His eyes filled with tears while he cleared this throat. “Ryder called. He was meeting Nate and Jase in Wyoming and . . . their plane didn’t land on schedule. The Denver airport said an unexpected storm popped up.”
“No,” I whispered as I let my body go while Colt held on to me. My body felt cold. I could hear Layton talking . . . yet at the same time it felt as if I was drifting away.
“They lost them on radar as they were coming out of the Rockies and into Wyoming. A search plane is already on the way to where they first lost them.”
A search plane.
My head started to hurt. It felt as if someone was taking a hammer to it and hitting it as hard as they could. “Layton . . . please . . . no.”
“Sweetheart, let’s not give up hope, but . . .”
My eyes caught Whitley standing behind Layton. She had been crying.
Everything went numb. Nothing in this world mattered if I didn’t have Jase to live it with.
“But there is a chance the plane . . . the plane might have . . .”
I shook my head frantically as sobs racked my body and my legs gave completely out. Meagan and Colt went to the ground with me. Meagan wrapped me in her arms as I started screaming out Jase’s name.
It’s a dream. That’s all this was.
A horrible, awful nightmare.
Taylor
I sat on Jase’s bed and stared out at the setting sun. It had been four days since he left me standing in the airport watching him leave. Four days of them searching for their plane only to find nothing.
Don’t give up hope.
That’s all everyone kept saying to me. If they didn’t find them today, they were moving the search area more into Wyoming.
I glanced down at my phone. The last text from Jase was pulled up as I read it again.
I’ll love you forever, Taylor.
When had he sent that to me? Before the plane took off? During the flight? After they—
Swallowing hard, I looked back out the window. My mother, Courtney, and Whitley tried talking softly, but I could still hear them. They thought I was sleeping, but I hadn’t slept more than two hours since Layton told me the plane went missing.
“She won’t leave his room, Amanda. I’m starting to worry,” Whitley said.
“Has she slept today at all?”
I heard Whitley sniffle. “No. And she was at the barn last night when the horse Jase bought her birthed the foal.”
“She wouldn’t leave even with Walker and Layton begging her to,” Courtney added. “I’d give anything to take her hurt away.”
Falling back onto the bed, I closed my eyes.
Jase’s piercing blue eyes invaded my mind. Every time he made love to me, his eyes spoke of how much he loved me. Blazing with nothing but love. I focused on them while I tuned everything else out.
My body ached. Not nearly as much as my heart did. I couldn’t cry anymore . . . it was as if I had cried ten rivers. I had nothing left.
The knock on the door caused me to roll over. Opening my eyes, I looked at the sun as it touched the horizon.
“Taylor? Sweetheart, are you sleeping?” my mother asked softly.
“No.”
She sat on the bed and rested her hand on my shoulder. “Ryder called. They’re moving the search area further into Wyoming. There is a good chance the pilot was able to navigate them to a flatter area to land.”
“If they had landed, someone would have found them by now,” I numbly said.
“Maybe, but that area is vastly uninhabited.”
I had overheard Layton and my father talking last night. Layton had had one too many drinks and the truth was spilling from his lips. He didn’t know I heard every word he said. I had just walked back in from the barn when I heard the two of them talking in his office.
“Even if they had landed safely, why haven’t we heard anything? All they keep talking about is how the plane was equipped with an emergency beacon. Why in the hell has it not gone off?” Layton said.
“Layton, don’t give up hope. Maybe they couldn’t get out right away to get help.”
“This is my fault. I should have been the one going. I sent my son who had his whole future ahead of him. I’ve robbed him and Taylor of a life together.”
Leaning over, Layton cried. It was then I turned and headed up to Jase’s room. Taking a T-shirt out of his drawer, I slipped it on and crawled under the sheets where I laid staring out into the darkness.
My mother’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. “Taylor, I’m worried about you.”
“I’m fine,” I mumbled.
She stood and looked down at me. I could almost feel her eyes penetrating me. “You’re not fine. You haven’t eaten or slept in days. You’ve hardly left this room. You need to get some fresh air and eat. Libby and Luke are here. Everyone has been coming in shifts to help Layton and Whitley and to check on you.”
“I know, Mom. They all keep coming in here and saying the same damn thing.”
I sat up and faced her. “Don’t give up hope? Well, I’m sorry if I can’t be perky and happy while I wait for them to tell me the only man I ever loved . . . the only man I ever wanted to spend my life with is dead!”