Run to You by Rachel Lacey Read Free Book Online Page B

longtime friends, they hadn’t gone yet. “I’ll see if I can rent our usual house in Emerald Isle. It’s short notice, but they might have an opening.”
    “That would be perfect. Thank you, Ethan.” She beckoned for him to come sit beside her.
    He crossed the living room and sat next to her on the couch, his lungs getting smaller with each breath he took.
    “I’ve been so worried about you…about leaving you.” She took his hand and squeezed it tightly in hers. “When I told you I needed to see you settled before I go, I figured I’d have to make do with your new venture with Ryan and Mark. At least I’d know they were in town to watch out for you when I’m not here. And that’s something I’m so grateful for.”
    He stared down at her small, wrinkled hand entwined with his.
    “But I had no idea Gabby was about to come into your life. She’s special, Ethan. I can see it, and I think you can, too. I know things are still very new between you two, but I’ve always had a sense for these things.”
    He drew back. “Gram—”
    She shushed him. “I knew I was going to marry your grandfather within a few minutes of meeting him, and we had thirty glorious years together before he left this earth. I have the same feeling about you and Gabby. And now I can truly die in peace knowing that you’ve found the person who will love you as much as I do.”
    His stomach dropped like he’d just gone into freefall. Fuck.
    *  *  *
    Gabby let out a weary sigh. She was sitting on the worn linoleum in the kitchen, a dog biscuit clutched in her hand—by herself. As soon as she’d brought him home, Sir Lancelot ran inside the pantry to hide, and no amount of sweet talk could convince him to come back out.
    “Come on, Lance.” She’d decided on the nickname since he was obviously not up for knighthood just yet. “I’ve got cookies. And then I thought we could go for a walk in the woods.”
    His head appeared in the doorway of the pantry, cocked comically to the side.
    “Did you hear a word you like? Cookie?” she asked.
    His head cocked to the other side.
    “Walk?”
    He ran up to her, tail wagging shyly.
    “You’re a weirdo, Lance.” She fed him the cookie, and he crunched contentedly at her feet. Quickly, she clipped the leash to his collar before he could run back inside the pantry. “Let’s take that walk. I think a little fresh air might do us both some good.”
    Her new dog clearly needed to chill, and she was still flustered about her visit with Ethan earlier, so hopefully a walk would cool them both off. She led the way to the door, and they set out together along the path that led from her yard onto the town’s hiking trails.
    Today she’d be careful not to wander onto Ethan’s property.
    Lance trotted along at her side, head up and alert now that they’d left the house. He might not be much bigger than a cat, but the fact he could go hiking with her was a definite bonus.
    She took them on a short walk, doubling back after only twenty minutes. It was his first day out of the shelter, after all. Even so, about halfway home, he curled up in the middle of the path and refused to go another step.
    She propped her hands on her hips and looked down at him. “Seriously?”
    He just stared up at her, panting.
    With a sigh, she picked him up and tucked him under her arm for the rest of the walk home. She came out of the woods to the right of her house, startled to see Ethan’s Jeep in the driveway. What in the world was he doing here?
    He sat on her front steps, head in his hands, his back to her.
    She walked up to him, but he didn’t move, either so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t heard her approach or he’d fallen asleep. “Ethan?” she said softly.
    He looked up, his eyes red and bloodshot, hair disheveled. She took a step back. Was he drunk? He pushed to his feet. “Can I come in?”
    She narrowed her eyes, studying him. On second thought, he didn’t seem so much drunk as…devastated.