Page 68 of Rough Ride with the Grumpy Cowboy
“If not for me, you wouldn’t be needing this comeback,” she whispers.
And those words are one of the biggest reasons for my doing this. I came to learn that Ava blames herself for the accident, even though that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“Hey, no, we already talked about this. What happened was not your fault. It was just an accident that I blame no one for. You need to stop thinking like that,” I demand.
“I’m sorry,” she apologizes, bowing her head in shame.
“What did we say about that word?” I scold, pinching her nose playfully.
She manages a small smile but can’t hide the fact that she’s entranced by one of the scars on my arm that was a result of the accident.
I’m hoping that my prevailing today will bring with it healing for myself, my family, and my girl. We need to put the accident behind us, once and for all. The only way to do so is to prove that the accident didn’t take anything from us but the five years we lost that we are already making up for.
“Hey, look at me...” I nudge her, tilting her face up to meet my eyes. “I’m going to be okay.”
“You better be,” she asserts.
She finally awards me with a genuine smile that brings more color to her face.
I’m glad that she’s finally getting back to her old self—eating well, sleeping better, gaining weight, and laughing a lot more.
Her messed-up family threatened to undo what I’ve been working so hard toward rebuilding when they showed up at the rec center, but things didn’t work out in their favor. Ava actually stood up to her mother, and I was all too happy to deal with Estevan. After what I did to him, let’s just say he’s going to need a really good plastic surgeon to reconstruct his face. What matters to me is that Ava is safe from them and she never has to worry about them again—that is, if they want to keep breathing.
Jace, Daisy, and my father, who had gone to get drinks, join us. The events are yet to commence, and even though I should be inside with the other riders, I’d rather be out here with my family.
“Ready to bring back glory to our family name?” Jace teases as he hands Ava a bottle of water.
She thanks him with a smile and hands it to me to open it for her.
“What do you think?” I scoff, handing the open water bottle back to Ava.
“I love how you’re always coming up with new ways to test our family,” my sister, who seems to have been simmering for a while, speaks up.
“Ella!” Ava scolds.
“What? It’s true. Nobody is forcing him to do this—he has nothing to prove. We all know how good he is, so what’s the point of all this?!” she exclaims, clearly frustrated.
“Was,” I correct.
“What?”
“Was good. I want to prove that I’m good now,” I explain.
“And you’re willing to die while doing so? What if you break your back again? Or worse, die? Why are you being so selfish?” she cries, smacking me on the arm.
Before she does it again, I let go of Ava to take her hand in mine. “Hey, El...” I call out as gently as I can.
She stops trying to hit me and calms down. “What?”
“I’m going to be okay. Have some faith in your big brother,” I calmly assure her.
“I hate you for doing this,” she grumbles.
“And I love you. I’m going to make you proud.”
“If I’m proud of you now, will you not do it?” she asks hopefully.
“No.”
