A pile of ashes was all that was left of my home after the fire. It burned completely to the ground, all twenty-five hundred square feet of it. Looking at that fiery pit was like staring an angry bull in the face. It scared the shit out of me all the same.

The air was cool and still thick with the smell of charred wood. Just off the south end of the property where the woods were heavy, I could hear the sound of the wind howling through the trees. It used to be a sound that settled me. It used to give me that comforting feeling of home.

Not anymore.

The sound was eerie, almost empty. It gave me a troubling feeling, deep in the pit of my stomach. I felt lost in the one place that I shouldn’t have.

I rolled my neck and craned it upwards, letting out a deep breath. I wondered why it happened. Why there was nothing left? It felt unreal, like I was in the middle of some crazy dream or nightmare that I couldn’t wake from.

A sickening sensation washed over me and wouldn’t go away. We lost everything inside the house. All the pictures, the furniture, and even our clothes - it was all gone in the blink of an eye. Not a single trace of my life in that house remained.

I tried telling myself that everything that burnt up in that house, they were just things, just objects that could be replaced. But I knew I was just lying to myself. Feelings were irreplaceable and so were photographs.

We were lucky to be alive. I knew that.

If we hadn’t gone to town that morning, we could’ve burnt up too. All that was left were some scorched memories and one half-burnt pile of bricks that used to be our fireplace.

After the fire, Momma and Pa had gone to live with my Aunt and Uncle until our house could be rebuilt. It just wasn’t a good idea for them to stay since they’d be forced to stay in a hotel. There was no way they could do that. Not with Dad sick, and Mom unable to see and slowly getting worse herself. It bothered me a great deal, angered me even, that I couldn’t take care of them the way I had been. Just the thought of all the time that it would take to get them back made me feel even more helpless and upset. It could be months or even a year. They were more than an hour away without me, and too sick to care for themselves. It was killing me not having them home.

Despite all of the heart-wrenching havoc, there was one bright side to all of the turmoil.

She was about five-foot-three inches tall with long dark hair, and deep brown eyes. She was the prettiest thing this side of Texas, and she was willing to let us start over. She was the light in all of this darkness that I couldn’t seem to wrap my head around.

Paislee Cooper.

I’d had my sights set on her since the first moment I saw her. I still remember the way she looked at me when I came down the steps in my house the night of Fox’s party. She had these big brown doe eyes that would stop you in your tracks. I remember wishing that she’d look at me the same way she looked at Josh.

And when she finally did…

My heart belonged to her.

We had a few bumps along the way, but we were good now.

Under unwanted circumstances and gloomy skies, she was the brightest light I’d ever seen. I was probably bat shit crazy for falling for someone so fast, but I just couldn’t help it. I wanted her so desperately that I was willing to stand in the rain whenever she wanted. She need only ask.

And boy did that girl love the rain.

I smiled just thinking about her dancing around in it, like it was the greatest thing in the world. The way it fell onto her face and rolled down her skin. Now that would make a man jealous.

You heard right. I was jealous of the rain.

Trust me. It was a sight to see.

She consumed my thoughts most days, but so did my parents. I needed to get them home.

Kicking up the dirt under my boots, I contemplated my next move. With only eight weeks left in this semester at UTN, I had a lot on my plate. Once the insurance claim settled I’d have to start construction on the house. I had weeks to prepare for the rodeo. I had schoolwork and I somehow had to manage to pass my classes. It was going to take a miracle to get things done and besides that, I wanted to be with Paislee every chance I got.

She was important to me. I couldn’t screw things up and lose my shot with her. My heart couldn’t take it. I was only hanging on by a thread.

Come hell or high water, I was going to figure it all out.

I had to.

Break time was over, and the sun was starting to rise up over the horizon. I’d been shoveling ashes since three a.m. using only the headlights from the jeep. The morning sunlight was just what the doctor ordered if I actually wanted to get some real work done.

I started the Jeep to give my battery a little break, and cranked up the radio. I had three hours to make some progress before I needed to feed the horses and get to class.

You’re only given what you can handle right?

Too bad there weren’t two of me.

Could you imagine?

Two of me was probably a bad idea.

Come to think of it… It was a very bad idea.

The sudden vibration of my phone in my pocket scared the shit out of me. Who the hell would be calling so early? None of my friends would be up at this time, unless they had to be.

Garrett’s name popped up on my screen. That was odd. I hit answer quickly before he hung up.

“Hey. What’s up?” I answered.

“Hey, Tex. Just checking in,” was his response, though his speech was all over the place. He was breathing heavily, and his words were slurred. Must’ve been a good night.

“Are you still drunk?”

“Nah,” he replied. “Just tired. That’s all.”

“How much sleep did you get? You do know it’s five in the morning, right?”

He laughed. “I haven’t been to bed yet. I’m heading there now. Fox had a big end of spring break party, and I celebrated.”

Like he needed a reason to celebrate. “So I take it you’re not ready to work?” Not that I’d ever get Garrett to stop drinking long enough to help. He always had my back, but physical labor wasn’t even in his vocabulary.

“Rain check.”

All I could do was shake my head. His heart was in the right place. “Call me when you’re sober, man.”

“Sure thing, buuuudy,” he slurred.

There was a loud thud, which I assumed was his big ass hitting the mattress. He’d be out for a good ten hours and useless as hell to me. “Goodnight, G,” I whispered into the phone before hanging it up.

The boy was sloshed more than he was sober. It was his way of coping with everyday life. If he had too much going on at school or too much pressure with his parents, he’d just drink those problems away. It seemed to help. I’d never met a more loveable drunk in my life.

Me, I couldn’t function if I drank that much. There were always too many important things going on which left little time to drown myself in a booze fest. Don’t get me wrong. The thought of having one night to party all my cares away sounded amazing, but it was never going to happen. Priorities.

Sometimes I worried about Garrett. I worried that he’d get carried away or that he’d take it too far. He was my cousin and one of my best friends, but the last thing I needed was to add “babysit Garrett” to my long list of things to do.

Maybe if I put his ass to work, it wouldn’t be so bad.

The thought of Garrett doing manual labor was pretty damn funny, and pretty damn smart.

I sent him a quick text telling him to rest up because we had work that needed to be done. That would teach him. If I could get him to show up sober.

While I was at it I texted Paislee too. Told her good morning, and that I’d see her later in class. I couldn’t wait.

I shouldn’t wish the hours away, since I needed every single one that I could get, but there was a beautiful girl that I needed to see.