Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
ELLIE
“Hey, cousin. Glad to have you back.” Angela smiles as my eyes peel open, and I realize I’m in a hospital room. Again.
But at least I’m not bleeding or have a headache.
“How’d I get here?”
“Your mom called an ambulance because she was worried you were having another epileptic episode.”
“Did I?”
“Nah, you just fainted. Your dad caught you before you could hit your head again.”
“Where’re my parents?”
“They’re speakin’ to the doctor now. Something about tests…” She waves her hand in the air. “You’re gonna be fine, though.”
“I can’t believe you’re really here,” I murmur, scanning my eyes over her. Seeing her in regular clothes and makeup for the first time in over a decade is strange.
“Before you collapsed, it seemed like you had some memories resurface. How much do you remember?” She grabs my hand and squeezes.
“I think…right before the race when the Smith twins gave me something to drink. And some pills.”
“You took pills? Why would you do that?”
“They said it was something to help my stomach…I dunno. It seemed harmless.”
“Are they barrel racers, too?”
“Yeah, and I’m pretty sure they wanted me out of the competition. Whatever they gave me did the trick.” I groan, thinking about it. “So damn stupid of me, but in my defense, I was gonna be sick and needed something to calm it before I threw up.”
“Well, either way. You have to press charges.”
“I can’t prove it, Angela. It’d be my word against theirs, and mine isn’t exactly trustworthy with a brain injury. They’ll deny it anyway.”
“Well damn. That’s bullshit. Do you remember visiting me?”
“Kinda…but it’s foggy. I’m still piecing other shit together too. It sucks fightin’ with your brain to remember things you should know.”
Frustration rolls through me as I shift to get comfortable in this damn bed.
“I know, sweetie.” She rubs my arm. “As soon as you’re out, we’ll go over everything and fill in any gaps you still have.”
“I don’t think that’s the problem…” I swallow and my throat burns as I try to clear it.
“Whaddya mean?”
“Landen…what you told me about him. I remember all of that.”
She scoffs at the mention of his name. “I’m only lettin’ it slide that you somehow ended up engaged to him because you lost your memory. But if you want, I’ll tell him myself that your relationship is over.”
“No, my problem is that you lied to me.”
“About what?”
I narrow my gaze, wondering how I never saw how narcissistic she was, or perhaps I didn’t want to because I loved her so much.
“Everything. You…you told me he was the reason you went to prison and that everyone pointed their fingers at you but that you were innocent.”
“I am innocent!”
Shaking my head, I feel nothing but pity.
“Landen wouldn’t do that unless he was certain you were guilty.
I didn’t think that way before because I never gave him the chance to show me who he was since I believed you without question.
But once all of that bullshit got erased from my mind, I got to know him and the type of wonderful, kind, sweet man he is.
I have no doubt he’d never do what you’ve accused him of. ”
“Oh my God…you’re choosing a man over your own cousin?”
“Because I know him! And I know he’d never lie about what he saw that day.”
“You think you do, but you don’t know him like I do. He’s a pathological liar and he ruined my life!”
“No…no, no, no.” Amused by her outburst, I shake my head with a humorless laugh. “You ruined your own life when you did what you did and then didn’t take accountability for it.”
“Oh my God. It’s gotta be the lack of oxygen not gettin’ to your brain because we’ve discussed this at length!”
“You mean you brainwashed me! I was young and vulnerable, and you took advantage! You knew I worshipped you and would’ve believed anything you told me.”
And I did. For years.
She whips my hand out of her grip and flinches like I’ve struck her. With her arms crossed, she scowls. “I did no such thing!”
“You claimed that girl jumped and had some suicide pact with her boyfriend, but that’s a lie, isn’t it? Landen and his friends testified against you because they witnessed you pushing her. Not because they were covering up her depression. You shoved her off the ledge and she drowned.”
“That’s not true! They’re all liars,” she repeats the same three words I’ve heard for years.
“Landen would never lie about something so serious. When I started trainin’ with Noah, I looked up news articles about what happened and it stated that Landen and a couple of his friends jumped into the water to search for her.
But it never mentioned that you went in…
” I shake my head at how obvious it is now.
“Well, I didn’t need to. They were already lookin’…”
“Talia was your best friend and you don’t immediately jump in to look for her?”
“Landen was a lifeguard! What good was I compared to him?”
“That’s right, he is…” I say mockingly. “Which is maybe why you felt so comfortable shoving her off because you figured he’d be there to save her. But you didn’t calculate her smacking her head on a boulder and drownin’ before he could find her, right?”
That’s what they described happened at the trial and it’s insane how much of it I’m now remembering.
“It all makes sense now. Landen told me about his best friend, Tucker, and how he jumped off a bridge after his girlfriend died. That was Talia. She drowned and he wanted to go the same way she did. If they’d made a pact, why would he have waited two years after? That doesn’t add up…”
“I don’t know! Tucker made that choice, not me.”
“You’re even more heartless than I could’ve imagined if you truly believe that your actions don’t have consequences beyond the law.”
“So I’m to blame for his decision?”
“You pushed his girlfriend off a cliff! You’re the reason she died and the reason he wanted to die.
” I pierce her with a scowl I’ve only ever given Landen in the past. “You made me believe every word you said! I thought you were innocent and that they were placin’ blame on you for no reason.
Do you have any idea how cruel I was to Landen?
How much resentment I held for him? And now to realize he didn’t deserve it…
” I sigh, giving my heart a moment to slow down.
“You know what’s worse, though? No matter how mean I was to him, he was never mean back.
In four years, he never treated me the horrible way I treated him. ”
And realizing that makes me sick to my stomach.
“Sounds like he’s the one who’s brainwashed you…” She shrugs carelessly. “He went up in front of a judge and jury and told them I shoved Talia off purposely because I was jealous. It’s laughable, Ellie! I had nothing to be jealous of.”
“But you did shove her…”
She narrows her eyes before rolling them and scoffing. “Fine. But she asked me to.”
I blow out a hollow laugh. “You’re unreal. After eleven years, you finally confess she didn’t jump and you can’t even be truthful enough about it to admit you pushed her unprompted.”
She holds up her hands in mock surrender. “Ya know what, believe whatever you want.”
“Get out,” I say, defeated.
“What? You can’t be serious.”
“Just…leave. Please, I can’t look at you anymore. You are my biggest regret.”
She overdramatically gasps, but it’s all for show by the way her nostrils flare. She’s only mad I’m not buying into her bullshit anymore.
“How can you say that? We spent nearly every day together as kids. Sleepovers, shopping trips, movie theater outings. I loved you like a little sister.”
“You loved manipulating me. You’re the reason I spiraled and became someone I wasn’t.”
“Don’t blame me for your little depressive episodes. If it wasn’t for what happened, you woulda never gotten into barrel racing and made a successful career out of it. You should be thankin’ me.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose because talking any sense into her is a lost cause. “You’re certifiably delusional, Angela. And I don’t say that as a joke, either.”
“Wow, that hurts,” she snaps, her jaw ticking as if she’s trying to control her emotions. “What about the money, then?”
I should’ve expected she’d bring it up because that’s probably the only reason she kept me in her life this long. She only valued me if I blindly followed her.
“Fine, you can have it. But then I never wanna see you again. I mean it, I want you out of my life forever.”
“You can’t be serious. We’re family.”
“And family doesn’t do what you’ve done to me. If you want the money, that’s what I want in return. Go start your life over…far away from Sugarland Creek. Don’t bother my parents or your mother. She’s suffered enough from your actions, too.”
“I think whatever medication they gave you is causing you not to think clearly. Maybe you should take some time to reconsider—”
I fold my hands in my lap and sit up straighter. “I’m thinking more clearly than I ever have and it’s so obvious now what you did. And you’re not even remorseful for it.”
“Whatever.” She turns and grabs a purse off the chair, then slings it over her shoulder. “I’ll text you my account number so you can wire it. Once I do my six months at the re-entry center, Gage and I will find a place out of town.”
“Gage?”
“Yeah, my boyfriend. He’s been my pen pal for the past couple years. I coulda sworn I mentioned that to you?” She shrugs casually. “I’ve told him all about you.”
Oh my God.
“Angela, no. You can’t move in with him.”
Even though I want nothing to do with her, doesn’t mean I want to see her get hurt. Gage is bad news.
“Why not?” She crosses her arms, pouting like a defiant teenager. “You just told me to get lost and now you’re tellin’ me what I can and can’t do? You don’t even know him.”
“He—”
Before I can explain, the door opens and my parents enter with Aunt Phoebe.
“You’re awake,” Mom cries and rushes to the side of my bed, then takes my hand. “You feelin’ okay?”
Angela bails without a second glance or goodbye to her mother, and I watch as the door closes behind her.
I nod. “Great.”
“They gave you something to calm your racing heart and it knocked you out for a while.”
“When Angela accused Landen of being responsible for puttin’ her in prison, I went into shock and started remembering things from before the accident,” I tell her.
“You had an extreme anxiety attack.” Mom wipes under her eyes before tears can fall. “I’m so relieved you’re okay.”
“I remember everything,” I admit. “Why didn’t you tell me when I forgot? When I was gettin’ close to Landen?”
“Oh.” She sucks in her lip like she’s nervous. “We weren’t supposed to—”
“And we didn’t want to. Landen’s a good man,” Dad chimes in, taking me by surprise because he’s the one who warned me not to get too close to him in the first place. “He treats you the way you deserve. Hard-working. Funny. I like him.”
I burst out laughing and my heart swells because he’s right. But all this time, I didn’t think my parents thought too much about him. Turns out, they didn’t want me to remember hating him either.
“We figured this was your second chance to live your own life without the weight of the trauma you went through,” Dad explains. “You got to do whatever you wanted even if that didn’t include riding.”
“We’ve never seen you happier, sweetie.” Mom smiles gently.
“It’s true,” Aunt Phoebe speaks up for the first time and squeezes in between my parents. “You went from a depressed workaholic to a vibrant, young twenty-something-year-old. Like how you should be.”
“Gee…thanks?” I laugh.
“Sweetheart, Noah and Landen are in the waitin’ room,” Mom tells me.
“He’s here?” I beam, though I’m not surprised.
“Yes, and he’s a nervous wreck,” Dad says.
Mom pats my hand. “Put that man out of his misery, will ya?”
I choke out a laugh, nodding. “Tell him to come in.”