Page 3 of Summer Redemption

One of the only times I would pull myself away from studying was to cook with her or to eat dinner with my family, small as it is considering I’m an only child. No matter how many times I tried to bring a little home into my life while I was away through cooking, it was never the same.

After putting the first bite of mashed potatoes in my mouth, I can’t help the groan of approval that escapes my lips. Mom looks pleased as punch as she does a little happy dance in her seat.

“I know you cooked for yourself, Sunshine. It would have been such a waste of money always eating out,” Momadmonishes me even though it doesn’t have much heat and the smile on her face tells a completely different story.

“I did,” I confirm, “but I swear you do something special because my cooking never tasted this good.”

“Why do you think I married her?” Dad teases and winks at Mom which has her blushing and giggling.

Even after being together for years, the love they have is as strong today as it was when they met. To hear Dad tell it, all it took was one look and he fell in love with her. Mom wasn’t convinced, but he kept showing up and got her to fall in love with him.

One night, before I went to college, Mom leaned close to me, her voice low, “You should know that I fell for your father the moment I saw him too.”

My eyes were wide as I asked, “What? Then why does he think that he had to get you to fall in love with him?”

“I was scared,” she admitted and looked away. “I was scared it wasn’t real, and he was just sweet talking me. I wouldn’t have been able to handle that kind of truth coming out later, so I pretended.”

“Why are you telling me this?” I hissed the question and looked around like I was in the middle of a spy movie.

“I don’t know,” she mused, a funny look on her face. “I just feel like you should know. Maybe then it will be easier for you to accept your feelings if you ever find yourself a similar situation. Your father and I have been so happy for all these years. I’ve never doubted his love for me. Life hasn’t been perfect, but I don’t need it to be. I just need it to be real, and it has been. Maybe you can be braver than I was.”

The only thing I could do was hug my mom in that moment and take her words with me. Which I have.

I didn’t get the feeling of falling she talked about, but I did date a little bit here and there. I still had school to focus on, but I got a little better at balance. Not great, but better. I never fell in love, but I met people who added to my life and didn’t leave scars behind.

“Did you go and visit Nora and Wilber before coming home?” Mom’s teasing question pulls me out of my thoughts, and I blink a few times as I focus on her.

“Of course,” I chirp and giggle. “It was good to see them. I’m going to start work on Monday.”

“Hopefully he’ll put you on home visits,” Dad muses. “He’s getting too old to be called out for foals and calves being born.”

The moment he mentions foals, I freeze, and it feels like I can’t breathe. Neither of my parents seem to notice, as they commiserate over how Wilber shouldn’t be making home visits for large animals like he has for years. They’re right, but the thought of being the one to do that makes me want to scream.

I try and shake it off and convince myself that I’ll be okay when mom mentions, “Huxley has been taking such good care of the horses out at Limitless, especially now that they’ve added the equine therapy program.”

Fuck.Huxley Burns.

My gut sinks with the knowledge that I won’t be able to avoid him for as long as I was planning to. The rest of my life was what I was hoping for. I don’t believe he’s grown up all that much, which means I’m going to have to ignore his antics,be professional, and hope I don’t throat punch him when he’s practically begging for it.

Hopefully, I’ve changed enough in the last eight years that seeing him again won’t matter.

CHAPTER 2

HUXLEY

“You’re next,” Noel’s voice holds more than a simple warning in it.

I grimace and shake my head. There’s no way that they’re putting this shit on me. No fucking way.

“Just because the two of you,” I motion between my brothers, Noel and Fletcher, “have given your balls to your women doesn’t mean I’m next.” I screw up my face in disgust and ask, “Why would you even try and put that in my head?”

Fletcher’s laugh is deep with a hint of madness which I’ve come to expect from my oldest brother. He’s obsessed with his woman, Eden. They were high school sweethearts, but I don’t remember a lot about that time. I was only 11 when they graduated from high school. Then Eden went off to college which ended up being the beginning of the end of their relationship.

I might not remember Eden and Fletcher together, but I do remember how Fletcher changed. I didn’t know it was because they had broken up at first, but I figured it out. He became a man who wore his heartbreak like armor.

Since I was too young to know what to do or how to help, I started doing almost anything to make Fletcher laugh. It became a by-any-means-necessary kind of mission. Noel wasn’t there since he had enlisted, which meant, on the brother front, I was on my own.

As much as I love my brother, watching him change so much didn’t make me excited about falling in love. I couldn’t understand what Fletcher had to show for it other than bitterness and a scowl that wouldn’t quit.

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