The sunlight peering in through the window causes my eyes to squint against the brightness. Throwing an arm over my face, I grunt through the aches radiating through my forehead. Even my body is sore from moving my arm. What the hell did I do last night?
“If you’re still planning on heading to Arbor Creek, you may want to wake your ass up.” Graham yells before the pillow hits me in the face.
Grumbling, I chuck it back at him not bothering to pay attention to where I’m throwing it.
Rubbing the sleep away from my eyes, I peek an eye open but immediately squeeze them shut. The sunlight is blinding and it causes a sharp pain to shoot through my pounding head once again.
“What the fuck time is it?” I groan.
“It’s after eleven. I thought you were going to leave an hour ago.”
Shit! I was planning on being out the door and on the road already. I still need to get up and shower. At this rate, I’m not going to make it there until after eight o’clock tonight.
“Damn it. Why didn’t you wake me up?” I grumble rubbing my eyes. My facial hair is longer than normal, but I quite honestly don’t have the fucks to give where that’s concerned.
“Am I your fucking mother now, too?” Graham spits. He’s been giving me crap for the past week and I’ve about had it with his mood.
“No, but you’re my fucking friend. Are you sure you don’t want to come with me? I’m sure your mom would enjoy having you at her house this year.”
I still feel bad for not stopping by to see her when I was in Arbor Creek before we left town.
“Naw, man. I’m planning on staying here. I’m helping Craig get shit ready for New Year’s Eve. Mom is coming into the city tonight after she gets off work. We will spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning together before she heads home on Monday morning.”
“You’re going to have to go back there someday,” I say. Graham will do anything to avoid the topic.
Shaking his head at me, he turns and walks into the kitchen. Opening the fridge, he bends down and pulls out a bottle of water. Unscrewing the cap, he raises it to his mouth and downs half the bottle.
“We’re going to do this now?” he breathes.
“I’m already going to be late, so why the hell not? Spit it out already. You know Gage wouldn’t want you to avoid home like you have been. When are you going to accept his accident wasn’t your fault?”
Picking my cell phone off the coffee table, I check for any missed messages.
“How long has it been since you’ve spoken to Brea?” Graham sneers. Hearing his question, I toss my phone down on the couch cushion. The force behind the throw causes the phone to bounce and fall onto the floor.
“What the fuck does she have to do with this?” I scoff.
“Are you blind? She has everything to do with this. You come back home after your trip and now you two are no longer talking. Don’t tell me avoiding your trip home doesn’t have anything to do with her.”
“Actually, I hate to break it to you but it has nothing to do with her. I was up too late after a night out with Sierra. As much as you may like to think otherwise, I’m over this shit with Brea.”
It’s been three months and I’ve thought about her every single day, but I am not going to tell Graham that. I’m not going to tell my best friend how every day when I’m at school, I look for her. That my eyes survey the crowd of people hoping I may just catch a small glimpse of her. I purposely walk home from school and take the long way, passing by The Coffee House in hopes I’ll see her sitting at one of the tables studying. I don’t mention how whenever I see her, how she quickly averts her eyes and walks away from me, avoiding me altogether. Or how Lissa still gives me shit for what I did but tells me how she’s doing or how I hang onto any piece of information like it’s my lifeline.
I attempted to reach out to her when we got back from Arbor Creek. I knew she was hurt, and I didn’t expect her to pick up. It didn’t stop me from trying.
I tried every day for a week. The last time happened on a night that I had one too many beers. I wasn’t angry, despite how hurt I have been, I could never be angry with her. I knew I needed to find a way to stop. If she wanted to talk to me, she would’ve answered. I just didn’t know how to give it up. So, I did what any reasonable person would do, I threw my phone over the side of our balcony.
Okay, maybe it wasn’t reasonable but it prevented me from contacting her. I told myself it was what I needed to do to give her the space she wanted.
“Sierra, really?!” he jeers, pulling me back to reality.
What he doesn’t know is Sierra is the only person I’ve talked to about Brea. The week after we stopped talking, Sierra could tell something was wrong. I wanted someone to talk to, and despite the fact we have a history, we both know those days were in the past.
“She’s my friend,” I spit, picking up the t-shirt I tossed on the floor last night.
“Yeah, we all know how friendships with women work for you. You really are doing a fan-fucking-tastic job of doing exactly what Brea expected, you know that?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“She tells you she feels like she’s just one of many in the long line of women, how she basically feels like you’re only in this for the physical aspect, and when she stops talking to you, what do you do? You turn around and run to the person she always questioned you having feelings for?”
“Who? Sierra?!”
“You really are blind as hell.” Graham laughs as he shakes his head.
“Do you remember the day in the locker room after she found out Kaleb cheated on her? You made a comment, most likely because you didn’t want to say anything in front of Lissa and I about that night.”
Squinting my eyes at him, I wonder how it is he knows. I never told him I knew they broke up.
I don’t say anything because now I’m curious where this could be going, so instead I nod my head.
“I know you guys hooked up the night at the party.” It takes everything in me to control my reaction. I don’t want to know how he knows, and I also don’t want to know why he never said anything until now.
Or why he’s waiting until now to spill this.
“Okay,” I say, letting it draw out, hoping he’ll get to the fucking point.
“Brea doesn’t open up and trust people like she does you. It’s what drove a wedge between her and Kaleb. Then the night she finds out he was unfaithful, who does she run to? I don’t know how it happened, man. I don’t want to hear it, that shit stays between you two. All I’m saying is I’ve yet to see how you’ve shown her she’s more than some quick lay. That girl is gold, man, pure fucking gold. You’d be a fucking idiot to lose her.”
I don’t say anything to him because as embarrassed as I am to admit it, he’s right. Girls like Brea are hard to find.
Standing, I make my way down the hall leading toward my bedroom. Stopping, I turn around and face Graham, who’s standing there with his arms crossed. I see the hint of pride at his assumption that he just put me in my place.
“You should really take your own advice. Halle isn’t going to wait around for you forever. You’d be a fucking idiot to let her go, too.”
The stone expression he wears regularly is locked back in place. If it wasn’t for the slight twitch in his jaw giving him away, I would think he was unaffected by hearing her name.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” I chuckle, nodding my head before I turn and continue down the hall, effectively ending the conversation.
It was after nine o’clock when I pulled into the drive leading to my parents’ house last night. Knowing tomorrow we would be getting up early to go out and cut down a tree, I opted to head to bed early. After spending seven hours in the car, I wasn’t in the mood to stay up much longer.
Waking up the next morning, I jump in the shower and quickly get ready. Walking out into the kitchen, I am surprised to see Callum and Ellie sitting at the table with my mom and Randy. Ellie is drinking a cup of coffee as Callum and Randy are talking about a job they have coming up.
“Good morning, Princess!” Callum jokes.
I flash my middle finger to him in greeting. “Good morning,” I grumble, shuffling toward the fridge, pulling out the container of orange juice. Opening the cabinet, I take a glass and pour before taking a big drink.
Callum stands up from where he’s seated, approaching me. As much as he is a pain in the ass, it’s great to see my brother.
“Good to see you, bro.” I say, clapping his hand, pulling him in for a hug.
Looking over his shoulder, I see a smiling Ellie standing behind him. “I still don’t know how you got lucky with this one.” I laugh, leaning forward to slide my arms around Ellie’s petite frame.
She looks a lot better since the last time I saw her; the bruises and cuts have long since healed. The smile she wears nearly takes over her face.
“Hi, Ellie,” I whisper in her ear. “It’s good to see you.”
“You, too.”
“I hear the trial wrapped up earlier this week,” I say, looking between Ellie and Callum. The man who attacked Ellie happened to be her mother’s boyfriend. Now that the news is out, I’ve since learned he had sexually abused her when she was younger. Ellie came to Arbor Creek trying to run away from that part of her life, only for him to turn up here and find her after he had been released from prison.
My brother later shared with me the hardest part; Ellie’s mom didn’t believe the abuse had taken place and up and left her when Ellie had him put away the first time.
Ellie nods her head as Callum moves closer to her, slipping his arm around her shoulder drawing her near.
“I’m glad to hear you’ll finally get the peace you were searching for.”
Taking a step back to give them some space. Callum leans down, pressing his mouth against her temple. Her eyes close, as if letting the words and his affection sink in.
When she opens her eyes, I see the tears fill her eyes and she struggles to fight them off.
“I finally know what it feels like to be happy, genuinely happy.” she smiles as a lone tear streams down her face.
Callum doesn’t waste a second before he pulls her into his arms, pressing his chin into her neck.
“Oh, honey,” my mom says, coming up behind us wrapping her arms around Callum and Ellie.
I hear my mom whisper she loves Ellie as she lets out a choked sob. Randy comes up behind us, smacking me on the shoulder.
Turning around, I clap his hand, shaking it. “Good to see you, Randy.”
“It’s good to see ya, too. Glad to have ya home.”
Randy, although he isn’t my biological dad, raised me as if I were. I don’t remember much from my parents’ divorce. I was too young and my mom kept a lot of it from me. What I do remember is from the point I was in elementary school on, having both my father and Randy in my life.
Randy was the one who taught me how to fish and how to ride a horse. He took us camping and made sure we understood the importance of taking care of your family. When I think about the hard life Ellie was handed, I can’t help but be grateful for having someone like Randy step in.
The sound of knocking on the door breaks us all from the seriousness of the moment. Heading to the door, I turn the knob, swinging it open. A cool breeze wafts through the air, hitting me in the face.
“Hi,” Kinsley cheers. Her smile is bright and her nose is red from the cold temperatures. Peering over her shoulder, I see Halle standing behind her with a beanie on her head. The pompom on her head bobbing as her head shakes with her shivers.
“Can we come in?” Halle shouts. Her jaw is clenching as she raises her hands to her mouth blowing warm air.
Stepping out of the way, I nod my head ushering them in. As soon as the door closes, I have two arms around my waist. I would expect nothing less.
“What are you two doing here?” I ask, looking between them.
“What, no ‘glad to see you’. Good grief, did you lose your manners in the big city, too?” Halle retorts with her eyebrow raised.
“It’s great to see you.” I laugh, scooping her up in a hug. The sass she throws my way is what I could expect seeing come from her.
“Yeah, yeah,” she grumbles, slinging her arm around my neck. Kinsley laughs behind me as she chats it up with Ellie.
“We’re just here to pick up Ellie. We’re heading to Everton to do the last of our Christmas shopping,” Kinsley announces. “Are you ready?” she asks Ellie.
Ellie’s face is a little red around her eyes from the tears a moment ago.
“Yeah, give me a minute to freshen up and then I’ll be ready.” Ellie excuses herself to the bathroom as Callum follows along behind her. I want to shout behind him she’s capable of using the bathroom without his assistance, but I know he wants to make sure she’s alright.
“Where’s your girl?” Halle asks, looking around the room for Brea. “She can come with us, too, if she wants.”
Running my hand along my jaw, I look over at my mom who has her eyebrow raised in question. We haven’t talked about the fact I’m here, minus one guest.
“Mason, honey, I was surprised to see you didn’t have Brea with you when you got in last night. Is she in Cleveland with her family?”
The mention of Brea causes a weight to settle in the pit of my stomach. I knew this conversation was coming, but I wasn’t prepared to answer the questions.
“Brea’s not here,” I clarify, looking at Halle. “I haven’t talked to her actually, so I’m not sure what her plans are. I’m sure she’s spending it with her family,” I reply dejectedly, looking at my mother.
I sense her concern as she studies my face.
Callum and Ellie enter the kitchen and I’m glad to see Ellie’s smile is back on her face.
“Alright, I want you to make sure she treats herself to something while you guys are out,” Callum says, looking between Halle and Kinsley. I’m thankful for the change in conversation, steering it away to lighter topics.
“Are you giving us permission to spend your money because, honey, I can promise you that will never be a problem for me,” Kinsley promises as Halle barks out a laugh. Halle walks over and eases her arms around Ellie’s waist.
Callum and I put on our coats and head outside to walk the girls out. As soon as they are backing down the driveway, we head to the stables wanting to check on the horses.
The cold air bitter makes it hard to breathe much less talk. That doesn’t seem to deter Callum though.
“How are things going with you? Where’s Brea?” Callum asks. He wasn’t in the room when she was brought up earlier and I should’ve known he would ask about her, too.
“Honestly, I haven’t talked to her since the last time we were here. Other than that, things aren’t too bad.”
“Just friends, huh?” he asks, picking up on the topic from the last time we were here. I thought we did a decent job of acting like everything was fine, but he has always been good at knowing when something is wrong with me.
“We were never just friends, at least not to me. I guess she saw things differently.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Callum says, looking genuinely sorry. Opening the side door, we enter the stables. It’s heated in here; I rub my hands together, working to add warmth to my skin getting my blood flowing again.
“Yeah, I guess I shouldn’t have expected any different. She deserves better than I could ever give her. What about you and Ellie? How is she taking things now that the trial is over?”
“That girl is a rock, man. Don’t get me wrong, the trial was rough, especially having to go through the testimony and resurface a lot of the memories she’s worked to bury. Thankfully, Dad really helped make sure she was prepared for what to expect,” he says, and I’m so glad to hear that he’s been able to turn to our dad during all of this. Although he’s a defense attorney, he knows what it’s like in the courtroom, and I know it helped ease some of the stress weighing down on them.
“Ever since she heard the verdict, it’s like she’s been able to breathe. He’ll spend the rest of his life in jail. There is the possibility of parole after twenty-five years, but I’ll make it my life’s mission to ensure he will never see the free light of day as long as I’m still walking this earth.”
I hear the relief in his voice. Leaning against the gate, I rub the palm of my hand on Trixie’s nose. She has been my mom’s horse for the past ten years. It’s kind of fitting considering she tends to mother to all the other horses.
As if sensing Callum’s tension, Trixie runs her nose along his forearm asking him to pet her and he does.
“I think I’m going to ask her to marry me,” he says, catching me off guard.
“Really? That’s amazing, man!”
“Yeah, I don’t want to do anything over the top. She’s so low key she’d probably kill me if I did.” He laughs. “I don’t want to wait though either. I was thinking maybe I’ll do it sometime this week like on New Year’s Eve morning, so we can celebrate with everyone when we get up. Maybe we could make a trip to Chicago in a couple of weeks to visit.”
“That’s awesome. Let me know when and I’ll try to get some time off from Velvet. If not, you two can always stop by and see me there.”
“Awesome, we’ll do that. I’m going to surprise her so don’t mention it. I wouldn’t mind taking her to Velvet. I know she’ll be excited to see Brea again.”
“No, uh… Brea actually isn’t working at Velvet anymore. Remember the restaurant I mentioned I was working at during the summer? She’s working there. I guess she really didn’t want to be around me anymore.”
“I’m sorry, man. You know, when Ellie and I first started talking to each other, she kept me at arm’s length for quite a while. She did everything she could to stay away from me, but I was persistent as hell. I knew there was something between us and, for whatever reason, she was determined to stay away. I never gave up though. I knew she was worth it.”
The truth is since I got back to Chicago, I haven’t spoken to Brea once, although it’s killed me. I knew she was worth it though and, if I was going to get her back, I had to prove it to her.