Page 98 of Ironwood Ranch Cowboys

I press my hand against the side of the building, grounding myself against the rough wood. “How much time do you have?”

“Not long.”

Of course not.

“Evan, listen to me,” I say, forcing each word to come out clear. “You cannot keep doing this. You can’t just⁠—”

“I know,” he cuts in, clearly breaking. “I know, Annie, I’m sorry, I just… I didn’t know who else to call.”

And there it is. The hook, the thing that always gets me, because no matter how many times he screws up, no matter how many times I tell myself I’m done being the safety net, he’s still my little brother.

He’s still the kid who used to climb into my bed after nightmares and pretend he wasn’t scared, still the one person who calls me like I’m the answer, and I don’t know how to not be that for him.

My eyes sting.

I blink hard.

“Okay,” I say finally even though the word feels like a surrender. “I’ll help. I’ll send you the money today.”

Relief floods his voice so fast it makes my chest ache. “Thank you. Thank you, I… I’ll pay you back, I swear⁠—”

“You always say that.”

“I mean it this time.”

“You always mean it.”

He goes silent. Guilt, probably.

“I’ll figure something out,” I say, already running through numbers in my head. Savings. Contracts.

What I can move, what I can’t. What this will cost me long term.

It’s too much, I know that, but I have to do it anyway.

“Okay,” he says, softer now. “Okay.”

“Text me the details,” I add. “Everything. No half-truths.”

“I will.”

I sigh heavily. “Evan.”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t make me regret this.”

A beat. “I won’t.”

We both know that’s not a promise he can guarantee.

I hang up before I can think about that too hard.

I just stand there, phone still in my hand, heart racing, breath uneven. The world feels jagged around the edges, too loud, too real.

I’ve worked too hard for this, for my own little nest egg so I can keep living my life the way I want to.

And now…