“What do you mean?” I studied Hayes where he sat. He looked older than I’d ever seen him, the weight of the last years bearing down.
“We all needed the freedom to express how we were feeling, but I never let us. I tried to smooth it all over. Mom and Hadley were a mess. Shiloh ran away whenever things got tough. Dad stuck his head in the sand.”
“I was nowhere to be found,” I finished for him.
“Everly’s taught me a lot, but the biggest gift has been the ability to look at things head-on and not turn away because they’re complicated or ugly. We went through a trauma, Beck. And not just Shiloh’s kidnapping. The aftermath, too.”
I knew he was right. An event like that left scars. It was impossible for it not to.
“You have to look at it sometime.”
My jaw flexed. I thought about how Addie seemed to see so much—in others around her, in me, in herself. She’d been through so much worse than I had. Yet she had the bravery to look at it dead-on. Even today, she had stared straight at Brandon and her history, even though she trembled.
“I’m not sure where to start with that.”
A sad smile pulled at Hayes’ mouth. “Start where it all began.”
I pulled into a makeshift parking spot outside the barn on my parents’ ranch. Sliding out my phone, I typed out a text.
Me: Stopping by my parents’, and then I’ll pick up Chinese for dinner. What do you want?
I stared at my phone, waiting for an answer. A minute or two later, one popped up.
Addie: Whatever you want.
Me: Have you had Chinese food before?
Three little dots appeared, then disappeared, then reappeared.
Addie: No.
My back molars ground together.
Me: Prepare yourself for a revelation.
Addie: I’ll try not to faint.
I chuckled and shoved my phone into my pocket. I pushed open my door, climbing out of the truck. My gaze caught on a figure in a round pen. She had her ballcap pulled low and sat stone-still on the ground. A young horse pawed at the ground.
My stomach dropped. Even though the creature wasn’t much more than a baby, he could still do some serious damage if he wanted to. I closed my door softly, not wanting to spook him, and moved towards the pen.
I watched silently as the horse dipped his head and charged. The air caught in my lungs. I was a second away from leaping over the fence. Shiloh stayed stock-still, not flinching even a millimeter. The horse dodged at the last second, running around the outside of the pen.
“He’s making a scene because he knows he has an audience,” Shy said evenly.
“Making a scene could end with you having a crushed skull.”
She slowly pushed to her feet and made her way towards me. “He’s given me a nip and a swift kick or two, but nothing too bad. He just needs to get used to me. I’ll give him all the time he needs for that.”
“You could get seriously hurt.”
Shiloh scowled at me. “You sound like Hayes.”
My brother’s words from earlier in the day about trying to control things echoed in my head. “Message received.”
“Good.” Shy leaned against the fence, watching the horse buck and dance. “This one might take longer than I thought.”
I chuckled. “You think?”