Page 12 of The Chances We Take

“What?” My eyes widened. “What did I do?”

“You probably didn’t do anything. Reid just has a weird relationship with his family,” Colter explained. “It’s not a big deal, really. Don’t worry too much about it.”

“His dad wasn’t around a lot and…” Ellison trailed off.

“His mom was around, but she wasn’t exactly present,” Colter finished for her.

Shit.I didn’t know what that was like. My parents were both in my sister’s and my life. They were high school sweethearts and had been together for almost fifty years. In my eyes, they were the truest example of love, the type I wanted to find for myself. Granted, they had their problems, like all marriages did, but they never fought in front of us.

Whatever Reid went through, though, clearly botheredhim. A pit of guilt grew in my stomach, even though I didn’t necessarily do anything wrong.

“I-I didn’t know.” I bit my lip.

“He doesn’t talk about it a lot. It’s okay,” Ellison reassured me.

“If you say so…”

CHAPTER FIVE

reid

PRESENT DAY

*3 unread messages from unknown number*

*2 unread messages from Kacey*

The text message notifications on my phone mocked me as I stared at them.

I knew they were going to be about my mother without even having to look at them. Over the last few years, the texts had been constant. And always the same thing.Why haven’t you come home? Why are you avoiding your family?

Every time she sent a text like that, one of my younger siblings would text me afterwards, saying they were fine and Eileen was being dramatic. Funny of her to pull the guilt card when she never made an effort to be there for us when we were younger.

We had to grow up fast.

Too fast.

I did my best to protect the twins—Cooper and Kacey—and Ryker from her, but I wasn’t always able to. Eileen was working on her sobriety now, according to my siblings, but I couldn’t help but hold some resentment for the way Iwas raised. I was practically a parent from the age of twelve, and when I graduated high school and left them to go to college, the guilt almost ate me from the inside out. That wasn’t something you could just forget.

Now Coop was in the military, and Kacey graduated from college last year but moved back to our small town immediately after graduating. Ryker just finished his sophomore year of college, so he was home right now too. I was surprised when they told me they were going back, but I respected their decisions.

I opened the texts from Kacey and they were exactly what I was expecting.

Kacey

I know Mom texted you.

I don’t know what she said, but whatever it is, don’t let it get to you. We’re fine, Reid. I swear.

What Kacey didn’t know was I hardly ever opened the texts from Eileen anymore. Maybe one day we’d have a relationship, but right now, I couldn’t.

My father was still barely home—not that he could have helped it when we were younger—but now it was almost as though he continued traveling for work to avoid being home and having to deal with his wife. It wasn’t like he needed to work now. My career in the PRCA was more than enough to provide for them.

Looking back, my father was almost as bad as my mother was. I didn’t blame him, though. He was doing what he could to keep food on the table for us while not being home, sending checks in the mail. The problem was, we hardly ever saw that money because of my mother’s addiction.

I tried typing out a message to Kacey but deleted it halfway through. I’d address it later. I deleted the texts from the unknown number without reading them.

The first few times my mother had sent those types of texts was when I was in college. I had just started my freshman year in Goldfinch.

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