Page 220 of Beautiful Collide

“Well, that’s not good. We try never to do that. It’s against the family motto, after all.”

Her lips twitch. Almost a smile. I’ll take it. “Hudson, I’m fine.”

“I’m calling bullshit. You’re sitting alone in a barn. Which is legit the last place you would ever voluntarily be. So, yeah, I’m not buying it.”

She doesn’t answer. Instead, silence stretches between us.

“Please, Anna, talk to me.” I drop my voice, hoping she hears my sincerity.

She lets out a sigh before finally lifting her head so that our gazes lock. Now, this close, I can see that her eyes are red-rimmed. She’s been crying. Shit.

“I just . . . I don’t know what to do,” she finally says.

I incline my head down. “About what?”

“Everything.” She swallows hard. “I graduated. My friends are all working or going off to college, and I’m just stuck. I don’t know what I want to do with my life.”

“You’re not stuck,” I say immediately. “You’ve got options. College, a job, whatever you want.”

“But what if I want to leave here? What if I don’t want to stay?”

“Then you leave.”

“But how?” She bites her lip, her voice trembling. “How can I abandon Mom and Dad? They need me. Doesn’t that make me selfish?”

I sit up straighter, my brows pulling together. “What are you talking about?”

Her hands grip her knees tighter. “You know Mom and Dad won’t take your help. But the thing is, they work so hard, and I see it every day. If I go to school or move somewhere else, who will help them?” She shakes her head. “How can I be okay with that? How can I leave them here alone?”

The guilt in her voice guts me.

Anna’s a good kid, but this isn’t her responsibility. She needs to put her life first.

I push my hand through my hair, exhaling roughly. “Anna, you can’t put that on yourself.”

“Then who will? They’re struggling, Hudson. You know it as much as I do. And you’re not here all the time. You’re off playing hockey. It’s not fair to leave them with no one.”

I grit my teeth.

She’s not wrong.

I’ve offered to help.

I’ve begged them.

They wouldn’t let me do anything. Not pay the mortgage or fix up the farm.

And for what?

They are barely making ends meet and now Anna is crying because she’s afraid to leave them.

“I’ll take care of it,” I say firmly.

Anna laughs bitterly. “Hudson, you’ve tried. They won’t take your money.”

I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees as I meet her gaze. “I’ll find a way, okay? It’s not on you to hold this placetogether. You don’t have to give up your future just because Mom and Dad are stubborn.”

“It’s not fair to put this on you either. You have enough going on.”

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