Page 55 of Love Me Back
I looked behind Hudson at the others who had followed us. They had stayed back close to the edge near the clearing.
“Can you tell Emerson to get everyone back? Thunder’s nervous about something. Not sure if it’s me or them.”
Hudson pulled his phone out and made the call. Moments later, the men who had followed us out here were out of sight.
“How’s he doing now, Jessie?”
“Still nervous.” Thunder had stopped about twenty feet from where Hudson waited for us. “I need you to head out too.”
“No, Jessie. I’m not leaving you here alone.”
“You have to if you want this horse to come with me. Go back to where Grayson is and get them back further. If there is a crowd waiting for us when we reach the clearing, I think he’ll bolt back in.”
“Jessie.”
“No, Hudson.” I tried to sound firm while still relaxed, not wanting to spook the horse.
“Grayson’s gonna kill me,” he muttered.
“I’ll deal with him. You just go and leave us here.” I returned my focus to the horse. “It’s okay, big guy. It’ll just be you and me soon. We can talk until you’re ready to go home.”
Hudson mounted his horse, but didn’t leave right away. The horse he was on danced around a bit before he finally turned and headed out of the deep brush.
“There. It’s just you and me. What’s got you so riled up?”
I ran my hands over his big body, hoping to relax him enough to settle. But he was still on edge. His ears twitched and his tail flicked around. I dug out some more sugar and held out my hand. He sniffed the treat before slamming his nose into my hand.
“Hey, what the hell? If you didn’t want it, you could have just turned your nose up like last time. No need to break my hand.”
I crossed my arms and pouted as if the horse would care that he had hurt my feelings. I mean, he didn’t really hurt my feelings. He was actually doing a better job of helping me relaxthan I was doing for him.
He nudged me with his head as if he were trying to push me behind him.
“I need to be in front unless you know the way out. Do you? ’Cause I have to be honest here. This is not my idea of a good first date.”
Thunder’s head snapped up, and his eyes bulged. I knew enough about horses to know he was afraid of something out here. I put one hand on his neck and the other rubbed his belly.
“Let’s get out of here, shall we?”
I tried to step away, but Thunder swung his head around and stopped my progress. Every time I tried to move, he held me in place.
“Listen, either we walk out of here or I ride on your back. One way or another, we need to get you home. Grayson’s worried about you. You’ve been gone two days. Take a step with me, okay?”
I grabbed a handful of his beautiful dark mane and tried to lead him in the direction the others had gone. He would take a few steps and then stop again. His ears twitching as he looked around.
Something was out here with us.
Or someone.
“Is someone here? Someone watching us?” I asked and laughed at myself inside. Maybe I watched too many old reruns ofLassieas a kid, but I asked the horse questions like I expected him to answer.
When he didn’t answer, because well, he was a horse, I tried to move him closer to the clearing. He took a few steps and stopped again.
“Listen, big guy, we don’t have all night. Grayson’s got guests coming. Addie’s been cooking all day. And you have a nice stall to get back to.”
We continued on. I was determined to get him out of here. Every few steps we stopped so he could look around before continuing. I didn’t know how much time had passed, but Iknew Grayson was probably going nuts waiting for us.
“Just a little further. We’re almost there.”
