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“It’s Noah. He’s been using drugs to deal with his mother’s death. He’s been doing it right in front of me and I’ve put blinders on.”
Alex’s mouth dropped open. “Grace, are you sure?”
The sound of a horse walking up caused me to turn. My father and Noah were walking back toward the barn.
Swallowing hard, I stood up taller and nodded my head. “I’m positive. If y’all will excuse me, I need to find Gray and Meg.”
I wasn’t sure how this was all going to work or how Noah would handle it. But I knew I had four people I could count on to help me get Noah through this.
Sitting in the formal dining room, I sat next to Noah, who sat across from Brad, Meagan and Taylor’s father. Brad had gone through a rough patch earlier on in his marriage to Amanda. I knew he had been in rehab and had worked for many years with outreach programs. He also volunteered a lot at the rehab clinic he had been in.
“What do I need to do?” Noah asked.
Brad slowly took in a deep breath and just as slow, blew it out. “Noah, I don’t think you’ve become dangerously addicted to the pills. But you are very dependent on them. You have two options. Check into a rehab clinic or go cold turkey and suffer through the withdrawals. In the rehab clinic, they will slowly bring you down. That’s probably how you should go with the Ativan.”
I quickly glanced at my mother and father as I moved about in my seat, before turning back to Brad. “How bad will they be? The withdrawals?”
Shaking his head, Brad said, “I don’t know. It really depends on how long and how much Noah has been taking. I will tell you this though. The fact that Noah was the one to recognize the problem is the biggest hurdle. It’s the first step and most people need an intervention just to get started.”
I took Noah’s hand in mine. After I had set out to find Meagan and Grayson, Noah and my father had found Brad. My father had told Noah about Brad’s addictions and how he spent time fighting them.
Noah asked me, Grayson, and my parents to sit and talk to Brad with him. Meagan joined us at my request.
“The only thing in this life that matters to me is sitting right here next to me. I swore I would never do anything to hurt her or her future.” Noah turned and looked into my eyes. “You have beautiful dreams, Grace. Dreams I want to be a part of. I’ll do anything to be a part of them. I’ll do anything,” Noah whispered.
“You and me. Together forever,” I said as I placed my hand on the side of his face.
Noah gave me a breathtaking smile that slowly faded. “Um . . . I want to do this at home. I need to do it at home. It’s where my demons started, I need to win my battle against them there.”
Nodding my head, I looked past Noah at Grayson. Giving me a wink, I knew we would be able to help Noah. I still wasn’t sure how often and how much Noah had been taking the pills. A part of me didn’t want to know and that filled me with guilt.
Looking back into Noah’s eyes, I gave him a weak smile. “I’ll be by your side the entire time, Noah. We’ll fight this battle together.”
Sitting at the kitchen island, Meagan let out a sigh as she sat next to me.
Glancing up from my book, I asked, “What’s wrong?”
Making a face of frustration, Meagan rolled her eyes. “I need to get laid so bad.”
Making a gruff laugh, I looked back at my book. “What’s it been, Meg? A week?”
“Fuck you, Grace. You’re riding the dick. I haven’t in months. Years to be exact.”
Dropping my book, I narrowed my eye at her as I studied her face. “I’m riding the dick? Really? So classy, Meg.”
Shrugging her shoulders, she let out a breath. “I dare you to deny it. Have you not noticed me being a complete bitch the last two and a half years?”
“First off, I won’t deny it, but I went for a good while not riding it and I was perfectly fine. And no, I haven’t noticed you being a complete bitch because that’s just who you are.”
Shooting me a dirty look, Meagan got up and walked to the refrigerator. “Please, you were miserable without Noah.”
I couldn’t argue with her on that one. “Meg, did the bullying ever stop? I mean, is that why you never got involved with anyone from school?”
Meagan’s head was buried in the refrigerator as she looked around for something. She popped back out, and turned to face me as she held a bottle of orange juice. “For the longest time I let a small group of people dictate how I lived my life. It was miserable, Grace.” Leaning against the door of the refrigerator, Meagan gave me a weak smile.
My heart broke for Meagan. Closing my book, I slide it off to the side. “Did you ever talk to your dad about all of it? The intense pressure he put on you and what was happening at school?”
Lifting her eyebrows, Meagan pushed out a fast deep breath. “When I told them I was looking at moving to Durango my father about flipped out and said I couldn’t run from my problems, I needed to face them head on. He wasn’t too pleased when I mentioned he was part of the reason I was running. My mom, well, she understood. She’s always been the one who seemed to relate a bit more with me though.”
