffee.
“All right,” he said slowly, a sinking feeling in his stomach.
“He’s gone,” she said and met his gaze, her face set but afraid too, regretful.
Grady walked out and went straight for the pasture. Chloe was there. He couldn’t have gone, then—he wouldn’t leave her. He came back. Charmaine was standing now, and Grady noticed her suitcases beside her.
“He ain’t gone,” Grady said.
She nodded. “He is.”
Grady got it then.
“What did you say to him?”
Her eyes flashed defiantly, anger rallying over the regret. “I said what you should’ve said, Grady. I said what you should’ve damn well said!”
“What?”
“That you’re married! That it ain’t serious between you two! That he ain’t the only one!”
Grady felt each one of those statements like a blow. He took a deep breath to steady himself. He was at a loss as to what to say. She wasn’t wrong, was the thing, on the face of it. But all he could see was Cole’s face at hearing that. And all he could feel was that none of that was true. Except the married part.
“You leavin’?” he said instead of anything else.
“I think it’s for the best. For now. You need... God, Grady.” She threw her hands up.
He watched her. And he knew what he needed right now.
“Not for now,” he said.
“What?”
“Not for now. You ain’t leavin’ for now. Don’t be comin’ back.”
Her lips parted, and he could see the shock, the questions.
“Because of him?”
Grady squared his shoulders and decided to finally say it. “Yeah.”
She laughed, and it turned into a sob. He moved toward her, but she held her hand up. Then she pulled it together.
“I’ll have my lawyer call you,” she said and walked out.
Grady stood there, listened to her drive off, and wondered what time Cole set out and where the hell he’d gotten to and how long it’d take Grady to track him down this time.
43
T
urned out, it wasgoing to take longer than a day. Grady turned Red for home after nightfall, the dogs on their heels. He’d set out when he could still hear the drone of Charmaine’s car in the distance. He reckoned Cole would’ve taken the front driveway like he’d done last time, and being on foot again, well, the dogs would sniff him out even if he’d run and hid in the thicket of trees lining the road. But after riding until noon, he reckoned he might’ve misread that. He’d turned and rode hard for the other side of the farm. Red never let him down—setting a fast pace, he never looked like he wanted to stop as Grady rode out for the road. Then there was deciding which way to turn at the fork. But something told him Cole wouldn’t have turned for the way that led to the city. Even if he wasn’t planning to go to the city, Cole wouldn’t have even wanted to act like he was making his way in that direction.
But he found no sign of him.
As Grady rode home and unsaddled Red and led him back to the pasture, Chloe watched him approach like she was peering around him as if to say,Well, where is he?
“I dunno,” he said to her. “But I’m gonna find out.”
