Page 14 of Where We Call Home

She saw through the bullshit. Through the walls. She made me confront the fear and rejection I’d carried for too damn long.

It took over a year of hard work, but I was finally coming out the other side.

I wasn’t just surviving anymore.

I was living again.

My job at the ranch was solid. My friends—though they didn’t fully understand—hadstuck by meanyway.

And for the first time in years, I felt ready.

Ready to open myself up. To try again.

“Do you agree, Rhodes?”

Logan’s voice yanked me out of my thoughts.

I blinked, caught off guard. “Uh—yeah.”

Logan narrowed his eyes, skepticism written all over his face. “You have no idea what we were talking about, do you?”

Mac chuckled, shaking his head. “Since you were off in la-la land, I’ll catch you up,” he said. “We were talking about Ellie leaving a couple months ago. Think Buck deserves forgiveness if she comes back?”

Ah.Buck.That asshole.

“Hellno,” I said, my voice firm now that I actually knew what we were discussing. “That guy doesn’t deserveshit.”

Mac grinned. “Good. I plan to deviled-egg his car every day until I die.”

Pennylost it—head thrown back, laughter ringing through the night. “Not theGilmore Girlsreference! I’m picturing old Mac with a walker, chucking deviled eggs at Buck’s car and shuffling away as fast as he can.”

The whole group cracked up, even Mac, who shrugged like,What can I say?He shot Penny a smirk, like they were sharing some kind of secret.

“How’s Ellie doing?” I asked Boone once the laughter settled.

Boone tilted his head side to side. “She’s been better, but she’s making an effort. She calls once a week now, and I think she finally talked to my mom and dad. Last I heard, she was in Pennsylvania.”

Mac scoffed. “Pennsylvania? Who the hellchoosesto go there?”

Boone shrugged. “Something about Hershey Park and an all-you-can-eat Pennsylvania Dutch buffet.”

Aspen smiled, resting her head on Boone’s shoulder. “Whatever makes her happy.”

The momenthit meharder than I expected.

Watching them together, seeing the ease between them, made the ache in my chest flare up, sharp and sudden.

And before I could stop myself, my mind wandered.

I wantedthat.

I’d spent eight yearswith someone else, but was it too soon to try again?

Doubt tried to creep in.

Tried to pull me under.

But I shoved it aside, choosing instead to focus on the electric current that shot through me every time I thought of her.

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