Page 12 of Rusty

"Y-yeah," Janice forced out a shaky smile, brushing away any sign of pain. "No big deal."

Despite her brave facade, Rusty could see the hurt that lingered in Janice’s eyes. He longed to be the one to offer her comfort. But he knew he couldn't.

"Let's get this cleaned up," Nicole suggested, taking charge of the situation. "And then we can start a new masterpiece, alright?"

"Alright," Janice agreed, her voice barely above a whisper. She knelt, her red hair cascading over her shoulders as she picked up the pieces of her sculpture. With trembling hands, she tried to weave the willow strands back together, but it was a futile effort.

"Stupid, I’m so stupid," she muttered under her breath, not realizing how loudly she spoke. "Can't even keep a simple sculpture in one piece. Worthless, that's what I am."

Rusty's heart clenched at the sound of her words. He was shocked to hear her talking about herself like that. It didn't seem like her at all.

"Janice, don't say that," Nicole gently said, reaching out to touch her shoulder. "Accidents happen."

“It wasmewho did it,” said Rosemary. “It was my fault, Janice. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Nicole and Rosemary both knelt, trying to help Janice to piece her work back together.

"Leave me alone!" Janice snapped, her voice cracking with emotion. She swiped away her tears. "I can clean this up myself. It wasn’t your fault, Rosemary. It was mine. I didn’t build it strong enough. I did a bad job."

"Alright," Nicole relented, stepping back to give her space. She looked around at the others, who were watching with concern. "Let's get back to our own projects, everyone. Give Janice some room."

As the others hesitantly returned to their work, Rusty couldn't tear his gaze away from Janice. He thought back to the way she used to speak to her father, with a forced smile. Always hiding her true feelings from him. As much as he wanted to go to her, to offer comfort and support, he knew he couldn't—not so much because of the promise he’d made Chuck, but because of the promise he’d made Janice’s father all those years ago.

A promise that had torn him apart every day since he made it.

Rusty's boots crunched on the gravel as he reluctantly walked away from the art therapy session. He wasn’t heading for the dining hall anymore, though.

He’d lost his appetite.

"Hey again, Snickers," Rusty said softly, returning to the skittish mare's pasture.

The horse flicked her ears in recognition, her dark eyes watching him warily.

“Don’t worry, girl,” he said, “I won’t come too close. We’re just reading again, that’s all.”

Rusty took Anita's saucy romance novel out of his back pocket. After what had just happened with poor Janice, he wasn’t really in the mood for a lusty tale, but nevertheless, he cleared his throat and began reading.

"Cade leaned in closer, his breath hot against Isabella's neck as he whispered, 'There are many things I'd like to teach you, wild one.'" Rusty paused, looking back at the grounds where the art therapy session was taking place. "Y'know, Snickers, I made a promise to keep my distance from you. Help you get used to humans again without pushin' too hard. And now, I need to keep my distance from Janice just as much." His voice cracked ever so slightly at the mention of her name. “Guess it serves me right for all these years spent in solitude. Now, I can’t get close to anyone. Even though I'm desperate to.”

His words hung in the air like a confession.

"Alright, enough of my maudlin whining," Rusty said with a sigh. "Let's get back to the story, shall we?"

Rusty read several pages more, and although the words he read were full of lust and excitement, his tone of voice was decidedly flat.

Even so, Snickers' ears perked up, her dark eyes flickering with curiosity. Slowly, she stepped closer to him, her hooves making soft thuds against the ground.

Rusty's heart swelled, realizing that this small step marked progress in their journey together.

"See, Snickers?" he said gently, pausing his reading. "Ain't nothin' to be scared of."

But something about the way Snickers was looking behind him told him Snickers hadn’t walked closer to be nearhim.

Rusty turned around, and when he did, he caught sight of Janice standing at a distance, watching them both. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and her lower lip was trembling.

Rusty’s breath hitched, and for a moment, they locked eyes. Then, as if startled by her own boldness, Janice turned on her heel and began to run away.

"Janice! Wait!" Rusty called out. The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, his heart pounding in his chest.

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