This was happening! In addition to her other temporary occupations, she’d become a donkey nanny!
“Libby, Erasmus,” Bob called.
“Yes?” they answered as another bout of thunder rumbled.
The man sniffed the air. “I’d suggest you get that walk in sooner rather than later.”
“Absolutely,” Maud added, sliding into the pickup. “The walk is essential in building the human donkey bond. You’ve got to do it now.”
“I hope the universe brings us together soon, Libby,” Doug said with a tip of his hat, then tossed a wary look at the still scowling Sebastian before settling into the truck next to Maud.
The skies darkened to a ripe purplish-blue, and Wobbly Bob waved goodbye as he circled around and maneuvered the truck and trailer down the road.
“I don’t like that Zen Dougie. He’s a knob-headed plonker,” Sebastian remarked.
Libby gasped. “I don’t know what a knob-headed plonker is, but it sounds awfully bad. I’m sure your granny Fin wouldn’t approve, and you shouldn’t say that about anyone.”
Sebastian puckered his mouth like he’d been sucking on lemons.
“Libby’s right, lad,” Raz said, but there was still a hint of maddening arrogance in his tone. “You were slightly off. That Zen Dougie bloke is a right knob-headed mug of a plonker-loving twatwaffle.”
“Erasmus!” she exclaimed.
“Fine, you can call him a blooming wanker, son. Blooming wanker is the gentler version of knob-headed mug of a plonker-loving twatwaffle.”
“Erasmus Cress,” she called again, her jaw hitting the ground.
“Is that okay, Mibby? Can we call Zen Dougie a blooming wanker?” Sebastian asked earnestly, again beaming at his father.
She glared at the pair of British beasts, but she couldn’t stay mad. Of course, she’d wanted them to bond—just not over slang she could barely decipher.
“How about this? You can think it, but try not to say it,” she offered, trying to find the middle ground.
“Zen Dougie is a blooming wanker. I quite like it,” the boy whispered. “Oops, I said it. It’s hard to just think it because the guy is the biggest wanker on the planet.”
“Do your best to say it softly if you can’t keep the sentiment in your head,” she conceded as one giant raindrop, then another landed on her arm. She glanced at the ominous sky. Were they supposed to walk in the rain?
She was about to pose the question to Raz when the sky exploded. Rain pummeled the land. Sebastian ran to her side, and she wrapped her arm around his shoulder.
Wow, the wild weather blew in fast!
Lightning pierced the air as not one, but two flashing bolts seared the sky and met in a furious crash not twenty feet from them. The donkeys let out a cascade of shrieks and calls before charging down the trail.
“No! Stop, Plum! Stop, Beefcake! Don’t run off,” Sebastian cried as the animals disappeared into the foliage.
“Raz,” she called, swiping the pouring rain from her cheeks as she held Sebastian back from chasing after the animals. The man looked as if he’d seen a ghost. “Erasmus Cress,” she called, and he slowly turned his head.
What was wrong with him?
This was no time for the man to zone out. All she could picture were wet trails and the steep drops Maud had mentioned—steep drops that could surely prove treacherous for two out-of-control animals.
She waved her hands. “Snap out of it, you infuriating slice of British beefcake! We have to save the donkeys.”
Seventeen
Erasmus
He stared at Libby. Her mouth was moving. Her arms were flailing, but between the pound of the rain, the rolling thunder, and the crack of lightning, he couldn’t move. He could barely breathe. It was as if he existed in two places at once.
Lightning had struck twice—twice—just like the day he’d met Meredith.
And just like that time, he knew his life would never be the same.
Two bolts.
Two blasts of bright white followed by a glimmer of violet-blue haze. It couldn’t have lasted more than a fraction of a second. But he’d witnessed the dueling lines of light fuse together as they struck—not a London lamppost—but a large rock upon a mountainside in Colorado. He inhaled, then exhaled, living in slow-motion.
Raindrops fell in lazy streams as a vibrant indigo mist shimmered across the landscape. He closed his eyes, but the colors remained, brilliant and searing, beautifully punishing while astoundingly liberating.
“Mere?” he rasped, barely forming the syllable when he opened his eyes to find Libby waving her hands in front of him.
“Raz, can you hear me?” she cried.
He stared at her. Shit! He had to get it together. This was an emergency.
“Blimey, are you three okay?” Augie called as he and Luanne jogged toward them.
“We saw the strikes from the house,” Luanne chimed, shielding the rain from her face.
“The donkeys! They got scared and ran. We have to get them back,” Sebastian sobbed as another violent cluster of thunder and lightning played out in the sky.
Raz turned to his trainer. “Can you bring Sebastian inside? I’ll go after the animals.”
“I’m coming with you,” Libby said, determination coating the words.
“I’m the fastest. You’ll slow me down. Stay at the house. It’ll be safer for you there,” he said, unable to look her in the eye.
“No, you’re not going alone,” she replied sternly, leaving no room for him to protest, then kneeled in front of Sebastian. “It’ll be okay. Your dad and I will find the donkeys and bring them home. Go inside with Augie and Luanne. Dry off, and then you have an important job to do.”
“I do?” the boy asked and sniffled.
She nodded. “After the thunder and lightning pass, check the barn and make sure everything is ready for Beefcake and Plum. You won’t have to wait long. Summer storms in Colorado rumble in and are gone before you know it. I’m sure the donkeys will be grateful for a dry, comfortable place to relax after their adventure.”
The lad swiped his tears away and lifted his little chin. “Yeah, I can get the barn ready for Plum and Beefcake. You can count on me, Mibby.”
Mibby.
My Libby.
That word was a salve to his battered heart and sucker punch to his gut all at once.
“Do you have the aquamarine stone with you?” she asked.
“Right here,” Sebastian answered, pulling it from his pocket.
“Rub it with your thumb and think positive thoughts. The donkeys will be safe and happy. We’ll manifest our best destiny to make it happen.”
Manifest their best destiny? What the bloody hell did that mean?
But it worked. Sebastian brightened.
“Okay,” he answered as the pound of the rain intensified. “I’m sending love and light to the donkeys.”
Augie patted Sebastian’s shoulder. “Come on, now, lad. Let’s get back to the house.”
“You’ll bring the donkeys back, right, Dad?” Sebastian asked with such trust in his tone.
“We’ll find them. Mind Augie and Luanne. Off you go,” he said, holding his son’s blue-green gaze.