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The sadness in my heart swells when the front door opens, and my mother gasps loudly in front of me. Before I can say anything, she ushers me inside with my suitcase still standing on the front porch, then shuts the front door without a care in the world about my things waiting outside for me.
“Oh, sweetie, what happened?”
As if sensing my mother’s distress, it doesn’t take more than a few seconds before my father is hurrying around the corner with Elias following closely behind him.
How the hell am I going to bounce back from this?
I suck in a breath of air and look between my family, then bring my attention back to Elias with sadness coated heavily in my gaze. His eyebrows dip, a frown forming on his flawless face, and he sighs heavily before walking forward.
This is when I brace myself for the impact of his words. It’s what I should be hearing, after all, because everything he said was right. I should’ve listened to him when he said Ryker would hurt me, that I needed to be careful, but I’ve got a feeling he assumed he would hurt me in a completely different way.
The last thing I expect when my brother walks up to me is for his strong arms to wrap around my petite frame and envelope me in nothing but warmth. There’s no ounce of commentary being made, just love pouring between the two of us and that’s what has sobs wracking through my entire body.
He pats my back softly, while my mother and father stare at us in confusion. Although my parents have the internet and smartphones, the most they do on their devices is text us or watch random videos on YouTube. I highly doubt they’ve gotten a chance to see whatever it is that Rykers manager managed to see.
My mind rolls back to the way my phone incessantly rang this morning with Mack’s name, the guy who hired me and who I learned was Ryker’s manager, and his voice boomed angrily over the line when I answered. I was half asleep, so it took me a second to understand what he was saying, but once I finally woke up, everything fell into place.
A photo was leaked of me with Ryker, and Mack wanted me out of the house immediately. I would’ve said I’ll go, then stay, but he made sure to let me know that someone would be by within the hour to make sure I’ve disappeared from the premises.
His words exactly were, I want it to look like you were never there to begin with. Erase every trace of you from the house and never contact my guitarist again.
That’s when he hung up, and I scurried around the bedroom without so much as a tear falling down my cheeks – at least until I got outside and into my car. It only hurt more when I walked down the hall, only to find it void of life.
I wondered if Ryker was still asleep, but I knew that it was because he didn’t think what we had was real enough to stick up for. My reputation is going to get painted black. I’ll likely never work in the psychology field again, and I will definitely lose any credibility I had as a wellness coach. My hopes for paying off my parents' house are squashed right along with my heart.
“Wren?” My mother says softly, pulling me back to the present.
I give her a sad smile and sigh heavily. “Have an extra room for me, Mom?”
“Oh, baby, of course we do. Let me fix you a cup of tea, then you can tell me everything.”
She starts to pull me, but I stay rooted in my spot and look up at Elias before turning back to her with a sad smile. “Mom, I’d really love to got out on the horses with Elias.”
I can see the hurt flash in her eyes, so I clear my throat and shrug. “But, I’ll meet you in the kitchen after?”
That brightens her mood slightly, although I’m certain she’s still upset that there’s something wrong in the first place. When she and my dad disappear around the corner, the two of them talking softly to one another, I finally give Elias all my attention.
“Looks like you were right,” I say while holding back another sob.
Elias shakes his head and pulls me against him once more, then pushes away. “No, Wren, I don’t think I was.”
“It feels like you were.”
He nudges me toward the front door and pulls it open, the bright sun splashing across my features in a way I’ve always loved – today, it just makes me want to disappear into the house and never come back out.
What would it feel like to become a hermit after all these years?
“Let’s go to the stables, then we’ll talk about everything.”
I nod and let him lead me gently through the trail while leaning my head against his shoulder for comfort. He reaches his arm out and runs his finger in small circles over my arm, reassuring me with a simple touch that everything will be okay – but how could he possibly know that?
My heart is cracking with each minute that passes like I’ve lost a huge piece of myself that I’ll never be able to get back. I’m desperate to text Ryker’s phone and ask if he really wanted me gone, but Elias standing next to me keeps me from making that mistake.
Elias would never let me attempt to do that, anyway. I’d have to wait until I was alone, filled with sadness from leaving Ryker, to send him a text full of emotion.
We stop outside the stables and instead of steering us toward the horses, Elias saunters over to a bench against one of the walls covered with shade from a large oak tree. I take a seat next to him, silently looking out at the property while my hair blows in the warm breeze that flits by, and I slouch forward depressingly.
“Talk to me, Wren.”
