Not Fake for Long by Weston Parker

33

HARRISON

When I got out to the farm, I was on a mission to relax. I’d stopped on the way for groceries and beer, and I was determined to drink until my mind shut down and all of these damn thoughts were out of my head.

Shouldering my laptop bag, I opened the door for Dottie before going around to get the groceries out the back of the truck. The Labrador tore off as soon as she could, racing away in a cloud of dust. I shook my head while I stared after her.

Like me, she was getting more and more used to being out here. Every time we had to head back to the city, it was more difficult for us to leave.

While she went off to do whatever it was she did when we arrived, I carried all our stuff inside and packed all the cold stuff away. Grabbing a beer once I was done, I popped the top and set the bottle down on the counter while I filled up Dottie’s bowls.

I’d left my jacket in the truck along with my tie, so I picked up my beer again and started rolling up my sleeves as I walked back to the porch. Dottie was still nowhere to be seen, but I heard her barking from somewhere down the path near Ashton’s place.

Speaking of the old man… As I was lowering myself into my chair, I noticed what seemed to be the top of his shotgun sticking out behind the porch.

I frowned, straightening up again to see exactly what I was looking at. When I realized that it was, in fact, his shotgun, my frown deepened. My head snapped up, and I looked around to see where he was.

He wouldn’t leave his gun lying around, unattended, which meant he had to be around here somewhere. I couldn’t see him, though, which was odd.

Whenever his shotgun was out, it was in his hand. It only left his hand when absolutely necessary, and even then, it was never more than a few feet away from him.

“Ashton?” I called, lifting a hand to shield my eyes from the sun as I searched the stretch of land in front of the house again. “You around, Ash? You left your gun here.”

I expected to hear his gruff voice replying, maybe coming from around the house if he was trying to listen for that darn chicken snake or something like that. When no reply came, unease stirred in my chest.

I took the stairs off the porch two at a time and rushed toward Ashton’s place. Dottie was still running around it, jumping up and barking before running a few paces and doing it again.

The sense of unease became so strong that it twisted my gut. “Dottie? Have you seen the old man? Where is he, girl?”

She barked again, running up to me and nudging me with her nose before disappearing around the back. Dirt crunched under my feet as I followed, stopping dead in my tracks when I saw his truck was still parked behind the house.

Walking up to the back door, I knocked and frowned again when it swung open. It also wasn’t like Ashton to leave the farm—with someone else, for a start—and leave his doors open. Especially since he’d been after that snake recently. He knew the bastard was around here somewhere, and it wasn’t likely he’d tempt fate by literally leaving the door open for it.

Something wasn’t right here. I stuck my hand in my pocket to pull out my phone, but it was in my laptop bag back at my place. I’d tossed it in there before I’d even left the city. Then I’d forgotten all about it.

“Keep looking for him, girl,” I called to Dottie, deciding I’d go check the barn before I went to get my phone.

If he was in there mucking stalls and realized I’d panicked just because I hadn’t been able to find him immediately, he’d never let me live it down. I would take whatever shit he threw my way as long as I found him.

It wasn’t like there were a ton of other people he’d have left the farm with. Ashton didn’t like leaving the farm at all these days unless it was absolutely necessary. He wouldn’t have gone off with Mariana to go shopping or anything like that. Then again, maybe he had. He’d left the farm to go shopping with me in the city just a few days ago.

My gut said he hadn’t gone off with her or with any of the others for that matter. If he had, the shotgun wouldn’t have been out and left leaning against my porch.

The only explanation I wanted to accept as possibly correct was that he’d been searching for the snake and had gotten sidetracked. If it wasn’t that, I didn’t even want to think about the alternative. Because that meant something had happened to him.

Scoffing at myself while I half-jogged to the barn, I tossed the rest of my beer in the trashcan by the door without stopping. “Ashton? You in here?”

The horses came to their stall doors, but there was still no human anywhere. Moving deeper into the barn, I checked the office and then each of the stalls before concluding that he wasn’t here.

“Ashton?” I called again, louder this time as I left the barn. “Where are you, buddy? You okay?”

Pausing for a moment to listen, my heart sank when I still didn’t hear a reply. Something was definitely going on here, and it wasn’t good.

Cold sweat broke out over my brow, and I decided it didn’t matter if he gave me shit for it. I was worried about him, and if he didn’t like it, then fuck him. Instead of walking or jogging back to my place, I full-out ran.

There was still no sign of him when I got back, his shotgun leaning in the exact same place while Dottie barked at his house. An ominous feeling sank into my bones. I called for him again, but there was still no answer.

Taking the stairs two at a time, I barreled into the house and practically tackled my laptop bag. The notification light was flashing on my phone when I pulled it out, and when I unlocked it, I saw I’d missed several text messages and calls from Keira.

I’d been waiting to hear from her all day, but I hadn’t really believed she would reach out to me today. As much as I wanted to call her back immediately, I needed to find Ashton first.

As I opened my messaging app to send a text to him, the last one from Keira appeared at the top of the screen. I could only see a part of it since I hadn’t opened it, but the part I saw was just enough to make my blood run cold.

Keira: Waiting at the hospital. No updates on his condition yet. Please call me back.

My heart pounded in my chest as I tapped the screen to open the thread. As I read it, I felt myself go pale. Fuck. I should’ve kept my phone on me.

Keira: Went out to farm to talk to you. Ashton collapsed. On our way to hospital.

Keira: We’re at the hospital in town. Don’t know what happened yet. I’ll let you know when I know, but you might want to come.

Keira: Harrison?

The thread ended with the message I’d read first. I stared at those two words, “Ashton collapsed,” for a beat, unable to comprehend that something might’ve happened to the grizzly old man. Nothing got to him. He was as strong as an ox. But he has been acting weird.

It was that thought that spurred me into motion. I’d heard that people sometimes had these inexplicable gut feelings when something was about to happen to them, and just the thought that he might’ve had that feeling but hadn’t told me ripped me apart.

Since I’d just filled up Dottie’s bowls when we’d arrived and she hadn’t even been back in here yet, I knew she’d be fine until I got back. I didn’t like leaving her on the farm alone, but I didn’t have much of a choice. I couldn’t take her to the hospital with me. I’d text Mariana and ask her to keep an eye on her while I was gone.

For now, I just had to get to the hospital as fast as humanly possible. Grabbing my keys, I ran out to my truck and jumped in. The wheels spun on the dirt when I threw it into gear and put the pedal to the metal.

It wasn’t far to the hospital, but the drive seemed to take ages. I was oblivious to my surroundings as I raced to get there, my vision tunneled as I paid attention only to the road that would take me to them.

When I got there, I drove straight to the entrance and came to a screaming stop right out front. I left the engine running and the door open in my haste to get inside, but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except for getting to them and making sure Ashton was okay.

A security guard called out to me just as I reached the front doors. “Sir! You can’t park there.”

I ignored him. Let him give me a fucking fine or whatever it is they do here.

There were a few people around the lobby, but no one even looked at me funny when I raced through it. I supposed it was probably something they were used to seeing around here.

As the first nurses’ station came into view, the waiting area across from it did as well. Right in the middle of it stood Keira, tears running down her cheeks and both of her hands clasped over her mouth.

She turned her head slowly toward me, her eyes widening when she realized I was here. I ran right up to her, pulling her into my arms with my heart still trying to climb out of my chest.

“Shh, I’m here now,” I said, speaking into her hair as I rested my cheek on her head. “What’s going on? What happened? Is he okay?”

Sobs wracked her body, her shoulders shaking as she clung to me. She lifted her head away from my chest after a minute but didn’t let go of me.

Her gaze lifted slowly to mine, and the devastation in her eyes made my heart break. She hadn’t even said anything yet, but I already knew.

He wasn’t okay.