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But could that young love have survived? She didn’t regret leaving Blackwater, but leaving Brett…

Hadley’s bedroom door creaked, and she peeked out into the living room. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Just trying to solve all the problems,” Thea said as she pushed to sit up straighter.

“No need to rush. They’ll be waiting for all of us in the morning.”

Thea chuckled. “That’s what I’m afraid of. And every morning after that.”

Hadley rested a hand on Thea’s shoulder. “You need rest. It’s been a long day. You’re still healing.”

“I should just go home,” Thea whispered.

“What happens when you get there? Do you have someone to drive you to your follow-up appointments? Do you have someone who can help you shop for groceries?”

Hadley raised some of the questions Thea had been asking herself. She’d inevitably find herself stuck without help, and she’d probably mess up her fragile lung at the very least. The leg brace would be gone soon, but she’d really messed up her ankle when she continued to run for her life after twisting it. “Not really. I have friends, and some of the ladies at church would help, but they’re mostly older. It’s a small church.”

“Then let’s table those thoughts. At least for a few days. Brett won’t let anything happen to you, and the ranch is truly safer now. There were some incidents this past year that brought up the need for heightened security. Jameson has been focused on it all winter.”

Thea pushed up onto her good leg and grabbed the crutches. “I guess I need to get ready for bed before Brett gets back.”

“He’s a good one, you know?”

“I do. And there was a time when I thought that was a good thing. Now, it just makes it harder to pretend I don’t care about him.”

“Then don’t pretend. What’s holding you back?”

“Everything. The odds were always stacked against us, and for a while, I thought we were meant to weather that storm together. Then I started doubting his innocence, and everything got messed up.” Thea rubbed a hand over her brow. The confusion was just as strong as ever. “It’s almost like my feelings are being decided for me. Like, we were such a sure thing back then. Did I even think about it before falling headlong into love? I guess I didn’t have much of a choice. You feel what you feel, right?”

Hadley shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been in love.”

Hadley stood and wrapped her arms around Thea. Resting into the comfort, she let the silent tears go. It didn’t help anything to keep them bottled up, and pretty soon, the little bits of hope she kept collecting would make her want to believe she and Brett might actually be able to win, despite the odds stacked against them.

But that was a fool’s dream. The happy life they’d imagined when they were younger had only been a vapor–a fantasy they’d made up when they’d been drunk on love and dreams.

“So, big question coming,” Hadley said as she pulled out of the hug.

Thea wiped her tears and hardened her heart. “Bring it on.”

“How are you going to shower with one working leg?”

A loud laugh burst from Thea’s chest before she could rein it in, and she immediately clutched her chest. “I have no idea. Very carefully?”

“I’ll help. We’ll figure it out in the morning.”

“Thanks. It’s probably overdue, but I’m about fifteen minutes from crashing. There’s no way I could take on the shower monster tonight.”

Hadley jerked her head toward the bathroom. “You can have the bathroom first.”

“I won’t be long.”

Long was a relative term because it took a few too many minutes to brush her teeth and comb through her dirty hair. A shower was definitely the first thing on the to-do list tomorrow. One of the nurses had washed the blood out of her hair, but whatever shampoo they’d used made her hair feel like a horse’s mane.

Maybe she’d get to the stables soon. Ava had work waiting for her in the main offices, but she’d been praying to catch a glimpse of the horses all day. She’d been lucky to snag the job at Lakeshore Stables when she moved to Alabama, and the horses had helped her through that dark time as much as the people. The silent friends had been all the therapy she’d needed.

She braved a glimpse at herself in the small mirror and regretted it. The bruises were purple along the crescent below her left eye. The split in her lip was closed but still looked gruesome. One thing she hadn’t noticed before were the finger-shaped bruises on the side of her neck.

What a perfect visual of the hand that had held her down her whole life. Howards or Pattons, they’d choked the life out of her in more ways than one.