25. Fable

Chapter 25

Fable

I go to climb into the driver's seat only to remember I've had too many beers to be driving. How many did I have? I'm a little buzzed, but don't feel drunk. However, I'm definitely over the limit. There ain't no way I can drive and risk getting in trouble.

But am I over the limit enough to calm my PTSD?

"Shit. I can't drive," I rasp, stopping before I can climb into the truck.

Rhett looks at me and frowns. "Oh shit. Yeah, you've been drinking. I can drive. I didn't drink."

"Yeah," I croak. "Yeah."

"You gonna be okay with that?" Gunnar asks.

"I gotta be," I whisper. "Right?"

But I know I won't be. Fuck. I either get over it or I stay here. And that seems silly to stay here. Jethro will be so worried. It's only a twenty-minute drive. I can manage. Maybe. Hopefully.

"Here," Rhett says. "Up in the passenger seat," he directs, leading me over to the other side and helping me in. When I don't move, he buckles my seatbelt for me. "It's gonna be okay."

Rhett is never the considerate one. What must my face look like for him to be concerned now?

Trent climbs silently into the back behind me, Colt and Gunnar in the other seats again. Rhett runs around to the driver's seat and immediately starts fixing the adjustments I'd changed.

"It's gonna be okay," Gunnar says, reaching up to squeeze my shoulder. "It's just fifteen minutes."

I nod, my heart beating so hard I can feel it in my throat. "Just fifteen minutes," I repeat.

The moment that Rhett puts it in drive and pulls out, I start to shake, my fingers clutching onto the door, holding on as if we're going faster than the thirty miles per hour we actually are. When tears start dripping from my eyes and I start hyperventilating, Rhett curses and jerks the truck over to the side of the road.

"Hey, hey, hey," he says, leaning across the seat. "It's okay. Fable, look at me."

Gunnar leans over the seat and tries to comfort me, but it doesn't stop. I can't control it. No matter what either of them says, my body only starts to remember the pain, the panic, the agony.

"Just go fast," Colt orders. "Get it over with!"

"We can't just drive with her like this," Rhett argues.

I can't breathe. Oh, fuck, I can't breathe. I wrap my hand around my throat, as if that'll help matters any. I can barely see through the tears. Fuck, I'm embarrassing myself. Get it together, Fable. This isn't the same vehicle. This isn't that day.

"Just go!" Colt growls, and Rhett drops it in gear again, his tires spinning out on the gravel along the side of the road as he jerks back onto the road.

I gasp for breath, my head growing fuzzy as he guns his truck down the road. The fifteen minutes isn't all highways. Half of it is the driveway up Circle Bee, but we gotta get through the highway first. The whole time Rhett speeds down the road, Gunnar is rubbing my shoulder, trying to calm me down, trying to break through, but it doesn't work.

The image of Jinx beside me in the back seat flickers in my mind and I devolve into full on sobs, my chest tight with lack of oxygen.

"For fuck's sake! She's going to pass out!" Rhett shouts, slowing down.

"Get to the driveway at least," Colt orders.

"Shh, it's okay," Gunnar tries, but there's panic in all their voices.

I don't blame them. Here I am, being a freak and sobbing in their passenger seat, having a full-on panic attack because I'm not driving. When the flashbacks start, my sobs only get louder. Oh, fuck. Rhett's right. I think I'm going to pass out.

"Stop," Trent's voice commands. "Here."

Rhett immediately slams on the brakes, but before we're fully stopped, I hear the rear passenger door open. Mine opens a second later and Trent is there with his massive presence. He unbuckles my seatbelt and lifts me out of the truck like I weigh nothing, his strong arms caging me in.

"What are you goin'?" Gunnar growls.

"Helping her. Stay in the truck," Trent orders.

I'm still hyperventilating, still can't breathe, as Trent carries me to the back of the truck and hoists me over the tailgate. He immediately climbs up behind me before directing me toward the cab of the truck.

"I've got you," Trent says as he presses my front against the cab of the truck. His warmth envelopes me and the fuzziness in my head starts to ease as my breaths grow deeper. "You ever seen Titanic?"

I nod through my tears. Who hasn't seen Titanic?

"Good," he grunts. He grabs my arms and lifts them out to my sides. "We used to do this when we were younger," he explains. "If you do it right, it feels a little bit like flyin' on the front of a great ship."

He thumps on the top of the cab and the truck starts to ease forward again over the gravel road. But back here, outside of the truck, it feels different. My sobs slow down, and I blink through the tears to get a look at the night sky above us. The stars shine so bright out here, like a blanket draped across the sky. There're so many.

"That's it," he whispers, his arms caging me in, so I don't fall. "Breathe for me."

I take a deep breath, and then another, and another, until my heartbeat starts to slow. Carefully, Trent's hands touch my shoulders and hold me steady as Rhett begins to speed up, a little at first and then fast enough that the wind whips my hair back from my face. Trent's hands trail down my arms, to my hands, and then spread out like mine. His body keeps me pressed against the cab, strong and sure.

My heart skips a beat for a different reason now. And he's right. As we start to go down the driveway, it does feel a little bit like we're flying. A chuckle trickles out, unsure, a little afraid.

"There it is," he leans down to whisper in my ear. "There you are."

The laughter grows as we fly, as he holds me and keeps me from falling back into my memories. Instead, we make a new one. Instead, I have this to hold onto.

But the moment we pull into the big house, I feel him tense behind me. Hell, I even feel Rhett's hesitation on the gas pedal.

There, parked in front of the barn, is a blacked-out sedan. A man in a suit rests against it, his hands in his pockets, unconcerned as we pull up in Rhett's truck.

The windows are down so I can hear Rhett curse as he throws the truck in park, and everyone hops out of the truck.

"Who's that?" I croak, my throat still raw. I'm starting to feel a little numb after the panic attack, my brain demanding rest. I'll sleep hard tonight. I always do after such an intense attack.

"No one," Rhett answers, clearly annoyed. He looks over at Gunnar. "Get her back to her cabin."

"What's going on?" I ask, frowning now. This doesn't feel right.

"Nothing," Gunnar answers as he directs me toward my cabin. "I'm going to walk you to your cabin and make sure you get in alright."

I frown over at the man as we pass by him and he winks at me, clearly amused. What the fuck? But Gunnar is quickly pushing me past him while the other three go over to meet the mystery stranger.

Jethro is sitting on the porch, waiting, and the moment he sees me, he stands. Instead of his usual happy bark, he simply keeps his eyes on the black sedan, his hackles raised. That's what sets me on edge more than anything.

Always trust a dog's intuition.

"Inside the cabin you go," Gunnar instructs, popping open the door. "Lock the door behind you. Wouldn't want a bear pushing through."

I frown. Since when is a wooden door gonna stop a bear? Locks won't matter to them.

But for a person. . .

I don't get a chance to ask. He pushes me inside and lets Jethro in before he smiles tightly at me.

"Good night, Florida Girl."

"Night," I reply, confused.

Tonight was a whirlwind. First, I line danced, Rhett kissed me, then I'd had a panic attack, then Trent had been the sweetest, and now this?

After I close the door and lock it, I peek out the window to watch Gunnar jog back over to the others. Together, they all turn toward the barn and go inside a door that's always locked. They don't come back out, not for at least the ten minutes I watch.

"What the hell are they up to?" I ask Jethro, but ultimately, I shrug.

I suppose it's not my business. I fall asleep when the aftermath of my panic attack catches up with me. When I wake up the next morning, the black sedan is gone, no evidence that it'd ever been there left behind.