Chapter 1 #2
“Are the doctors helping?” Jackie asked.
Tag shook his head in annoyance. “We went to the hospital three damn times before anyone would even listen to us.” His protective instinct was coming out in his animation and the way he jerked his head.
It was the most I’d ever heard him talk.
“But they eventually got her on a pill that dissolves. It helps a little.”
Estelle’s voice squeaked. “Is the baby going to be okay?”
Tag nodded. “We got an ultrasound a few weeks back. Baby’s fine so far.”
The ramifications of this hit my brain one by one. From the bits and pieces I’d gathered about Bea’s new life in Texas, she wasn’t sitting on a cushion or kicking back to relax. She was working. In fact, it was Bea who opened a bed and breakfast at the ranch last year.
My family peppered Tag and Bea with questions, but didn’t ask the one thing blaring through my mind. When a gap in the conversation appeared, I asked, “So, what about the bnb? Who’s taking care of that right now?”
Tag took a deep breath. “Right now, me and my foreman, Jesse, are kinda tag-teamin’ it.”
I looked away from my camera screen, certain I wouldn’t be able to school the reaction on my face. The name Jesse conjured up a lot of feelings—none of which I wanted to experience when my family could watch my every move.
Tag continued, “We’re not sure what we’re gonna do through the summer. We’re tryin’ to hire a steward but that’s not goin’ too well.”
“Why not?” Peter asked.
Tag lifted a shoulder. “It’s remote and temporary.”
“Temporary?”
Bea lifted her head. “The bnb isn’t Meadowbrook’s future.
It supplements our income, but we hope we won’t need it in a few years.
” Bea explained Meadowbrook’s plan to do away with the bed and breakfast after Tag made it into the Western Pro Rodeo Alliance which he, hopefully, would be applying for in the fall if they had enough funds for the application fee and inspections.
But keeping the bnb open through the summer was vital to helping them reach that financial goal.
A notification from Jackie popped over the top of my screen. I turned the camera off.
Jackie
You should go help them.
Me
With what?
Jackie
Hello the bnb?!?
Me
No, I don’t think so.
Jackie
Why not? You’re sitting at home right now doing who knows what all day.
I rolled my eyes at her insinuation that I was lazy.
Me
Full time moms do a lot thank you very much.
Jackie
*you’re sitting at home doing laundry and feeding kids and waiting for that dipshit to come home. You’re the only one who doesn’t have obligations outside your family.
speaking of the devil himself…Are you going to tell them?!
Me
No!! Not right now!
Mind your own business.
Jackie
rn Bea is my business and you’re about to get volunteered.
Me
Don’t you dare!
I pressed the send button so hard I almost broke a nail.
When I flipped back to the Zoom tab, Jackie was back too, with a spicy twinkle in her eye. “Would it help if one of us came down to work for the summer?”
Bea shook her head. “We would never ask one of you to do that. You all have your own lives and commitments.”
“Hollie doesn’t.” Jackie twisted her brows, pretending it was the first time that thought occurred to her. “What if she and the girls came?”
Eyes slid to me.
She continued, “I mean, she doesn’t need the paycheck so she’s the perfect option.”
I smiled as genuinely as I possibly could.
I was going to kill Jackie. This reckless volunteering of me and my daughters to uproot ourselves and go to Texas for a while proved that Jackie knew far less about my situation than she realized.
In the last eight months, my life had turned into a web of legal complications.
My attorney had explicitly advised me not to suddenly leave the state.
I couldn’t toss my responsibilities to the wind and disappear over the horizon.
Even if Garrett did it first.
Anxiety, my familiar foe, wrapped its fingers around my neck. Practiced, I kept my smile in place even as my hands clasped together beneath the desk and my left thumb dug into a nail bed on my other hand. The stinging sensation calmed me, an outlet for feelings I could never share.
Mom looked at me, hope in her eyes. “Is there any way you could potentially go, Hollie? What would Garrett say?”
I drew in a breath, avoiding Jackie’s glare. “Honestly, I would love to come and the girls would too, I…uh…” My voice trailed off as I groped for a way out.
Peter shook his head. “Garrett is never going to let her leave that long. We all know that.”
I scoffed, indignant. “What are you talking about? Of course he would.”
Jumping to his defense came as naturally as breathing.
Even after all we’d been through, I didn’t want my family to think ill of him.
True, I had turned down family vacations, celebrations, Zoom calls, birthday parties, and countless other fun things because of the drama it caused with Garrett.
Even mentioning invitations to Garrett was a sacrifice of my peace.
So, I usually just turned my family down on the spot.
I blamed it on ballet class, extra-curricular activities, or a business related event of some kind.
But now, when I should’ve been untethered and free to do as I pleased, I still held back. Why?
Habit, I guessed. Thirteen years is a long time.
My thumb nail dug deeper into my cuticle until a warm fluid seeped between my fingers.
I stuck my thumb under my thigh, stifling a whine of pain.
I forced a smile even though my bleeding cuticle felt like fire as it chaffed against denim.
“Let me talk to him about it. Even if I can’t stay long, I could definitely go for at least a little while. ”
Mom nodded. “Let me know after you talk to him, honey. I’ve already looked at my schedule to see if I can get away from work for a week or so to come visit and help.”
My family continued to talk about Bea, the baby, Tag, and the ranch for a while before the conversation moved to other topics. I was the first to leave the meeting.
After disconnecting, I got up and paced the room.
There was a lot to consider. The idea of Bea suffering without family nearby gutted me.
She looked awful. The big sister spirit ingrained into my heart wanted to rush down there right now and spoonfeed her pistachio pudding, but my legal obligations loomed like a dark rain cloud.
Law required me to get written permission to leave, but…
he hadn’t seen or contacted the girls in months. He wouldn’t even realize we were gone.
What did the law say about that?
Technically, I could call Gabriella and ask her.
My attorney was always open for questions, but I dreaded doing so.
Getting Garrett’s written approval to go to Texas for Bea’s wedding in April had taken weeks.
I didn’t want to go through that process again.
Plus, Garrett wouldn’t accuse me of not following the parenting allotment when he hadn’t followed it either.
He was vindictive at times, but he wasn’t stupid.
Taking me to court over a sick family member when he was behind on child support and alimony with zero excuses wouldn’t bode well for him.
And that was if he even realized we’d left.
On my fourth trip around the room, I recognized excitement bubbling in my veins. I missed this feeling. I’d been so numb for so long I forgot what a tiny dose of hope could feel like. For months now, I ran in a glitched loop—looking for an exit I’d never find.
This was it.
We needed some time away. From this house. From the realities I was terrified to face.
I yanked open my filing cabinet and rifled through papers until I found the allotment Garrett and I signed in October.
My eyes scanned the lines. Gabriella told me I could file a motion against Garrett for not following through on visiting the girls and paying child support.
But my highest priority was preserving my daughters’ relationship with their dad.
My heart bucked against the mere idea of taking him to court again.
Fire ran through my veins as I perused the pathetically small list of commitments Garrett made. He hadn’t followed through on any of them.
So, if I was going to be technical, he breached this parenting plan already.
My phone dinged again.
Jackie
Please go.
Me
Why are you so set on this?
Jackie
Because you’re so set on THIS.
My face twisted as I tried to understand what she meant. But then she sent a picture to explain herself—a bridal party photo from Tag and Bea’s wedding, zoomed and cropped down to contain one person, and one person only.
The Meadowbrook Ranch foreman I never wanted to see again.
Jesse.
Me
JACQUELINE RUTH THOMPSON!!!
Jackie
No need to yell.
Me
I’m NOT set on him.
Jackie
You’re protesting an awful lot.