Page 60 of Break the Barrier
Ophelia looks at us, her eyes wide and a smile on her face. A fake one, at that. Finally, after we didn’t budge, her shoulders drop. “I couldn’t hack it.”
My brow lifts in surprise as she shakes her head back and forth. “Oh, hon, what do you mean? What happened?”
“I just couldn’t take the stress! And the designers that were in charge are so mean. Nothing I did was good enough for them. I had made ten different designs, and they all got denied. One designer even lit one on fire!”
Us girls stare in shock at her. “Lit it on fire?” Juniper asks in a whisper.
“Yup.” Ophelia nods and bites her lip, tears misting in her eyes. “And I really liked that one.”
“Honey, that’s awful. I’m sorry.” I shrug my shoulders in confusion. “So, you dropped out?”
“Oh man, Thea, I’m sorry. I know you paid for the half they didn’t cover, and I know you’re probably disappointed in me. But I just?—”
“Hey,” I interrupt, shaking my head. My sister worrying about me covering her tuition is so like her. Since she isn’t old enough to get the money from her trust just yet, I stepped up for her. She wants to pay me back, but I haven’t worried about that just yet. “I’m not disappointed in you at all. You can’t sticksomewhere that’s bad for your mental health, it’s not okay to do that.”
Her first tears spill over her onto her cheeks, and we all coo and swarm her with one massive sisterhood pile. She laughs into our circle through her tears, and I rub her back affectionately.
We stay like that for several seconds before Annmarie says, “Okay, that’s enough.” I smile at her as our little sisters laugh, and we all pull back.
I look at Ophelia. “So, what’s the plan?”
“Can I crash on someone’s couch for a while? Maybe pick up some shifts here?” Her eyes plead with mine, and I soften again.
“Of course you can. My couch is wide open.” I cross my arms as she deflates in obvious relief. “But what about your dorm room and your stuff?”
“Well, they kicked me out of the dorm because I dropped the program,” she says with an edge of bitterness I don’t hear very often from her. “And I didn’t have much. I fit everything into a suitcase and shipped the rest here.”
“Okay, well, we’ll work it out then,” I say with optimism I don’t feel.
The girls start chatting as I turn on the open sign in the front. I wasn’t sure I was doing the right thing by letting her quit, but it wasn’t really my place either.
She was twenty and capable of making her own decisions, but was I enabling her to fail in the future if I let her quit now? I wasn’t sure what the right answer was.
I have a sudden urge to call Logan and ask for advice, but I couldn’t do that right now.
Last night when I had dinner with him and Lue, it had felt good, like I found a place I could fit that just…worked. We sat together at the table like a family, talking and laughing over all sorts of topics.
And when they headed home, Lue had given me a big hug, and Logan had placed a chaste kiss on my lips, telling me to call him as I drove home so he knew I was safely locked away, even if it was a late night.
Then this morning, I’d gone back to church. It was good for me, I think, even if I wasn’t a big church person. Juniper had joined me, surprising me with her attendance since I didn’t even tell her I was going, and Annmarie had slept in, which didn’t surprise me in the least.
But I had gotten to see him again this morning, and each time I did was like a shot of dopamine I didn’t even know I needed, let alone wanted, until it started to happen.
He invited us over to the Trevors Ranch once again, but I had to decline this time, even though that made me sad.
I couldn’t believe how bummed I felt when I had to say no, and I saw that Logan was feeling the same way, even though he didn’t make me feel guilty for it.
Last week had been amazing. Sitting around with those women and letting myself be fully enveloped in what a family felt like again, I felt almost guilty that I was privileged enough to be a part of that.
It had been so long since I was a part of a family unit. My sisters and I were close, but it made me realize that instead of working to live, we lived to work. We’ve been at it for so long that I wasn’t sure how I was going to get that to change, but I want to.
22
logan
I was sittingon the back porch, watching the fire from a distance, and debating when I wanted to take Lue home. We had work in the morning, and she was coming out with me to round up cattle.
I love having Lue work with me. Even though I knew ranching was likely not in her future, I feel it was something she would always know how to do. She would know how to ride a horse, how to take care of a ranch and a home, how to brand cattle, and frankly, how to run a business.
