Emma turned the car onto Ashley's street, and the headlights caught the horse before they caught anything else.
"What the actual hell."
Ashley was already leaning so far forward in the passenger seat that her seatbelt might as well have been decorative. Both hands slammed flat against the dashboard as the car slowed. The scene in front of her house slowly came into focus, and her heart did its best to leap straight out of her chest.
Her mother stood barefoot on the front path, arms loosely folded, still wearing the same silk blouse and navy lounge pants from earlier. Beside her — tall, calm, and unfairly composed with his hands clasped behind his back like he owned the entire night — stood Eros.
Ashley's chest tightened so hard she almost forgot how to breathe.
Her eyes filled with tears before her brain could file the proper paperwork.
