Page 67 of Puck King
I knew I could make this right… with Alison. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to make it right with Everleigh yet. When I left Alison’s apartment, armed with the details from Hollie, I’d called Everleigh. I couldn’t go and see her in person, because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to control my rage. But a surprising calm had come over my body, like I was someone else. I was still seething, but I didn’t scream at my sister. Instead, I’d told her exactly why Alison had made the decision to take the money, and then told her I never wanted to speak to her again. Ever.
But that morning, Everleigh had sent me a text. In it, she’d apologized for the millionth time, telling me again that she’d thought she was protecting me. Only this time, she added something more – an address for Windy Lane Farm. Hollie had told me that Ali was at her family farm, but she didn’t know the address.
Now, as I adjusted the controls and squinted into the sunshine, I was on my way to fix things. Ever since Ali had left, it felt like a part of me was missing – a physical part, like not having an arm anymore. It hurt like hell, and knowing that it was all one huge fucking mistake – I had to make it better, and fast.
That’s why I took the chopper.
As forests and fields whizzed by below, my heart thumped against my chest louder than the rotors of the blades spinning above me. The radio crackled and a woman’s voice echoed in my headset. It was faint, but I recognized it instantly.
Everleigh.
“Before you hang up…”
“I can’t hang up, it’s a radio,” I interrupted.
“Colton. I’m sorry. You have to understand why I did what I did.”
I sighed. “Everleigh. I understand it, but I don’t know if I can forgive you yet.”
There was silence for a moment and then her voice returned. “If you’re going where I think you’re going, I’ve done a few things that you need to know about.”
“Oh God. Everleigh.” The radio crackled as I shouted. “Haven’t you ruined enough?”
There was a sniff.
A sniff? I’d never seen or heard my sister cry before.
“My investigator worked around the clock on Alison’s divorce case. We’ve fixed that situation for her.”
“Oh.” That wasn’t what I was expecting. “You said you did a few things. What else?” I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of my appreciation if she was about to drop a bombshell on me.
“We also bought back her family’s horses. They’re being delivered to the farm right now. Colton, if I’d known why she had taken the job…” Her voice faded out. She had already spent the last two days apologizing, but admitting she was wrong – that was a first for her.
Radio silence. I couldn’t speak.
“Colton?” The radio crackled. “Are you there?”
This time it was me sniffing. I wiped a tear from my eye. It didn’t erase the things she’d done, but something told me Everleigh was going to spend the rest of her life trying to make up for lying to Ali.
“Ten-four, Everleigh.”
“You know I don’t know what that means.”
The GPS indicated the farm was directly ahead. “It means message received.”
The radio clicked, not once, but twice. I could tell she was hesitating, trying to figure out what to say next. She must have given up because the only sound I could hear was the whoosh of blood in my ears each time my heart pumped.
The pine trees swayed in the wind, and snow swirled as I set down the chopper at Windy Lane Farm.
Thirty-Two
Alison
The horses.Colton. The documents from Everleigh. My thoughts swirled just like the snow in the front yard as the chopper set down.
I grabbed a flannel coat and fastened the top snap. I had a feeling that I knew who would be sitting in the pilot’s seat, and my suspicions were confirmed when the blades slowed and Colton King hopped out onto our driveway.
“What are you doing here?” I shouted as soon as my voice could be heard above the chopper’s sounds.
