Page 23 of Somewhere We Belong

“Theo, what's going on?”

I clenched my jaw, looking away.

“Can we go home?” I clipped, looking away.

“Hey, talk to me,” he said, guiding his horse so we were side by side looking at each other.

“I don’t know what to say,” I said, a little white lie. We all knew how he felt about Nova, and he was not the person to talk to concerning my worry about her.

Colt raised a brow at me as he took a deep breath.

“Ok, but don’t hold it in, you know that never works out,” he said, pulling the reins on his horse so he trotted towards the house.

I took a deep breath trying to ease the torrent of emotions away, but I wouldn’t feel better till I knew Nova was ok. On the way back to the cabin, I stayed back enough so that I could think. Now that Atlas was back, maybe we all needed to have a conversation about her. If my hunch was right, I think Atlas felt the same.

My chest clenched in disappointment that even if Atlas felt the same way, Colt had his very different opinions about her, and I don’t know why he had this hatred towards her. Steering my horse into the stable, I put her in a stall, giving her a few treats before removing her saddle.

Sable came running up to me and before I knew it, a few goats and our donkey had come by along with one of the calves we had to bring over here because the mother had rejected her. I was surrounded by animals, just the way I liked it, giving them all love. It was easier dealing with animals than with people and they always felt like home away from home.

If I hadn’t met Colt and Atlas, I don’t know how I would have met anyone. My siblings were great. My younger brother Jude and I were the closest, but he spent so much of his life defending me and the way I was. When he followed me out here, I pushed him away. He needed to find his own way and live his own life since so much of his life revolved around me.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I answered it without looking to see who it was.

“Is she ok?” I answered.

“Is who ok?” It was like I had conjured my brother, Jude.

“My neighbor fell off her roof,” I said getting up, walking to the house.

“Oh shit, the mom?” he asked, concerned.

“Yeah.” I opened the door to the cabin.

“Is she ok? What about her daughter?”

“I’m waiting to hear from Atlas, her daughter is at summer camp,” I said, walking to our bedroom hearing the shower already on.

“Shit, that's awful. I get out of work in about forty-five minutes, I can get her if she needs help,” he said.

Jude was the most selfless person you will ever meet. He didn’t know how to say no and sometimes I wished he wouldstop being so nice. Nova was also mine to take care of and I hated thinking about anyone else helping her.

“We got her.” I tried to keep the irrational irritation out of my voice.

Jude hummed his acknowledgement.

“You ok, T?”

I rolled my eyes.

“I got to go, Jude.” I hung up before he could get a word in.

I wasn’t fine; I was drowning in my emotions, and I didn’t know how to deal with it. Anxiety threatened to cripple me, and it was making me angry. I hated being asked if I was ok because sometimes,Ididn’t even know if I was ok.

Getting undressed quickly, I joined Colt in the shower. His eyes widened as I stepped in. I kept my head down, internalizing everything, doing exactly what Colt warned me about.

We washed in silence, just being close to Colt was easing my anxiety. Once we were done, we dried off and got dressed in silence when our phones chimed at the same time.

Atlas: They wanted to admit her to the hospital, she fought it, but I told her it was either the hospital or staying with us.

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