When I roll over and feel the cool sheets, I blink a few times, trying to clear the sleep out of my eyes. I reach out farther, thinking she’s just rolled away, but when the spot where she slept is cold, I jolt up.

“Blair?” I say into the dark before turning on the bedside lamp. The room is illuminated, but she’s not in it.

I jump up, and rush to the bathroom to make sure she didn’t get sick or something. She’s not in there, and I stop thinking about where she might be. A thought hits me, and I go to the closet. When I see the empty space where I put her boots earlier, my suspicion is confirmed.

“Damn it, Cricket,” I mutter, pulling on my jeans and boots as fast as I can. I don’t bother with a shirt as I run out of the bedroom and down the stairs. When I get to the bottom, I hear the sound of thunder and I stop. “Shit, not now,” I growl, knowing how much she hates storms. How scared is she if she’s out there all alone in the dark?

Grabbing a coat, I run outside just as the rain starts to come down. I look around for the Gator and see it’s gone. I left the keys in it, so she must have taken it to the barn. My smart girl. I’ll have to be more careful. I should have known better than to leave it there. I’m not worried—it doesn’t have much gas in it to get very far—but it gives her a nice head start.

Another summer storm has rolled in quick, and it’s gone from a cool, quiet night to a torrential downpour in a matter of seconds. That’s one thing about the south you can always bet on. Summer showers pop up out of nowhere. They’re strong and can do a lot of damage in only a little bit of time.

I race around to the garage and climb in my Jeep. I crank it up and hit the gas as I take off to the barn. I can barely see a foot in front of me as the storm pours water on me by the gallon. I don’t have a top on the Jeep, so it’s really no use in weather like this. My heart pounds as I keep looking around, trying to spot her. My fear for her safety grows by the second. My girl hates storms and I’d scared her right out into one.

By the time I get to the barn, the worst of the storm is coming down. I put the Jeep in park and run past the Gator to the stall to see if Diamond is in her bed. When I see her gate open, I curse and run back out to the Jeep. I don’t know how I’m going to locate her in this mess, but I’ll do it. I have to find her.

My heart starts to pound and the thought of something happening to Blair floods my mind. I can’t think like that right now. There’s only one thing I can focus on, and that’s finding my Cricket.

I drive towards the orchard, thinking that’s the only way she would have known to go. It’s not in the direction of anything other than more land for about a hundred miles.

“What were you thinking?” I say to myself and hit the steering wheel. I should have talked to her more. Should have explained why I was trying to keep her safe. I should have explained how I’ve fallen for her and that I don’t want to let her go because I need her.

Just then I see movement up ahead. My chest tightens as I see Diamond crouching under a tree, but Blair isn’t with her. I throw the Jeep in park and then run over to Diamond to see if there’s any sign of Blair. I shout her name into the night, but the rain is so deafening, there’s no way she could hear me even if she was close.

“Where is she, girl?” I ask Diamond, hoping for some sort of sign. I curse myself that I didn’t bring my phone so I could track her necklace. I’d been in too much of a panic to think straight.

She lowers her head and stomps her foot like she’s trying to tell me something. She shakes her mane and stomps again, and I look to see where she’s pointing her head.

“The creek?” I say, and then I feel overwhelming terror when I realize what she’s trying to tell me. I take off running, hoping I’m not too late.

This farm was built on small hills for natural irrigation. The runoff flows down to the creek and out to the bigger river on the outskirts of the county. That way, when big storms like this roll up, the crops don’t get washed out. But the creek can turn dangerous in seconds because of the force of the water. When a thousand acres flood and it all runs down at the same time to the same place, it might as well be a tidal wave for what it can do.

My lungs are burning and my legs ache as I run as fast as I can down the muddy slope to where I took Blair earlier today. It’s still almost impossible to see, but there’s a break in the storm as lightning sparks in the sky and I can see all the way down to the creek bed.

“Blair!” I shout as I spot her holding on to the fence post we tied the horses to this morning.

The creek has already flooded to the point where just the top of the fence post sticks up, and it’s getting higher and higher.

“Hold on, I’m coming for you!” I look around to find something to tie off to when I see Diamond behind me. “Good girl, good girl,” I say, as she stands still in the storm and lets me take her bridle off her head. My hands are shaking as I unbuckle it and tie it around my waist.

“Hold on, Blair!” I shout as I wade through the mud and water rushing past me.

It feels like it takes hours as each step brings me closer to her. But I won’t give up. I would lay down my life for her, but today is not that day.

“I’ve got you,” I finally say, when my hands reach out and grab her. “Hold on to me, Cricket!” I shout over the rain as her limp body tries to cling to me.

She’s all out of strength, and I use the bridal around my waist to tie the two of us together. “I don’t let anything happen to you. I’ve got you, it’s going to be okay.” I say it to her, but I’m saying it to myself, too. I’m reassuring both of us that she’s going to be all right.

My feet are heavy in the mud and the water is up to my waist as I trudge out of the creek. But when I finally make it out, I see lights coming towards us.

“Ryker!’ I hear Johnny’s voice and see a couple of the farmhands behind him. “Oh god, Blair, is she okay? What happened?”

“She got stuck in the flood. Call the doctor,” I say, carrying Blair to the Jeep. “And Diamond got out,” I say, nodding towards the horse that walked back up the hill and under a tree.

“I’ll take care of her and then come up to the house,” he says, opening the door for me so I can climb in.

He takes out his walkie-talkie and tells Lily to call the doctor. The other guys take care of Diamond as I grab the coat on the seat next to me and cover Blair up with it in my lap. After that I hit the gas and head for the house.

She stirs in my arms, and I thank god with every breath in me that she’s alive.

“You’re okay, Cricket. You’re safe.”

Her head leans back and she looks up at me. “You saved me,” she croaks out.

“Shhh. Don’t talk right now. Save your strength. We’ll get you home and the doctor can look at you. Then you can have a nice hot bath.”

I kiss the top of her head and pray that she didn’t do major damage to herself. I didn’t see any broken bones right away, but that doesn’t mean anything. When I think about the fact that I could have kept on sleeping, or not gotten there in time, a lump forms in my throat.

“You can’t do that again, Blair. Please, Cricket. Don’t ever do that to me again,” I say, pulling her tight in my arms.

“I promise,” she says softly.

I can just make out the words as the rain begins to slow and we reach the house.