Chapter 43Goldie

Chapter 43

Goldie

I poke my head through the back door, forcing a smile even though my heart's racing. I hope that Ash and Ranger managed to calm Luke down, managed to make him see their side of things. Our side of things.

But no. Something's off. Way off. The cabin is as quiet as a tomb.

Things are worse now, not better.

"Hey…is it okay if I come in?" I whisper.

No one speaks. Their faces are unreadable—Ash's lips pressed tight, Clay's eyes downcast, Ranger's expression a blank slate. But Luke…his glare is enough to make my stomach churn with nausea. So they haven't calmed him down.

Is it possible they didn't hear me? No.

But no one told me not to come in, so I step inside cautiously, the tension thick enough to choke on.

It's Ranger who finally breaks the silence, his voice low but steady.

"That belong to you, Goldie?" He points at something in Ash's hand.

My stomach drops.

The snail.

The last camera.

It's cracked open, the damn camera actually exposed now.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. I'm fucked.

I open my mouth to speak, but before I can say a word, Luke cuts me off, his voice sharp as a knife, and as deadly.

"Don't. Don't even start. I don't want to hear another damn word out of your lying mouth."

He storms into the bedroom and storms back out with my bag.

"Wait, Luke, please—just let me explain!" I plead, panic rising in my chest. But he's not listening. And can I blame him? No. I can't. Not a bit.

"We don't need your explanations, Goldie," he spits, stomping to the front door and flinging it open. "What we need is for you to get the hell out. We know what you're up to. You told us from day one you were a reality show producer, and I knew you were up to no good! I knew it! This whole thing…it was a setup, wasn't it? You've been secretly filming us for some show you're working on this entire goddamn time."

It's not a question.

"No! That's not…" My voice trails off and I blanch as he hurls my bag outside. I don't care about the things inside, but it's the action itself. I'm frozen, waiting for him to snatch me up and toss me out after my things.

Luke whirls around, more furious than I've ever seen anyone in my life. "You must think we're really stupid. You hurt them." He points toward Ranger and Ash, who are both silent, not even looking at me. "I told you, didn't I? I warned you. You hurt them, and we'd have a problem. But what you've done…it's beyond the pale. Now get out! Get out and don't ever show your face on this mountain again."

"Ash, Ranger, please hear me out," I beg, hot tears streaming down my face. I feel like I'm breaking apart. My breath comes in shallow, ragged bursts, my chest tight, like there's not enough air in the room.

"If you don't move your ass, you'll be the next thing I throw out the door," Luke growls, and the threat in his voice isn't something I can ignore.

Before I can say anything else, Hunter walks in the open front door, carrying my bag. His eyes dart between Luke, Ash, Ranger, Clay, and me. "What the hell is going on in here?"

Ash holds up the snail. "We found this, Hunter. It's a camera. She's been filming us."

The pain in his voice guts me. It hits me like a sledgehammer, and I crumble inside. I can barely breathe through the sobs that tear out of me. I can't hold them back.

Luke's still fuming, pacing like a caged animal. "I told her," he seethes. "I told her if she hurt any of you, we'd have a goddamned problem. She was warned. She's out. Not another damned word, she just needs to get the fuck out of this cabin and out of our lives."

Hunter's jaw tightens. He looks from Luke to me, then back to Luke. The fact that he's actually looking at me gives me a surge of hope.

"No. She owes us an explanation. She's not going anywhere until she gives us that. Get the others," he says.

Luke grits his teeth so loud I can hear it, but he gives a terse nod.

Hunter sets my bag down. He points at me, then at the couch, and I realize I've made my body as small as possible and I'm pressed up against the wall. "Sit and don't say a word 'til everyone's here."

I nod, tears streaming down my face, unable to stop the shaking in my hands.

"Lynx and Nash are in the garden," Clay says. All the lightness and laughter, all the mischief and playfulness, all the jokes and fun, are drained from his voice and my heart shatters. I've taken those things from him. "I'll go get them."

"What's all the commotion about?" Rusty asks, coming from the direction of the bathroom. I look up at him and the details blur through my tears—his sopping wet hair, his bare chest, the towel wrapped around his waist. "Can't a man take a bubble bath without—" He stops short, seeming not to notice anyone else in the room. His eyes zero in on me and the blubbering mess that I am. "Hey. Rose-Gold. What's wrong, baby?"

He starts to come to me, but Hunter clears his throat.

"Go put on some clothes, Rusty. We're having a family meeting."

"But—" Rusty protests.

"GO," Hunter says again.

Rusty glances at me and the concern on his face would be the end of me, if I didn't feel like the end had already come and gone.

Clay comes back in with Lynx, Nash, and Brooks.

"Brooks was just getting back from the orchard. He went to get the pears," Clay says. He must've filled Lynx and Nash in, because neither of them look at me. But Brooks heads straight for me and when Hunter tries to stop him, he swats him away as if he's a mosquito.

I know I don't deserve any comfort, but I let Brooks pick me up off the couch, taking me into his arms, where he holds me, swaying like I'm an inconsolable infant he's trying to soothe.

"It's gonna be okay, snapdragon," he says, but I know that this time when I leave, it won't be my choice and, once he hears the truth, he won't be coming after me.