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“If you need me, you have my number. Don’t ever think you’re bothering me. I love you, Lynn.
“I’m not giving up on you. I will always do what’s right for you. I love you so much.”
“I love you too, Trev. I’ll see you next summer.”
He stiffens a bit and pulls away to search my face with his gaze. He nods to himself and plants a kiss to my forehead. Then he takes a step back, releasing me.
I run for my house, allowing the rain to wash away my tears. I don’t know if I just made the right decision. While it feels like the right thing to do, on the other hand, I feel like I just opened the door to disaster.
The snake that spooked Smoke and sent me flying off the horse comes to mind. Something about the thought causes me to sob uncontrollably. I go to turn back, but he’s gone.
“What did I just do?” I sob.
Trevor
I trek backto my family’s ranch. I don’t pay much mind to the rain pounding down on me. My mind is too consumed by what just happened. I’m confused and lost.
I love you too, Trev. I’ll see you next summer.
Did we just break up? Did she not know I told her daddy we were over so she could go to New York? How did I fuck this up so bad?
“Trev.”
I look up as my name is sobbed out. Cliff is sitting on the porch looking lost and torn up. I hadn’t even noticed him there as I walked up the steps.
“Cliff? What’s going on?”
“It’s my daddy. I don’t think I can do this. I’m losing everything, everyone.”
“Wait, slow down. What are you saying? What’s going on with Uncle Travis?”
“He’s gone,” Cliff sobs. “He had a heart attack right at the dinner table, right in front of me and Mama.
“I should be with Mama making arrangements or whatever, but I couldn’t do it. I ran out once they pronounced him dead. I don’t think I can handle this. First, Brooke, now this. What do I have left?”
I move to sit beside him on the porch bench. Suddenly, my problems seem so small. This summer has been hell on Cliff. He can’t seem to catch a break.
“We’ll get through it together. You’re gonna make it. I promise,” I say as I wrap an arm around him and tug him into my chest.
Cliff and I were born a month apart. Me being the oldest, but we’ve always been as tight as brothers. My uncle Travis has always been a sounding board for me.
I’m going to miss him. Not for the first time, I wish I could start this day over and fix it all. Instead, I’m left feeling the heaviness of loss.
“This can’t be happening,” Cliff mutters. “Why does God hate me? I knew Brooke was too good for me. I was willing to accept that. But, Daddy… what did I do so wrong?”
“Come on now. None of this is your fault. You get all that right out of your head.
“Life happens. We have to take the good with the bad and hope that in the end, we get some semblance of what we desire.”
“I don’t know what I would do without you, cousin. This shit is about to drown me. I thought I was going to start breathing again.”
He shakes his head against my shoulder. I give him a squeeze. He doesn’t have to say anything. I’ve felt his pain whenever we talk or see each other.
“It will get better,” I reassure him.
“Yeah, but I have this feeling like it won’t get better until after it gets a lot worse.”
I have nothing for his words because, for some reason, they ring true. There are so many unknowns for us. My father, being the oldest, owns the family ranch, but Uncle Travis has always had a hand in running the place.
