Fake Marriage Box Set

“Be careful.” I reached the bed, pulled the covers back, and kissed her. “See you later.”

***

“You're going to cut your foot off, asshole,” Ryan yelled from behind me. I was a little distracted and probably shouldn't have been swinging an ax at the moment.

“What the hell, man?” Ryan complained. I shrugged and hopped down from the log. My mind was totally on the fact that Emmy was in my bed and I wasn't.

“She’ll be there later.” Ryan pointed toward my half of the house. Ryan was annoyed, and it showed.

“Are you jealous?” I asked him.

“Yes,” he answered honestly. “I always got the women, and even though I sent her here for you, I'm green with envy. She’s amazing. And you guys are disgusting.” He shoved my arm and then laughed. I raised my eyebrows at him.

“You sent her here for me?”

“Of course I am going to take all the credit. I am the best at getting girls and apparently getting them for you as well. Glad you took this one though. I've been trying to get you one for years.” He laughed. I laughed too.

“She's pretty great, I'll admit that. Thanks.”

“Don't get all sappy on me, but your first child should be named Ryan.”

“Noted.” We walked around the front of the house, our workout forgotten, and headed into town to get some work done at the lumber mill.

Emmy was on her way out to the woods when we got back about one.

“You finally get up, lazy butt?” Ryan teased her.

“Yeah, figured I would get some work done!”

“I'll cook tonight.” I pulled her against me and kissed her quickly before letting her go.

“I'll be back in a couple of hours.” She pulled her bag over her shoulder and walked out toward the woods. Ryan and I went about moving wood around in the shop to make room for the table I needed to make for someone in town. He helped me sand most of it and get it to a point where I could stain and seal it.

“What time is it? I'm starving.” I looked up at the old Budweiser clock that hung in the shop, and it showed it was after seven. My first thought was I needed to get dinner started and my next was why hadn't Emmy popped in when she came back from the woods. We cleaned up and closed up the shop, dragging chairs out into the yard so we could sit around the fire barrel after dinner.

“Emmy?” I called into her house. She didn't answer, so I walked in and looked around. I didn't see her, so I went upstairs. She wasn't in the house, and I started to panic. I yelled for Ryan, and I skidded out of the back door.

“She never came back,” I shouted and ran for my house. I grabbed my shotgun and started toward the woods. Ryan was hot on my heels as we ran through the woods yelling for her as we went. I felt like we ran a hundred miles, but soon enough we popped into the meadow. She wasn't there. I looked in all directions trying to find something of hers, anything.

“I'm going out toward the creek. My phone is in my pocket. Let me know as soon as you find her, or I'll call you,” Ryan said and took off running, his twenty-two in hand. My heart was racing when I tried her number again. It went straight to voicemail.

“Fuck!” I shouted then went the opposite direction of Ryan. I was running and yelling, looking for anything that would give me a clue as to where she might be. My phone dinged, and I immediately pulled it from my pocket.

Called dad, they are on their way.

Ryan

I tried to stay on the path, but I knew Emmy would probably wander off looking for samples. I continued to run east, yelling for her between breaths. I could barely hear Ryan, but he was yelling too.

I turned and started backtracking. She wouldn't have wandered this far, at least I hoped she hadn't. She was more than likely closer to the creek; that's where she’d told me the trees were that had this disease. I turned and started to run a northward circle toward Ryan. the trees were all starting to look alike as I ran, but I knew what direction I needed to go. I ran straight back into the meadow from a different direction, turned, and kept running toward the direction Ryan had gone. I stopped and put my hands on my knees, taking a minute to catch my breath. My adrenaline was pumping, but that wouldn't last long. I heard Ryan yell, and I yelled back, letting him know I was close so he didn't shoot me by accident; loud crashing in the woods usually meant something big was coming at you.

Dad’s here

Heading toward pasture and across the highway

Ryan

I looked at the screen and then shoved the phone back in my pocket. I knew the whole town would be here within the hour if we hadn't found her.