Page 66 of Along Comes Trouble

“I’m sorry.” I slide my hat into place and set the chair back upright. “I have to go .”

My friends stare after me as I stomp out of the kitchen and onto the porch. It rained last night and the air smells damp and fresh. It’s chilly enough to raise goosebumps on my arms but I welcome the sensation. I thought I was going to suffocate in that kitchen and out here, I can breathe .

“Colton?” David steps outside and closes the door behind him. “Are you okay ?”

I stare out over the barn. “Yeah. Sure. I’m okay. Sorry about that.” I gesture toward the house. “In there .”

“What’s wrong, man?” David stands next to me, his gaze locked on my profile .

“It’s nothing. Or, really. It’s everything. I fucked things up with Tessa and just when I think I’m ready to move on, I realize I’m not. That I might never be ready to move on .”

David nods his head. “Colton ?”

I turn to meet his gaze .

“I’m sorry I took everything from you. I really am. If I had it to do over again, I would have made so many different choices. And now, all I want to do is find a million ways to make it right. You’re my brother. I give you a hard time, but I love you. Maybe I don’t say that enough.” The look on his face is so raw, so genuine, that I look away. “But,” he continues, “the things I took, I didn’t know I was taking. You gave things up and never said a word because you thought that was best for me and thank you for all you gave. Really. I’m still trying to understand all the different ways you sacrificed yourself for us. Whatever happened between you and Tessa, don’t be a martyr. Don’t stay silent. Talk to me. Talk to Michelle. Hell, talk to Tessa if you need to. Just please, for your sake, talk to someone .”

I nod. My thoughts move too quickly for me to make sense of them, but an idea is forming. Or maybe it’s not an idea. Maybe it’s too nebulous to be called an idea. “I have to go.” I take a step off the porch and turn. “David ?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you .”

He bobs his head and stares after me as I race across the grass toward my trailer. The ground sucks at my feet, saturated by last night’s rain, but I barely have time to notice. I kick off my mud-covered shoes and pace the confines of my trailer, tripping over Mario as he twines between my feet .

Finally, I swoop him up and carry him with me, muttering the beginnings of the great big something as that crazy bitch called hope flares to life inside me yet again .

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