Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44134 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44134 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
He holds me close and rubs my back in a soft, soothing circle until I’ve cried out all of my tears. When I lift my head, I see the tear tracks on his face. I can’t imagine what he’s been through, and I have a million questions. But there’s only one I can think of right this moment.
“Does Aunt Elaine know? Has she seen you?”
“I told Ridge to bring me to you first.” He pauses then glares at Bronco. “This is not what I meant when I made you promise to look out for her.”
His words hit me square in the chest with unexpected force. Beneath my ribcage, my heart cracks open. Bronco promised to look out for me. I was dumped on him the same way I was dumped on Aunt Elaine’s doorstep.
None of this is real. He hasn’t really wanted me. I’ve only been a responsibility to him. And I’ve been too desperate and lonely and lovesick to see that. Shame coils deep in my gut. How could this be? How did I not see it? Was I really that foolish?
I glance at Bronco. My eyes tear up, but I refuse to let them fall. “You promised him years ago to look after me, didn’t you?”
“If you think for one second that what we have is about some pact I made with your brother—”
I turn to Vale. “Let’s go find Aunt Elaine.” I’m proud that my voice doesn’t shake or give away the amount of pain I’m in.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Bronco insists.
I shake my head and walk toward the truck I saw Vale get out of. Ridge is leaning against it, watching the whole scene unfold.
Vale stays behind for a minute. I’m not sure what he and Bronco say to each other. There’s no grand shouting. There’s no punches thrown. There’s only the quiet disintegration of a friendship that’s been around for years.
“I thought this would be a happier reunion,” Ridge says.
I give him a tight smile. “It’s complicated.”
He nods like he understands, but I know he doesn’t. Instead, he just gets in the front seat and says, “Where to?”
When we arrive at the retirement community, I wake up Aunt Elaine. Her hands shake when she sees Vale. Then she flaps her arms the way she does when a big spider has scared her. She keeps hugging him and murmuring how this can’t be true and how it’s the best day of her life. Then I’m hugging my brother again and crying some more. I can’t believe Vale is finally home.
He sleeps in my apartment that night. I tried to get him to take the bed or even the couch, but he insisted on sleeping on the floor. He didn’t tell me what he’s been through or what he’s seen. He only told me that beds feel weird now as he curled up on the floor with a rolled-up blanket under his head. He’s snoring within minutes, while I’m left staring down at his sleeping form and wondering what the future holds for us now.
I listen to his even breaths, but I can’t find sleep for myself. My heart feels too broken and too sad. Bronco keeps calling my phone, but he hasn’t left a single message. It’s just as well. I don’t think I could listen to them without breaking down.
But Bronco is here the next morning when I open my apartment door. Vale is already gone, having left me alone.
“We need to talk,” Bronco says as soon as he sees me.
I gesture for him to enter the apartment. I don’t want an audience for this particular conversation. How is it that just yesterday morning I was waking up in his arms and feeling so happy?
He steps inside, crosses his arms over his broad chest, and glares at me. He looks like he didn’t get any more sleep than I did, but the difference is he still looks amazing despite the sleepless night.
“It’s okay,” I tell him as soon as he’s inside. “You don’t owe me any explanations. I understand exactly what happened. I’m his kid sister, and you got stuck with me. A responsibility you never wanted or asked for.”
He rakes his hand through his hair and steps close to me, invading my space and reminding me of that night I spent being held. “It’s not like that.”
I force myself to smile and let him off the hook. It’s not his fault I got my stupid heart broken. “I know you’re trying to spare my feelings. But it’s okay. I’m a big girl. I understand what you had to do.”
He stares at me for a long moment, hurt that I don’t even understand etched onto his features. “Do you have any idea how much it hurts me that you won’t let me love you?”
“Bronco…”
He puts his hand on my face, cupping my cheek, his thumb caressing my lip. “Don’t say anything. I love you. And if you don’t work through what’s going on in your head, then just know that I’m going to ache for you, for us, and everything that we could have been, for the rest of my life.”