Wade
The weathered edges of the worn business card felt soft against my fingers as I flipped it through them for the hundredth time.
I woke up this morning to find the card slipped between my door and its frame. Someone must have shoved it in there after I’d gone to bed. I had my suspicions as to who the culprit might be, but it didn’t matter. The sentiment was still the same—do better.
I’d turned the card over in my palm enough times so that I could read the embossed letters with my eyes closed: Ember Ridge Recovery Center.
I hadn’t looked into the facility further than what was written on this now-worn piece of cardstock, but the phrases “healing” and “PTSD” had me itching with unease.
I didn’t have PTSD; what I had was anger at anything and everything for the shitty hand life had dealt me in the last year.
PTSD was for soldiers returning from war. I didn’t have flashbacks that took me out of reality and into a war zone. I wasn’t hypervigilant about my surroundings. I was just fucking angry and rightfully so.
I slipped the card into the back pocket of my Wranglers, resigning myself to the fact that this was either Stella’s or Max’s way of saying they cared. I knew I needed to get a grip, especially for Charlie’s sake.
It had been over a month since I’d spent any time with my niece, and that hurt.
She wasn’t going to be little for long, and did I really want all of her memories from her childhood to be of an angry version of me?
She already had a dead dad and enough trauma to last a lifetime; she didn’t need me adding to it.
Pushing down the thoughts and focusing back on my work, I trudged into the office attached to the barn. It was a pathetic excuse for an office, but I wasn’t in there often enough to care.
The only things housed there were my training logs, notes on riders, boarding information, and a couple of belt buckles from my rodeo days I’d half-ass attempted to decorate with to appease Ray, who had said the room was boring and sad.
I thumbed through a folder on top of my desk, checking that each of the horses being boarded for the week was accounted for and that their riders were set for training.
Instead of the trainees having to load and haul their horses to and from the facility each time they had lessons, we offered to board them in our stables for an additional fee. Most of them took the opportunity and left them in our care.
We could take a maximum of ten horses at a time, and that included the four we kept around for ourselves. Anything more than that, and it was more than Max and I could handle on our own.
Having the horses housed here allowed us the opportunity to keep an eye on them for changes in gait, any shoeing issues, or signs that they may need veterinary care before their issues became unfixable.
Truthfully, the horses of rodeo riders were taken better care of than the riders themselves.
As I was checking one last thing, a soft knock came from the doorway. I expected to see Ray standing there after the night we had shared, but instead I was greeted with the soft features and emerald eyes of my new sister-in-law.
“Got a sec?” Stella asked hesitantly, refusing to step foot into the office without implicit permission. I held out a hand, signaling for her to sit in the one chair I kept on the opposite side of my desk.
It seemed formal, but I truthfully didn’t know how to act around her since the incident or my subsequent freak-out at Jack’s.
“Max was going to come down here and invite you, but I thought it would be better for us to chat a bit without an audience.”
Stella wasn’t meek by nature. The woman was a godforsaken tornado in human form and had barreled into our lives without an ounce of remorse. Seeing the dejected look on her face should have made me feel bad.
As much as I wanted to feel some semblance of remorse for the wedge that had been thrust into our relationship, I couldn’t find any response other than seething hatred for the woman.
Getting the hint that I wasn’t too keen on talking, she continued. “Max and I are having dinner and a game night on Friday. I know you technically live in the house and don’t need to be invited, but—”
“I don’t technically live there. I live there, point-blank.”
Though my harsh tone made her wince, she didn’t let it stop her from saying what she felt we needed to discuss.
“We wanted to make sure you were aware that we wanted you to be there for dinner at the least. You don’t have to stay and play games; I know that’s not really your speed, but it would mean a lot to your brother if you were there. ”
I mulled over the invite, not missing the fact that she hadn’t said it would mean a lot to her if I were there.
Things between Max and me had been strained since he and Stella had announced their quick engagement and wedding, but he was still my brother, and I needed to make an effort to be present in his life.
I stuck my hands in my back pockets, continuing to process Stella’s words. When my fingers touched the crumpled business card I’d slid in there earlier, I knew I could do this.
How hard could it be to have dinner with my brother, his new wife, and my adorable niece?