Page 85 of The Lies We Told Ourselves

I didn’t know what to say. I knew Xander hated them both just as much as I did. The problem was they hadn’t written him off yet, and that was why I was doing everything I could to keep him away from our parents. I didn’t want them to pull him back into all the bullshit that constantly seemed to circle the pair of them.

“What did he ask for in return?” I asked suspiciously.

Whatever it was, I’d get him out of it. There was no price I wouldn’t pay to keep Xander as free of the Farrington influence as I could. I wouldn’t let him get dragged back into what had broken him in the first place just to help me.

“Nothing.” I wouldn’t have believed him if he didn’t sound so surprised.

“You still shouldn’t have done it.”

“Booker, when are you going to accept that we’re on your side? You don’t always need to be the one who looks after everyone else. I’m here for you. We all are.”

I didn’t know what to say. My first reaction was to deny that I needed any help, but the closer we were all becoming, the more I could see just how untrue that really was.

The past few years had been tough. Trace had been trapped in an abusive marriage, and all I could do was watch from the sidelines and patch him up when he was finally ready to admit he needed help.

It had frustrated me more than I cared to admit, watching him try to solve all his own problems until he’d let me finally do something.

And now I was doing exactly the same thing to him and Xander.

We’d been brought up to be afraid of showing any kind of weakness. To close ourselves in and pretend there was nothing wrong in our lives at all costs. It was only now that we were grown men we were finally seeing how wrong it was to live that way.

It wasn’t easy to set aside thirty-five years of trying to do it all alone.

“Go and be with your lady,” Xander said softly when he no doubt realized I wasn’t ready to respond.

He gave my shoulder a soft push, and I went willingly. It was hell trying to stay this far away from her. Especially when we didn’t know where Camden had run off to.

My feet had barely made it to the porch steps when she turned and gave me that smile that was impossible to resist. She was like a magnet drawing me in, and it wasn’t until I was pulling Reece into my arms that it felt like all was right with the world again.

“She’s doing so much better,” Reece murmured as she leaned against my chest. “What time is Cole getting here?”

“Should be here any minute,” I told her, hoping that wasn’t true.

I wasn’t ready to burst this bubble yet, and as much as I hated sitting around and doing nothing like everyone wanted me to, I didn’t want the distraction of work right now, either.

The headaches I hadn’t admitted to were finally easing, and my head didn’t feel quite as much like it was being crushed in a vise. I was taking it as a good sign. Strangely enough, my arm was bothering me the least. It helped that Reece had decided to be the one to spread arnica gel on my bruises. It made me almost grateful for them.

“I have a good feeling about today,” she told me, her fingers absentmindedly tracing circles on my chest. “I think Cole is going to give us good news.”

I knew the news she wanted, and where I’d been reluctant to tell her there was a chance of saving the foal before, I was feeling optimistic about it all, too.

“I think we should call her Spirit,” Reece said softly, her eyes watching the little mare who was starting the explore the training ring before coming back to the fence and nibbling at Reece’s pocket.

She laughed and pulled out a chunk of apple and gave it to her.

“I like it,” I told her. “It suits her.”

I ignored the sound of Cole’s truck for as long as I could, stealing every precious second I could with Reece.

I decided I liked the vet even more when he silently climbed into the training ring and didn’t interrupt the moment we were having. But unfortunately, reality couldn’t be ignored forever, and Reece stepped forward eagerly as Cole felt at Spirit’s stomach, listening carefully with his stethoscope before continuing with a quick examination.

“Well,” he said, stepping back. “Looks like you’ll have a new addition to the ranch in about seven months.”

He turned to me with a grin on his face, and Reece jumped in the air with a whoop of joy. Even Val pranced about like an idiot, joining in on the fun. Spirit watched on silently and then went searching in Cole’s pockets for her next treat. I wasn’t even surprised when he pulled out a chunk of carrot for her.

“Seven months?” I hated being the downer of the group, but someone had to warn Reece the fight wasn’t over yet. “That’s going to be a small foal.”

“Yep. Looks like you’re going to have some early morning bottle feeding in your future, Booker.” He seemed far too eager for that prospect. “I’m going to have a check on Bullet, and then I’ll come back and draw some blood. I want to keep a close eye on her hormone levels for the next couple of months. She’s gaining weight nicely though,” Cole said, retrieving another treat from his pocket and slipping it to Spirit.

---