Page 63 of Refurbished

“I swear to god I will call the police and have you removed as a trespasser.”

“What? Why? Babe—“

“Don’t you fucking dare. I said leave.” I wasn’t sure what to do, but obviously, being here wasn’t helping. Calling Ramsey, we got in the car and went to my mom’s house. I didn’t even know when I started referring to it that way, but for the last several months, the Sanctuary had been my home. Now I was being told to leave, and I had no idea why.

“Mom,” I called as I opened the front door.

“Angus? Eion? What are you guys doing here?” She looked behind me for my boyfriend.

“He’s not here, Mom. I am not sure what happened, but he threatened me with the police if I didn’t go.”

“What in the world?”

“I don’t know.” Then she opened her arms, and I went to my mom. This couldn’t be happening. We moved to the couch, where I curled up in the corner and sat quietly. My mom didn’t try to talk. She sat there next to me with a hand on my knee, patting it every so often.

“I don’t know why he is so mad.” I kept saying the same thing. I went through the entire night wondering when something had happened. Did Tyler tell him something? I only had a few hookups over the last few years. Was one of them claiming something more? The way he had yelled at me was a pain I had never experienced before. It wouldn’t be a surprise if I looked down and my heart had literally been torn from me. As soon as the clock hit 5:00 a.m., my mom gave me coffee. Eion was everything to me, and I was willing to do whatever was necessary to fix this. I had a huge surprise for him on Friday, and I had been so excited about it. Now I was terrified that I had lost him.

After I finished my first cup, I felt a tiny bit more alive. I hadn’t slept, but it didn’t matter. Mom armed me with a thermos of coffee and a Danish.

“You go get your man.”

“I will. Mom, I can’t live without him.”

She hugged me tight. “You’ll figure it out, son. It might take a minute, but you will.”

When I pulled up to the Sanctuary, my stomach swooped. I would get the chance to talk to Eion, figure out what happened, and set everything straight. Zach was scheduled to feed this morning, so I doubted I needed to help. As I entered the main pathways, I saw someone with the alpaca and didn’t need to ask who it was. I went to the fifth wheel and hoped Eion had slept in since someone was already set to feed. We were supposed to be together this morning, having a late breakfast of waffles and bacon. When I opened the door, there were two boxes a few steps inside. On top of the box was a check for $80,000.

This is your shit. Get it out. There is a check for the fifth wheel. I don’t want Zach to lose his home.

That was it. I flipped the note over, hoping there was something more on the back, some sort of specifics. There was nothing more, which meant I still didn’t know what had happened. I wasn’t going to walk away from the Sanctuary, or from him. I left the boxes and the check where I found them and headed toward the buildings.

“Get off my property,” came over the speakers.

“No.” I walked toward the nursery where I could talk to North and South. It also meant I didn’t hear anything else Eion had to say. If he wanted to yell at me, he had to come and find me. Plus, he wasn’t going to keep me from my boys.

I could hear the stomping through gravel before he got to the doorway. “I said, get off my property.”

“And I said no,” I growled back. Then I took a deep breath and quieted my voice. “Eion, I love you. What is going on?”

“You lie. You are lying to me.”

My heart stopped. “What?”

“You know damn well what I am saying is true. Now get your shit and leave.” His voice cracked.

“Eion, are you saying you don’t care anymore? You no longer love me? I’m not worth a conversation.” I looked at him. I was broken, and I wasn’t ready to accept that this was real.

“I’ll arrange to make an appropriate enclosure at your house for North and South. Now get out.” He walked away.

Holding the boys, I stood up and followed him. “Eion.”

“Don’t. Please, leave.” He continued toward the barn, and I watched him go. I was really at a loss on how to handle this situation. At least I knew he thought I was lying about something, but I genuinely had no idea what it would be. I walked back to the nursery; my chest hurt, and it was hard to breathe. I would fix this somehow because I was in love with him, and I didn’t miss that he never answered my questions. He couldn’t tell me that he didn’t love me, which meant there was a sliver of hope. I sat there for a long time and petted the boys.

“I’ll fix it, guys, I promise.” I put them away and headed back to my vehicle. It was strange to be off for the rest of the day with nothing to do. For the last few months, all my free time was spent with Eion. Right now, I was hurting, and I was giving serious thought to going to the liquor store, but nothing good would come of that, plus it was barely 6:00 a.m., so I did the next best thing.

ANGUS

I’m on my way over.