Mitchell groaned as he stood. “Jesus Christ, Amelia. Games? No one likes to play games.”
She shot him a dirty look. “You don’t like to play games, but everyone else does. Come on, Waylynn needs a partner, and we have enough now that Corina and Philip showed up.”
I nearly ran into Mitchell as he came to an abrupt stop. “Who’s Philip?”
Amelia glanced at me and then back to Mitchell. “The guy Corina’s with.”
Oh, hell.
“She’s…she’s dating someone?”
Her eyes darted over to me, then back to Mitchell. “Um, I don’t know, I guess they’ve gone out a few times. I’m not sure how serious it is or anything. They might just be friends.”
Mitchell walked right past Amelia. I stopped next to her, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “I was just telling him if he waited too long with Corina, she was going to move on.”
“Ugh! Why is he being so stubborn? Why can’t men just be open with their feelings? Drives me nuts.”
When she started to head back into the house, I reached for her hand and pulled her back to me. Mitchell was right. I needed to let her in. I owed it to her.
“I’m sorry I’ve been distant. The last few weeks have been hard, and I thought I could handle it on my own.”
Amelia’s lips pressed tightly together. She waited for me to keep going, so I did.
“I keep re-living what happened to me. Sometimes I’m afraid to close my eyes at night. Something as simple as your parents’ pool water falling over the edge of the hot tub can trigger it, and I can’t even begin to tell you what it does to me. I feel like I can’t breathe, and it scares the living shit out of me. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, darlin’. Guess I didn’t want you to think I couldn’t handle things on my own.”
Her mouth fell open. “Wade Adams, this thing we have between us.” She used her finger to point back and forth. “This is a partnership. During the good and the bad. I know you’ve been waking up having nightmares, and I suspected there were some other things you were dealing with, as well. I didn’t want to push you, but I’ve already done some research and…well…”
She closed her eyes and shook her head.
Tugging her hand to make her look at me, I said, “Hey, I’m talking to you. You talk to me.”
Amelia chewed on her lip. “I’m wondering if the accident didn’t also bring out some feelings from your parents’ and sisters’ death. The other night, you were having a nightmare and you called out your sister’s name.”
My heart felt like it jumped to my throat. “I did?”
She nodded and reached for my hands. “I also think you holding onto that foal the entire time was your subconscious way of trying to save your family. In that moment, that baby foal was your family and you weren’t letting go.”
A sense of calm and clarity overtook me. Amelia had no idea what she’d just given me in those few words.
“You need to know that no matter what, I’m here by your side. If you want to talk to me, or my father, the pastor, a therapist… I will be there by your side. One hundred percent.”
How in the hell did I get so lucky with this girl?
“You amaze me, Amelia Parker.”
The left side of her mouth rose. “Oh, yeah? I bet I can do a few other things later tonight to amaze you.”
“You’re on.”
I took her hand, and we made our way back into the house. Waylynn was walking back in from the main living room with a frown.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Amelia asked.
Waylynn looked at her sister and shook her head. “Mitchell stormed out of here. He left. Walked over to Steed and Paxton and told them he had to get to work and left! I know damn well he is not on call.”
My eyes shot across the room to the real reason Mitchell left Steed and Paxton’s baby shower.
Corina and her date, Philip.
The heat from the August sun was beating down as I carried the cans of paint into the house. Wade had found an outlet to help with his stress: remodeling the old house. It also helped that he’d started to see a therapist once a week. In a few short weeks, I’d seen such a change in him. The nightmares were slowing down, and Wade had actually gotten into the pool with me yesterday.
“The entire house has been rewired,” Wade said as he gave my folks and Aunt Vi the tour.
“Lord, I’m seeing some parties we can have at this house!” Vi said.
Wade and my father rushed over to take the five-gallon cans of paint out of my hands.
Vi was going from room to room. “You could rent this out as an event venue. Can you imagine weddings in this place? Oh, how I love Texas! John, I must find a house so I can officially move here.”