Chapter 11
Driving by myself wasn’t too bad. Normally, it’s a four-hour drive to Franklin, but with the extra weight of Ranger and the trailer, it took almost six. But it was enough time to get through half my audiobook and two twelve-ounce Red Bulls.
By the time I pull into Serenity Springs Ranch where I’m boarding Ranger, I’m ready to find a bathroom and some hot food that doesn’t come from a gas station.
“Hey, ya made it!” Easton greets me with a hug, and I return the gesture. This is his uncle’s ranch where he lets me and a few other pro rodeo members stay when we’re in town.
“Sure did.” Smiling at him, I notice how much muscle he’s packed on since the last time I saw him. “You’ve bulked up.”
He lifts his arm and flexes. “Been workin’ out and trainin’ for saddle bronc riding. Once I finish out the year pro ropin’, I’m makin’ the switch.”
My eyes widen because this is the first time I’ve heard the news. “That’s dangerous!” I poke my finger into his hard chest.
Easton’s like a brother to me, so I worry about him. After he retired from barrel racing a few years ago, he moved on to roping, and now I guess, saddle bronc riding.
“Aww…you concerned about me?”
Rolling my eyes, I cross my arms. “Nope. I’m not your mother. Go break your neck for all I care.”
He chuckles. “Glad you haven’t changed since the last time we talked.”
Once he helps me unload Ranger, we get him settled into a stall. Then he introduces me to a few of his new horses and then leads me inside the large white farmhouse where his uncle greets me.
“If it ain’t the Rodeo Princess herself,” he taunts.
My cheeks heat at the attention. “You gonna watch me take the win this weekend?”
“You know I wouldn’t miss it. Hope you’re hungry,” he says, setting the table.
I nod. “Starving.”
After using the bathroom and cleaning up, I take a seat next to Easton and we dig into Uncle Pip’s famous pot roast. They catch me up on all the local town drama and even crack a few jokes about how often Easton falls off the bucking horses.
“I’m still trainin’. Gimme a break.”
“I can’t wait to watch it in action,” I tease.
During dessert, we talk about the upcoming rodeo and how excited we are about it. The rodeo technically starts tomorrow with free family night, but then starting Thursday, there’ll be seven rodeo events each night through Saturday.
Since it’s one of the larger ones in the state, the entire Hollis family comes and stays overnight in campers since they’re one of the sponsors. Noah’s trained a lot of the riders in other various pro events, so she stays and watches everyone.
“You sure you wanna sleep out here? There’s a spare room,” Easton says as he walks me outside.
“Yep, I’ll be fine. All my stuff’s already inside, and I like being close to Ranger.”
“Okay, well, if you need anything, text me.”
I open the trailer door and smile appreciatively at him over my shoulder. “Will do. Thanks, Easton. See ya in the mornin’.”
After breakfast, I plan on making the thirty-minute trip to Nashville to see my older cousin. Anytime I travel west, I schedule a visit. We exchange letters each month, but it’s not the same as seeing her in person.
Once I’ve showered and changed for bed, I call my parents to say good night. I’m sad they won’t be here, but it comes with the territory. The only other person Mom trusts to stay with Aunt Phoebe is my grandma, and she isn’t usually comfortable staying overnight.
Before I crawl under the covers, I flip through my binder filled with court docs, legal paperwork, and spreadsheets of expenses and earnings. I keep track of everything and document all the finances so I know exactly how much I have and how much has been spent.
Waiting in this cold room always makes me anxious.
Although I shouldn’t be. Getting to physically see and talk to her fills me with the type of happiness I used to feel when we’d have sleepovers and talk about our futures. She’d always say she was going to marry a rich man so then once I graduated high school, she’d take me on her private jet and we’d travel the world. Even at twelve, I knew it was just a pipe dream, but I loved the fantasy. As long as we were together, I didn’t care what we did or where we went.
As I wait for my turn to go into the visitation area, I look around at everyone else waiting and wonder how many other families have been affected by wrongful convictions.
It’s a tragedy, honestly. A justice failure.
“Ellie Donovan.”
After my name’s called, I stand and slide my sweaty palms down my jeans, then walk through the doors where I’m directed toward her table.
I wish I could hug her. Wrap my arms around her gaunt body and squeeze her.
She beams when our eyes meet. “Hey, cousin.”
I sit across from her, smiling wide. “Hi, Angela.”
Guards stand all around the room and as tempting as it is to reach across and touch her, I fold my hands in my lap.
“You look good,” she says, the metal bound on her wrists clanging together.
“So do you.”
She dramatically rolls her eyes because she knows after all these years here, she doesn’t. “I’ll look much better when I get parole.”
Nodding, I agree. She’s been here for eleven years.
Eleven years too long.
For something she didn’t do.
“You will. There’s no reason to deny you when you’ve been on your best behavior. I’ve been workin’ on my support letter. I read it to your mom the other night and she gave me some good things to add in, so as soon as I finalize it, I’ll send it in.”
“Yeah? How is Mama doin’? She doesn’t talk much when I call or ever write me back.”
“Pretty well. My parents took her to the fair last weekend to watch me race. She got a little overstimulated by the crowd, so they had to take her home shortly after, but I was happy she could come. She misses you.”
“And yet she can’t come visit me.”
I frown because I know it hurts her not to get any visitors besides me. With how much I travel, I don’t make it out to see her as often as I’d like.
“It’d be too long of a drive for her,” I say, but she already knows that.
Angela shrugs, waving it off as always. “Whatever, it’s fine. Assuming I have any money once I’m out, I’ll rent an apartment nearby so I can see her every day.”
“You will. I’ve been adding money to your savings account every time I get a payout. If it’s not enough to get your own place, you know my parents will make room for you.”
My parents love Angela, but they don’t go out of their way to visit her. When she calls to talk to Aunt Phoebe, they exchange pleasantries, but that’s about it.
“Ellie, I can’t. You’re already payin’ my lawyer fees. I’ll never be able to reimburse you at this rate.”
“You’re my cousin and best friend. You deserve a fresh start after all this. Plus, I want to and wouldn’t accept money from you anyway.”
Every time I win a race, I put aside some of my earnings so she has some when she gets out. I know it’ll be rough starting her life over at twenty-nine years old, so if I can help make the reentry into society a bit easier, then I’ll do whatever it takes.
“You’re gonna work yourself to death tryin’ to take care of me. I’ll find a job, hopefully.” She shrugs again because it’s going to be a challenge even with a college degree. She has a criminal record and no previous work history.
When Talia’s family won the wrongful death lawsuit, my aunt and uncle had to sell their house, property, and pretty much everything they owned to pay the damages.
“Luckily, I love what I do, so it’s not that big of a deal,” I reassure her.
Winning is always the goal because it’s one step closer to finals, but the prize money is what keeps me going day after day. Once I pay Ranger’s monthly boarding and training expenses and any of Angela’s debts, I put whatever’s left into her savings.
“Even if it means you have to deal with him?” She cringes at just having to think about Landen.
When I first got on Noah’s waitlist, I debated not telling Angela in case she disagreed with it. But I couldn’t keep a secret like that from her, so I told her and was relieved when she supported me all the way. She knew I wanted to make barrel racing my career and told me to do whatever it took to get to the top.
That’s how I know Angela’s not the person the media portrayed her to be.
“Comes with the territory of gettin’ the best trainer and boarding facility in the state.” I frown, not wanting to think about the person who’s responsible for putting her away in the first place.
However, I do feel bad that Noah doesn’t know. If it was widely known I’m related to Angela, it could risk my career now that it’s taken off and my name is out there more within the rodeo community. The media didn’t paint Angela in a good light throughout the trial and all the locals were convinced she was guilty even before the verdict. Since we don’t have the same last name, and I’m six years younger than her, no one recognizes me from that timeframe. Luckily, since no one recognizes me in Nashville and I only come to visit every few months, I haven’t worried about someone recognizing me.
If Noah knew I’m Angela’s cousin, there’s no way she would’ve agreed to train me. I’m sure she’d take Landen’s side and not want anything to do with me, so as hard as it is to keep it from her, I have no choice but to stay silent in order to reach my goals.
When Landen and I met at the ranch four years ago, it was obvious he didn’t remember me. I was only ten when Angela and him dated, and then only a couple years older when she was sentenced, so I wasn’t surprised he hadn’t. Which made it easier to be crystal clear that we’d never be friends.
Hell, I didn’t even want to be anywhere near him.
Not after hearing him talk at Angela’s trial and lying about the type of person she was. Then he lied to the court about what he witnessed and because it was five people’s word against hers, the jury sided with the prosecution.
We lost everything that day and life hasn’t been the same since then.
“He still regularly asks why you hate him?” Angela pops a brow.
“Pretty much, yeah. I think he has a new girlfriend, though. So maybe he’ll stop botherin’ me with it.”
She sits up taller, her handcuffs clanging together as she does. “A girlfriend?”
My shoulder lifts because I’m not asking him for details. “He brought her to the fair last weekend.”
Angela rolls her eyes. “Must be nice to go out and do normal things. God. I hate him so much.”
Me too.
It wasn’t just her life he ruined.
My parents had to take out a second mortgage to help pay for Aunt Phoebe’s treatment when her husband left. On top of that, they were trying to be strong for me when the depressive episodes took over, but no matter what anyone said, I still couldn’t understand how Angela went to prison for something she didn’t do.
The justice system had failed her and all of us who loved her.
I cried more that first year than I had my entire life. It felt like I was mourning a person who wasn’t dead, but she was gone from my life in a way I wasn’t used to. We spent months writing to each other before I was allowed to visit. Not being able to hug her was a form of torture I hadn’t anticipated.
But Angela distracted me the best way she could. She encouraged me to talk about 4-H and riding horses, and if I thought there were any cute boys at school. When we’d talk on the phone, she’d have me laughing within minutes because that’s the type of person she is. She didn’t want me to be sad.
“Do you think Landen knows you’re eligible for parole?” I ask, wondering for myself too. He hasn’t acted any different than usual, still his annoying, pesky self.
“Oh, I’m sure their nosy lawyer told everyone. My attorney already told me her family will try to persuade the parole board and write their own letters, but he said not to worry about it. They have no grounds on why I shouldn’t get it.”
“How’s that even fair when you’re innocent to begin with?” My molars grind as my frustration grows, but I try to remember to breathe so I don’t get an anxiety attack.
Angela leans against the table, folding her arms. “Because they will forever believe I pushed her. But I know what I saw when none of them were looking, and she jumped, just like her boyfriend did a couple years later. They’ll never accept that they made a suicide pact because then they’d have to admit they didn’t get Talia help for her depression. They needed a villain and a fallback person to justify her death, and, well, here I am.”
The bitterness in her voice makes me sad and angry. She’s told me this story repeatedly, but it still hurts to hear each time. The local reporters painted her as this selfish, self-absorbed teenager who acted in a jealous rage. They called her vicious. Evil. A murderer.
But I knew they were wrong because that wasn’t the person I considered a sister.
Angela was kind, sweet, and thoughtful. Always knew how to make me laugh.
She’d never harm anyone.
The year before she was sentenced, she skipped school just to come pick me up early and we spent the day together at the mall. We shopped, ate junk food, and snuck into an R-rated movie.
The person they described on TV wasn’t the same one who’d held me as I cried myself to sleep after my gerbil died.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure they approve your parole,” I promise.
“I know you will, Ellie. That’s why you’re my hero.”
Tears well in my eyes, and I quickly brush them off my cheeks. “Anyway, have you seen or heard about Lexi lately? How’s she doin’?”
“As far as I know, she’s stayin’ outta trouble since she got into that last fight. But it pushed her visitation rights back several months.”
“That’s too bad. Antonio would do well to see his sister.”
“Did you get him into that roping program?”
“Yeah, I got to watch his first competition at the fair last weekend.” I smile proudly.
“And Landen still thinks it was Noah’s idea for him to volunteer?”
I sigh. “Yep.”
I’ve stayed in contact with the local 4-H leaders and would stop in when I was in town, which is how I first met Antonio. When they mentioned needing more roping trainers, I brought it up to Noah so she’d recruit Landen. Even though I hate him, I did it for Antonio. He needed a role model after his only sister went to prison for stabbing her assaulter to death.
Again, the justice system failed another family.
It was her word against a dead man’s.
“Have you considered what will happen if I get parole?” she asks. “Whether I live with you or not, there’s no way the Hollises won’t hear we’re related now that they know you. Especially if my release is mentioned in the local papers.”
I shake my head because there hasn’t been time to think about anything beyond my next race and the next step in getting Angela out of here.
Shrugging, I say, “I’ll figure it out as it happens. If they ask me and Ranger to leave, then we’ll go back to Grandma’s farm. I’ll continue racin’ and makin’ money as usual.”
“Maybe I could go with ya, then?” She smiles, hopeful.
“I’d love that. It’d be just like old times. You and me against the world.”
“You got that right, kid.” She winks.
We end up talking about other random stuff for the remaining half hour, and by the time I have to leave, my heart is full. There’s always a sense of relief getting to see and talk to her in person.
“I love you. We’ll talk very soon, okay?” she says.
I nod repeatedly, attempting to keep my emotions in check. “Love you, too.”