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“Oh God, oh God, oh God! No!” I whispered as I rushed out the front door and to my mother’s car, which I was still using. I got in, slammed the door shut, and shuddered. “Gross!”
Starting the car, I gagged once more and quickly drove off, turning on the radio to drown out the echoing sound of my mother’s voice in my head.
I pulled up and parked behind Beck’s rental car. Kaylee came walking out, bundled up in a sweater coat.
“Avery, you got here fast!”
Trying not to remember why I’d broken every speed limit risking a ticket to get here quickly, I simply smiled and said, “It didn’t take me long to change.” I glanced out over the pasture. “Are they still riding?”
She followed my gaze. “They are. I called Ty when I saw you pulling in. He said they stopped at the old hunter’s cabin on the east side of the ranch to talk for a bit.”
My head snapped around and I stared at her. “The guesthouse?”
“Yeah, why?”
I was positive my mouth was on the ground. “Aunt Kaylee, that place is haunted!”
She laughed. “It is not, Avery Littlewood.”
“Oh yes, it is. Lily and I went there one time, after losing a bet with Bradly and Hunter, and we had to spend the night. Trust me when I tell you, it’s haunted.”
Giving me a look that said I’d lost my mind, she looked back out over the pasture. Then she frowned.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, turning to see four shadows approaching on horseback.
“Oh my gosh,” she whispered.
“What?” I asked, trying to see what it was that she saw. “Are they okay?”
Aunt Kaylee grabbed my hand and started toward the house. “I have to show you something.”
I had to run to keep up with her. Once inside, she brought me to the living room and pointed to a painting.
“Look.”
Walking closer, I blinked a few times. I glanced toward the window overlooking the pasture, then back to the painting.
Kaylee took it off the wall and started back outside.
“Where are you going?”
She didn’t say a word, simply kept walking, with me hot on her heels. She ran toward the pasture and stopped. She held up the painting, and I sucked in a breath.
“Holy crap.”
“Holy shit,” Aunt Kaylee said at the same time.
“When did you paint this?” I asked, looking at the painting, then back toward the four men riding in from the pasture.
“Over twenty-five years ago.” She pulled out her phone and took a picture of my uncles and Beck.
A chill ran up my spine as I looked at the painting, showing four men riding in with mountains in the background. The same orangish-pink sky in the painting was the current backdrop of the riders.
“Who’s the fifth rider?” I asked.
Kaylee looked at me. “What? There’s only four.”
I shook my head. “No, right here. It looks like you painted one more rider, he’s just much farther back from the others.”
Staring at her own painting, Kaylee asked shakily, “Will you hold this?”
“Of course,” I said, taking the painting. Then I watched, shocked, as she dropped to her knees.
“Oh my gosh, are you okay? Aunt Kaylee!” I reached a hand down to her.
She slowly looked up and smiled.
“Should I call Uncle Ty? Tell him to pick up the speed?”
Tears started to roll down her cheeks. Now I really wasn’t sure what to do. “I’m going to put the painting back in the house. I’ll be right back.”
Running inside, I carefully hung the painting. Uncle Ty must have seen Aunt Kaylee on the ground, because when I got back outside, he was jumping off his horse and running to her. He jumped the fence, and I gasped. For a man his age, he cleared it like it was nothing.
“Kaylee, what’s wrong?” he asked, dropping to his knees. The other three riders approached, all wearing concerned expressions. I found myself looking past them for the fifth rider that I knew logically wasn’t there.
“Avery, what happened?” Beck asked, getting off his horse.
I walked to the fence and said, “You guys need to see something.”
A younger guy, around my age, walked out of the barn with two other hands. Brock was off his horse and giving them instructions on taking care of the animals. I assumed they already knew, but they nodded politely.
“Let’s get you inside,” Uncle Ty said, lifting his wife up into his arms and carrying her toward the house.
“I’m fine, Ty. I can walk.”
“You don’t look fine, Kaylee. You look pale.”
“Is she okay?” Uncle Brock asked, as Tanner walked up to me.
“Yes, but there’s something you all really need to see.”
Tanner’s brows drew down, but he looked at Brock and shrugged before they followed Uncle Ty and Aunt Kaylee, who was now demanding to be put down.
Beck walked up to me and kissed me gently on the lips. “Hey, you.”
