Page 22 of Fall With Me (Sugarland Creek)

His jaw drops, and I laugh.

“I bet six years ain’t lookin’ so bad now, huh?”

He rolls his eyes and then continues practicing with the roping dummy. Although I manage the breeding operations, Noahonce againtalked me into signing up to help the local 4-H Club so they can participate in the fair’s junior rodeo event the following weekend.

Ellie climbs on Ranger after setting up the barrels and runs a lap in front of us. Her blond hair is pulled back into braids underneath her cowboy hat. Although she usually leaves it down for the races, both looks are sexy as hell. She has this crazy curl to it when it’s untamed. The polar opposite of her. Ellie wouldn’t know how to let loose if her life depended on it.

“Hi, Ellie!” Antonio waves obnoxiously like the lovestruck teen boy he is.

“Hey, lookin’ good over here.” She slows down, flashing him one of her flirty smiles I’ve only ever seen a few times. Never at me, though.Always for someone else.

Antonio takes that as his cue to show off and whip his rope in the air, nearly smacking me in the face in the process, and then throws it over the practice steer. He tightens up the slack and lets out a loudyeehaw.

Ellie’s eyes brighten with pride. “So incredible! I can’t wait to watch you win first place.”

“No cap, you gonna come?” he asks with way too much enthusiasm.

“Of course!” She beams, adjusting her tank strap that fell down her shoulder. “I’m racin’ there before I leave for the Franklin Rodeo. It’s gonna be a fun time.”

Antonio’s smile widens. “Period.”

“Well, good luck. I’m gonna do some drills with Ranger for a bit.”

Antonio’s so lovestruck, I swear I see drool on his chin.

She gives him a cute little finger wave before glancing at me. The high curve of her lips turns into a frown and her wide, bright eyes narrow into slits as soon as our gazes meet.

Just to further piss her off, I shout, “Nice seein’ ya, Ellie!” Then I wink before she takes off to the other side of the building.

Antonio chuckles. “I don’t think she’s feelin’ ya, bruh.”

That’s an understatement.

“Now who’s giving cringe,bruh.” I roll my eyes and then check the time. “You only have twenty minutes until you get picked up, so stay focused.”

He shakes his head at me. “You’re weak.”

The fuck does that even mean?

As he continues practicing, I only manage to glance over at Ellie twice before Antonio’s ride shows up. Watching her anytime she’s here is an obsession I can’t seem to kick. I probably look like a creep, standing and staring while she practices, but I’m mesmerized by her talent and how much she’s excelled over the past few years. Although she hates it when I interrupt her lessons to give advice or tips, she usually applies them anyway and they end up helping her—which of course she hates because then that means I was right.

“Holy…motherfucking…shit.”

My eyes scan over my phone screen as I reread the email attachment from Tucker’s mom. We don’t stay in contact much anymore, but we’ll exchange hugs whenever we run into each other in town. I could tell seeing me only made her sadder because she used to call me her second son when Tucker was alive.

The letter she forwarded is from the attorney who helped Talia’s family win their case in the wrongful death lawsuit. It states that Angela is scheduled for her parole hearing in a month and that due to her good behavior and getting a bachelor’s degree in psychology, they may approve it. It sounds like she’s going to play theI’m a better person nowand theI can help others based on my experiencecards.

I don’t care if she shapeshifted into Jesus himself. She doesn’t deserve to get out early. She never would if it were up to me.

Tucker’s mom writes in the body of the email that Talia’s family lawyer suggested that everyone who testified against Angela should write letters to the parole board on why she shouldn’t be released early. Considering Tucker died after the trial, it only leaves five witnesses—me, Rhett, Addie, Warren, and Maisie. They deserve to know that she’s technicallyresponsible for two people’s deaths and should stay behind bars to serve her full sentence.

I always knew there was a chance she could get parole, but I hadn’t realized it’d already been eleven years.

Sometimes it still feels like yesterday when I dived into that cold water. I can still smell the fresh mountain air mixed with pine trees. For months after Talia’s death, the crashing sounds of the waterfall haunted me in my dreams as I recalled every minute of that day. Losing Tucker made me spiral more than I wanted to admit. At the time, I couldn’t see how much I was struggling. Nonstop partying, drinking to numb the pain, sleeping with women toforget.

It was a dangerous road I was on but then quickly realized I had to deal with the grief instead of pushing it to the side. When Tripp lost his best friend, Billy, during his senior year in high school, he became a shell of the person we knew and loved. I watched him put all his energy into work and instead of talking about it, he silently drowned in his guilt. It happened two years after we lost Talia, and I knew I had to manage my grief to help him get through his.

I didn’t want him to go down the same wrong path I had.

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