“If you are going to mend bridges, the first thing you have to do is decide if you’re staying or going.” He glares at me. “It’s fine to visit and all that, but—”
“I’m staying,” I say. I don’t tell him that I made the decision the minute I stepped foot back into town.
“For good?” he asks, and I nod, making it official. “What changed your mind? Five months ago, you wouldn’t even entertain the idea of coming home.”
“What matters is that I’m here to claim my life back,” I say, not ready to go into why. “I need to find a house,” I say, and he just shakes his head. “You can’t just give me your house.”
“But you’ll be doing me a favor.” He tries to persuade me.
“I’ll take the help for now, but I want to earn my keep,” I say, and he just smiles. “Why does that smile make me scared?”
“How are your rodeo skills?” he asks, and I just glare at him, putting my hands on my hips. “Perfect, you have a class tomorrow at eight a.m. I’ll send you the details.” He claps his hands and starts to walk out of the barn.
“Casey!” I shout his name. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“And I’m not going to.” His hand is on the door. “You want to know what I told them, find out yourself.” He walks out but then stops. “Hey, Ethan?” He calls my name, walking backward. “Welcome home.” He smirks and walks back to his truck. I watch him leave, and when I go inside, I make the second most important phone call of the day.
* * *
I’m parked in front of the school, and I hear the bell ring. I get out of the truck and lean against it while I wait for Chelsea. I look around as the kids slowly start piling out. I spot her right away as she walks out, surrounded by three girls I recognize. One of them notices me and points me out, making her look over at me. I raise my hand to say hello, but she just glares at me. Pushing off the truck, I make my way over to her.
“Hey,” I say to her and then smile at her friends. They are checking me out, making me feel like a piece of meat.
“What are you doing here?” she asks.
“I thought I could give you a lift home,” I say. “Maybe get some ice cream.”
“Mom is picking me up,” she says. I just smile at her, and she knows that it is a setup.
“She had something come up,” I say.
She looks at her friends. “I have to go. I’ll text you guys later.”
“See you later.” I hold up my hand.
“See you later, Ethan,” one of them says, and I swear she winks at me. When I turn to walk to the truck, I see Emily walk out of the school, talking with a student. She is dressed in pants and a white button-down shirt today, and her smile fills her face. My heart stops in my chest when I think of everything she told me last night. All I can picture in my head is her kneeling in the middle of the street and having to be carried.
“I can’t believe Mom tricked me like that,” Chelsea says from beside me, huffing out and making me turn and walk away from Emily. “This is low, even for her.”
“Well, we need to talk, and this seemed like a good time,” I say, getting in the truck while she huffs out.
“I have nothing to say to you,” she says, turning on the radio louder than it should be.
I turn down the volume when we pull out of the parking lot. “Good. Then I’ll do all the talking.”
“Whatever.” She turns and looks out the window. I don’t say anything as I turn down Main Street. I put the truck in park and get out, then wait for her on the sidewalk. When we walk over to the ice cream shop, she ignores me as if I’m not even here. She orders her cone, and I order mine, and when we walk to the table, she sits down and looks at me.
I take a big deep breath. “First thing I want to say is that I’m sorry.” She just looks at me. “I’m sorry that I left like that.”
“Yeah, whatever,” she says with all the attitude in the world.
“You have to forgive me,” I say, and she looks at me as if I have two heads.
“And why is that?” She takes a lick of her ice cream.
“Because I’m your big brother and because I told you so.” I smile when I say those words because I used to tell her that all the time.
“Well, my big brother fucked up,” she says softly. It takes everything in me not to go over to her, but I know I have to earn that trust again.