Page 91 of The Chances We Take

I let out a sigh of relief and answered the call. “Hi.”

“Hey.” He sounded tired.

“Are you doing okay? Like, really?” I wanted to check in with him.

“Yeah, I’m fine. We’ve just been busy on the road. There’s a lot of pressure this year already with how the NFR ended and the wedding coming up.”

“That’s understandable. You know you can always talk to me though if you need it, yeah?”

“Yup.” He popped the P. “I know I’ve kind of left you in the dark about a lot of things regarding my past. I don’t mean to, it’s just not something I like to talk about.”

“I understand that. You never have to tell me anything if you don’t want to either. I just thought maybe it would be helpful to talk to someone?” I offered.

“It probably would. I’ve just always kept things to myself.” He paused. “She let the alcohol control her. But I got used to it. I did my own thing. I worked hard and got out. And I got my siblings out.” He sighed. “But any friends I did make in high school never knew anything about my home life. And they didn’t ask questions when I asked for rides to rodeos or needed to borrow their horses to compete.”

“I’m so sorry.” My heart ached for him. “I can’t imagine what that was like. Do you?—”

“Talk to her? No, not anymore.”

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

reid

PRESENT DAY

Iknew who had texted me the moment the buzzing started. I didn’t need to look.

“Does she text you a lot?” Isa asked.

I turned my head toward her, but I was unable to say anything, so I just nodded.

She furrowed her brows, like she was trying to figure me out. “I know we’ve talked about it before, but I really think you should give her a chance.”

Frustration boiled up in me. Wehadtalked about it before. And every time my answer was the same. Eileen didn’twantto get better. I sucked in a harsh breath so forcibly my jaw ticked.

“Reid?”

I blew out all the air through my nose, trying to ground myself so I didn’t say something I didn’t mean. “You don’t understand,” I muttered under my breath.

“I’m trying to?—”

“That’s the thing, Isa! You’llneverunderstand.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, squeezing myeyes shut. “You don’t get it. You had parents who cared about you. You never had to work your ass off as a thirteen-year-old kid just to scrape up enough money to make sure your siblings were fed.”

“That’s not fair…” A pained expression flashed across her face.

Regret rose in my chest as the grief for my lost childhood wrapped around me. I let my frustration and temper get the best of me—something that didn’t happen often. I considered myself a fairly level headed person, but sometimes it all just became too much.

I knew I wasn’t being fair to her, but nothing I said was untrue. Isabelle had parents who loved her and her sister. She was allowed to be a kid. That’s all I’d ever wanted when I was younger.

To be a kid.

Because that’s what I was.

Maybe I was unforgiving when it came to Eileen. But I thought I had earned that right. I had earned it the moment I started slipping in my high school classes because I was spending more time doing odd jobs to make enough money. I had earned it when my father started going on the road for work more than he came home.

Isa always saw the best in people. She was an optimist, a romantic. That was something I admired about her. And I wasn’t sure if it was more that I didn’t want to give Eileen another chance or that I didn’t want Isa to see what she was really like, in the flesh. Because there was a chance if she did see, it would break her, dull her. Who was I to ruin her outlook on life?

Instead of saying anything else to hurt her, I turned toward the cabin door. We needed to be out of here in anhour, but I needed to calm down first—force down the feelings of anger before they swallowed me whole.

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