Page 11 of Summer Redemption

“What the fuck was that? How the hell did you treat her in high school?”

Noel’s angry, barked questions have me jumping and looking up at him startled. He’s standing in the door to the barn with his arms crossed across his chest and his feet shoulder width apart. His eyes are hard, as if he already knows my answer without me needing to put voice to it.

“I-I,” I start and swallow before looking away from him and the words fall from my mouth without a filter, “I was a complete asshole to her in high school. We were in the same class, and she was the smartest one in our grade. I would make fun of her name, of her commitment to school, her clothes, her hair, her glasses.” My shoulders slump and I squeeze my eyes shut because I don’t want to see the disappointment on my brother’s face. “I said a whole bunch of shit to her I didn’t mean, and because I did it then other people joined in too. She was made fun of for years and it all started with me.”

The next thing I know pain blooms on my jaw, and I’m knocked on my ass. Noel is looming above me, his nostrils flared as he breathes like a bull with a target and an agenda.

“It’s not nearly enough for what you did to that girl, but you’re clearly beating yourself up enough,” he bites out with a shake of his head. As he turns, he throws over his shoulder, “Is this what you’ll teach Mac and August?”

Fuck.

My chin hits my chest, and I don’t even bother getting up. Buttercup makes a sound that I swear is full of agreement with Noel’s words. Great, now even the horses know how much of a dick I am.

I’m going to make this right. I don’t know how, don’t even know where to start, but I’ll find a way.

I have to.

Sunshine is back in Wintervale and I’m not going to let the opportunity pass me by. Not when I’ve always felt like she was my chance at the kind of love my parents have, the kind of love that broke Fletcher.

Hopefully, she won’t break me and will grant me the redemption I’m desperate for.

CHAPTER 5

SUNSHINE

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Wilber’s question, spoken with tentative words and a hopeful expression on his face, has me taking a deep breath.

I can’t snap at my boss. Not only is he a good man who doesn’t deserve it, but he has no idea how Huxley treated me back in high school. Why would he know how hard it was to go to Limitless Ranch yesterday and spend time around Huxley?

He wouldn’t know and I assured him I was fine with going out to the farms and ranches in the area to get up to speed without him. I can’t go back on it now.

With a fake smile in place, I turn toward him. “I’m good,” I assure him. “It was nice getting out and visiting everyone. I feel good about having to go out and see the large animals when I’m needed. It was a good idea for me to go out, introduce myself, and get a look at the animals before it’s an emergency or aregularly scheduled home visit.”

His shoulders slump and it hits me right in the chest that he was worried about me. Maybe I wasn’t as good about hiding my anxiety about the whole thing during my first week working in the clinic. I tried, really, I did. But the closer it got to my second week, which is when I was planning to go and visit everyone, the jumpier and more nervous I became.

I swear I almost jumped fifty feet in the air every time someone opened a door at the clinic. It was like I was expecting Huxley to come barreling in to make fun of me all over again. I’m aware it was a silly overreaction but knowing that didn’t help at all.

The only thing I could do was put off visiting Limitless until I couldn’t anymore. The ranch is still just as beautiful today as it was eight years ago. They’ve made some changes, but, for the most part, everything was just how I remembered it.

If possible, I would have stayed there a lot longer, but the more time I spent around Huxley, the harder it became to keep my walls up. It’s not my fault; I’m blaming it all on him.

Not only was he nice to me, too nice almost, but he was so fucking earnest and focused on the horses and their care. He didn’t blow it off like it was a joke. It was very clear to me that he loves the horses and enjoys taking care of them. He didn’t blow off the responsibility, he embraced it.

That isn’t something I expected from Huxley, not the boy I used to know back in school at least.

Maybe he’s changed? Is that even possible?

I haven’t wanted to think too much about it since yesterday. If I do, then I’ll have to consider whether his apology was sincere.

What does forgiving him even look like? Am I capable of doing it?

When coming back to Wintervale, I figured that our interactions would be few and far between. Ignoring him felt like something possible, achievable, and preferable.

Now, I’m not so sure.

And that is what kept me up all night.

The very naughty fantasies I slipped into, involving him shirtless with his jeans unbuttoned and threatening to fall off his hips, didn’t help either. But we don’t need to mention such things.

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