It Goes On - Book l

The Thundering

As much as Simon wanted to rush home, he chose to give Kiera as much space he thought she would as well as giving himself as much space as he thought he'd need, although he had come to realize that his time of being isolated was over. He physically ached when he wasn't around his wife, especially his children.

Hell, he even missed Baler more than he truly thought he would.

Simon eventually returned home around two a.m., sitting on a bench outside the barn and seeming to stare into nothing, his body merely even reacting to the brittle chill that settled throughout the night.

Once he had decided to enter the house, he slipped in with slumped shoulders and a deep sigh leaving his lips. I don't know what's scarier: coming home to an empty house and no clue where my family is, or having my own wife hating me for wanting nothing but the best for her, he sighed to himself, hanging his jacket on the rack before ridding his feet of his boots.

He felt as if he literally drug his feet along the wooden floor on the way to their bedroom, desperately wanting to glance into the nursery to check on his children, but forced himself not to out of fear that he would not see them, only hurting his heart even more. Slowly opening the door to their bedroom, he sighed heavily in relief to see Kiera laying on his side of the bed, her arms lazily draped around his favorite pillow as if she was once inhaling his scent before she had eventually fallen asleep, her phone next to her body on the bed as if she were once waiting for him to reach out to her.

Slowly walking around their bed, he slowly lowered himself onto her side of the bed, laying on his side and hesitating before he gently grasped her hip, pulling her towards him while his other arm cradled her head, eventually her head settling into the crook of his arm, relieved that she decided to not only stay, but nestle against him as if nothing ever happened. "Simon?"

"I'm here, love."

"What did you do?"

He sighed deeply, subtly pulling her closer towards him, noting how her body seemed to relax against him, knowing she couldn't have faked that if she tried. "We went into town, rolled him up for a little talk..."

"And?"

"Took him to a cliffside to make him tell us what his plans were."

"What did he end up telling you?"

"He's planning on increasing the property tax to price people out... Including us."

"By how much?"

"Our ranch is estimated at 8 million a year in just land taxes alone. I know we couldn't afford that if it even happened, but when he said that you only had two choices and it was either sell it or lose it, I couldn't keep asking him questions."

"So then what?"

"You know, love."

"I want to hear you say it."

"We let him hang for a few moments. I was going to leave him there, but Soap told me that Dirk and Frankie hoisted him up and cut him loose. He's probably still wandering around on the Wyoming/Montana border. Where we took him – he won't have any idea where he's at."

"But eventually, he's going to wander back to civilization and cell service—"

"His phone is gone," Simon assured her. "And he won't go to the sheriff because he knows he can't win that claim. It's his word against ours."

"But what if—"

"Kiera," He spoke softly, keeping her close against him. "Please, just trust me."

"I never said I didn't trust you, Simon."