Southern Secrets by Natasha Madison

Chapter 34

Amelia

The rideback to the barn takes forever, or at least I think it takes forever. The sound of sirens off in the distance makes my whole body go stiff. "Leave the horse." Willow rushes out of the barn when we get back. "And go. Quinn is already on his way there, and we are locking down the barn," she says, and I look over to see all the other workers starting to close everything down.

I get off my horse. My grandfather is already five steps ahead of me, running to my car. He starts the car when the phone rings in his hand. "You’re on speakerphone. I’m on my way," he says right away.

"Dad, do not come here," my uncle Casey says, and I can hear sirens coming from his phone along with the sound of him running.

"I’m with Amelia," he tells him, and my uncle groans.

"We’re closed off," he tells him. "They aren’t letting anyone in." My heart sinks.

"What’s happening?" I ask, and he stops running.

"Someone said they heard a gunshot." The minute he says the word, my eyes close. "I can’t confirm it yet, but we have the EMTs coming."

"She isn’t going to sit at home," my grandfather says, and we pull up as close as we can. I open the door before he even has a chance to say goodbye. The sheriff's truck is stopping anyone from getting any closer to the barn. My eyes go to the barn as I spot Asher’s truck parked there with four other trucks surrounding him. Men are running in and out of the barn. People are everywhere. An EMT truck is there with the lights on as they run into the barn.

"I need to get there," I say to the man who I’ve met a couple of times when I went to visit my father at his office.

"I’m sorry. I’ve been told to block everyone from getting closer," he says, and I look behind me as the EMT truck comes straight toward us. I move to the side of the deputy’s truck while the EMT drives around him. He is going too fast for it to be nothing. I put my hand over my eyes to look without the sun blinding me.

My breaths come in pants as my mouth waters, and I think I’m going to be sick on the side of the road. "Oh my God," I say, putting my hand on my forehead. My feet move as I pace in front of him. "Oh my God.” I stop moving and put my hands on my knees as I start to panic. He walked away from me thinking I didn’t love him goes through my head. The last thing I said to him was it was a lie. "Oh my God," I say, trying to catch my breath. My grandfather rubs my back.

"Breathe in and out," he says. "Focus and breathe." I listen to him and then turn to the deputy, shaking my head.

"I have to get in there." He looks at me and then looks back at the barn. "My father is in there," I say, pushing past him, and he knows better than to follow me. I hear my grandfather issuing an apology and saying that it’s going to be okay. I run to the entrance of the barn.

Another deputy is there, stopping me from going closer as he talks on his radio. "You need to stay out here."

"What’s going on?" I ask, hoping he tells me that this is just a precaution. Hoping he tells me it’s nothing. Hoping like hell the beating of my heart echoing in my ears will let me listen to what he has to say. My mouth goes dry and my hands start to shake as I look at the second ambulance take their stretcher out.

"One person shot," he says, and my hand goes to my mouth. "Not sure he’s going to make it."

"Oh my God." I push past him as I’m walking toward the barn. The tears run down my face, and I see the ambulance come out with a man on it, his black hair stopping me from moving.

My legs give out on me, and I hit the grass with his name on my lips. The sob rips through me, and all I can do is put my hands on my chest. "Asher," I say softly. People walk in and out of the barn, and it’s almost like a dream when I see him walking out.

He’s looking down, and his white shirt has blood on it. I get up. "Asher." I call out his name, and he looks up. His eyes find mine, and he runs over to me. I meet him halfway. He wraps his arms around me, and I smell him while I sob. I wrap my arms around his neck, and he picks me up around my waist. "I’m sorry," I whisper in his ear. "I’m so, so sorry." I let go of him and kiss his lips. "I don’t care what your name is," I say between wiping my face with the back of my hand. He leans in and kisses me softly. "I know in my heart who you are," I say. "You’re okay." My hands go to his face to touch him. To make sure this isn’t a dream. "Are you hurt?"

"No." He places me down on my feet and looks down at me. He reaches his hand up to cup my face. I turn my face and kiss his palm.

"I thought you were shot," I say softly, and I see my father coming to us followed by Ethan, Casey, Quinn, and Beau. "How did they get here so fast?" I ask.

"You were supposed to make sure she stayed away from here," my father says, looking over my head to my grandfather, standing with his hands on his hips.

"You had one job," my uncle Casey says, shaking his head.

"Nice, Grandpa," Quinn says, smirking at him.

"You guys think you can stop her?" my grandfather says. "You also said everything would be okay." He puts out his hands.

"It was," Beau says, shaking his head.

"Does this look like everything is okay?" My grandfather takes off his cowboy hat and holds it in one hand as he holds both hands out at his sides. "Two ambulances. Five police cars."

"It was a precaution," Ethan says. "We had it under control."

"Wait, what?" I say, stepping away from Asher but not far enough that I can’t feel him next to me. "What am I missing?" I look around at all the men, none of them looking directly at me. "What is going on?"

"I’m out," Quinn says. "My phone is blowing up."

"Before we tell you." My father looks at me. "We did it to protect you."

Ethan laughs at him and puts his hand on his shoulder. "Dad, you’ve been using that line forever." He shakes his head. "Also, it never works."

"If you guys don’t mind," Asher says, "I’d like to tell her myself. Plus, you have some paperwork to do." He points at the ambulance. "Are you going to make sure he’s okay?" He turns to Beau.

"Nope." He shakes his head. "He made his bed, so let him lie in it."

He grabs my hand and walks over to his truck. "Asher." My father calls his name, and he turns around. "Told you that you had it in you." He smiles and turns to walk to the ambulance.

He puts me in the truck and leans in to kiss me. My hand comes up to touch his cheek. "We really have to talk."

I nod my head, not saying anything as the tears come. "Let’s go home," I say, and he closes the door. We don’t say anything on the drive to my house, but I don’t let his hand leave my lap the whole time.

When we finally walk into the house, he closes the door behind him. "Do you want some water?" I ask, nervous and scared that he’s going to decide that maybe I’m not the person for him. Maybe me giving him up so easily shows him I won’t stand by his side. I look at him, wiping the tears rolling out of my eyes. "I know that what I did was wrong," I say. "And I know that I should have given you a chance to talk but …"

"It hurt you," he says for me. "I hurt you, and you have to know I never, ever wanted to not tell you. I just." He takes a deep breath. "I just didn’t know how. Look, I was never going to stay." He swallows. "I wanted to come and meet Ethan. I just wondered how he grew up. I wondered if he grew up like me, but when I saw it was night and day, I was glad." I take a step forward, and he shakes his head. "If you come any closer, I’ll forget everything I have to tell you. There were things I found out a couple of days ago I didn’t even know."

"Whatever it is," I say. "It doesn’t matter."

"No," he says. "I’m not keeping anything from you. The day after I told Jacob and Ethan about it, we rode to the bank, and I showed them the papers and letters I got. I didn’t even read it all, but Beau did, and everything clicked into place. Liam was living on an allowance, which was going to end once I turn thirty. It took Casey a couple of hours to find out he was in debt up to his ass. He owed everyone money, and soon, it was running out unless he got rid of me." I gasp out. "We knew he was getting desperate, so it was a matter of time before he did something stupid. We’ve been following him for the past couple days. We knew today would be the day. He was staying at the motel in town. Ethan had followed him to the barn. Jacob was on standby. The minute he cut the alarm wires, we knew."

"You came here this morning," I say. "To say goodbye to me."

His eyes stare into mine. "Anything could have happened. I wanted you to know that I loved you." I try to block the sob that comes out with my hand. He comes over to me, holding my face in his hand. "I wanted you to know that I love you with everything that I have." My hands go to his chest as I feel his heart beating underneath. "Six months ago, I had forty-seven cents to my name. Next month, I’ll have five point seven million dollars."

My mouth opens in shock and then closes. "You could have nothing, and I would still love you," I say. "The thought of losing you." I swallow the huge lump, I close my eyes and the tears run over. "I don’t ever want to feel that again. I won’t survive," I say the truth. "Losing you would be like losing me."

"You won’t lose me," he says. "Unless Liam put a bullet in me, I was coming back to fight for you." He wipes a tear away. "I was going to fight for us, and I wasn’t taking no for an answer." His hand goes around my waist, and he picks me up. "Now, let’s go take a shower. I haven’t touched you in over four days, so I have a lot of catching up to do." I don’t say anything to him. I let him carry me to the bathroom, and I savor every single second of it.