Page 141 of We Redeemed the Rain

Bea made the most adorable giggling sound. “Don’t tell me you helped her.”

“She left me no choice. It pissed off Judd and all the cowboys, but Gran thought it was funny and took pictures.”

Bea cooed. “Those are pictures I would pay to see.”

I huffed. “Me too, actually. I don’t even know where they are.”

The snapping rubber band filled the silence as I wrapped it around the end of her braid a few times. She grabbed it, inspecting the part she could view. “Thank you.” Slowly, she turned around to faceme. “Can I ask you something? I feel nosy admitting this, but I’ve been curious…when I was in your office looking for the warranty papers, I found hospital bills. I’d forgotten all about them, until we ended up in the hospital. While we were there, you seemed really nervous. You don’t have to tell me about them, if you don’t want to, but I was curious what happened. They were pretty big.”

“Yeah. They’re big alright.” My gaze darted away as shame rolled through my gut. Do I tell her? Part of me wanted to. A huge part of me wanted to prop open my rib cage and give her full access to everything I’d hidden away, but another part—smaller yet infinitely stronger—screamedhide.

As I sat there, debating what to share, her cool fingers slipped into mine. I didn’t move away like I would’ve three weeks ago. I gripped her. Like her hand belonged there. Like she was the lifeline that had been plopped next to me in a black, angry sea.

“Do you think…do youbelieveyou can trust me, Tag?”

I swallowed. “I do.”

“I see it on your face. Something bad happened. If you don’t want to tell me, it’s?—”

“That’s the thing. I do want to.”

She stopped talking.

“You know I have a hard time lettin’ people in.”

“I know.”

“But I want to.”

“You could try. And if it gets too heavy or it’s too hard, you can stop.”

“Uh, I don’t know which ones you saw, but the smaller bills were from Cooper. He ended up overdosing and needed a trip to the ER. He walked out totally fine. Neither of us have insurance. And it’s insane what you pay.”

She waited. When I didn’t say more, she prodded me. “And the big one?”

“I…I was the patient on that one.”

Her fingers squeezed mine. I squeezed back.

I want to dothis.

I gritted my teeth and pushed the words out, tension pulling down my neck and chest. “It was…a failed attempt.”

She drew a very quiet, sharp breath. “A failed suicide attempt?”

I nodded.

She was silent, which I was grateful for.

“Cooper found me. I needed a blood transfusion and a hospital stay. And those are expensive, even on the self-pay discount.”

Her breathing was the only sound in the room, more punctuated and heavier than before.

“If anything destroyed mine and Cooper’s relationship, it was that. It was a final straw for us. I scared him, and I think he looked up to me, even if I didn’t feel like he did. It really did a number on him. I’ve always wished…” I closed my eyes to say the words. “I’ve always wished he wouldn’t have found me.”

She nodded, gently. Not like she approved, but like she understood. And that made it easier to keep talking.

She whispered, “When did that happen?”

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