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“Kite asked us never to tell you Sculpt and him owned the farm. He said you’d leave and you needed to stay.” Yeah, I probably would have. “I’m sorry. I don’t know if we were wrong to not tell you, but when those horses came … Emily, you came alive, and Matt and I knew it was the right thing. You belonged here. And damn it, I did too. Never thought I’d like shoveling shit, but the horses are amazing, and ever since I started painting them, the demand for my work has tripled. Who would’ve thought we’d both be living our dreams doing what we love.”
I smiled. In the short time they’d been here, Kat was learning to ride and was often out fixing fences and repairing the tractor. She was also selling her art work in three galleries in the city.
I hadn’t been the only one who suffered. Matt and Kat had too. I’d put them through months of not speaking, the unwillingness to continue therapy even though I probably needed it. They stood by me and were there for me, never once telling me to stop hiding, to stop hating Logan, to stop feeling sorry for myself. No, they’d just accepted who I’d become and embraced it.
“Was it Sculpt’s idea to bring in the abused horses?” Of course it had to have been. I’d told him my dream of having my own horse farm and helping abused horses, and now I was living it. I felt sick to my stomach at how much I’d loathed him, and he’d … he’d given me my dream and taken away his. I made good money helping people with their horses. He’d given me that.
“I’m guessing, but I don’t know for sure. None of us heard from Sculpt for months after you came back. Not even Kite. Deck went back down to Mexico, and this time he was gone a while. Don’t know what happened, but when Deck came back Sculpt wasn’t with him.” Kat laid her hand on top of mine. “I’m sorry, Emily. God, I wish I could take away what happened to both of you.”
“Do you know what happened there?” I could feel my chest tightening and the panic begin to creep into my veins at the thought of telling Kat.
She shook her head. “No. Not really. I just know when Matt brought you home you were so broken and hurt. I could see the anger behind your pain. I love you. Matt and I would do anything for you.” Her voice quieted. “Sculpt … I know you hate him, but now that you know the truth maybe—”
“Kat. God, he … he did everything to get me out, but I can’t. I just can’t.”
She lowered her head and nodded.
“I can’t forget. I get it. He did it to protect me. He got me out. And I guess … He was a victim too. But the memories when I see him … They’re too much of who he became.”
“If you ever want to … Shit, Emily, I know you don’t want to go back to a therapist, but if you need to talk, I’m a good listener.”
I smiled. “Kat, you’re a horrible listener—you’re way too impatient.”
She laughed. “True.”
“Kat, you and Matt mean the world to me. You’re my family. After what happened … you gave me time to heal. Yeah, I hate finding out Sculpt owns the farm. It makes me feel …” Guilty, maybe. He’d given up his tour money so that I’d have a place to live and be safe from his father. “Kat, you and Matt gave up everything for me.”
“God, I hate to say this but, so did Sculpt.”
My breath hitched. I looked at her, and my insides twisted as if she’d just punched me in the stomach. She was right. He had. But she had no idea that Logan watched me being dragged away to be tortured. The worst was when Raul held the gun to my head and I heard his feet shift, and then … he left me there.
In my head I knew the truth of why he had to do it that way, but I couldn’t let him in again. The trust. The laughter. All that had been good between us, it was tainted.
A second chance … there wasn’t one for us.
Kat stood and placed her hands on her hips staring down at me. “I need a drink. You need a drink. Lots of drinks. And I’m sure Georgie needs lots of drinks, so we’re going to Avalanche tonight.”
I really didn’t feel like dancing or socializing, but staying here wondering if Logan was coming back was the last thing I wanted to do. I needed to numb out the plague that was running through my head.
Kat went into action as she pulled open the closet doors and started tossing clothes out onto the bed. “Go put your makeup on. I’m picking you out something to wear. We’re looking extra hot tonight.”
What I wanted was a bottle of wine and to plop down in front of the TV. I walked into the bathroom and stared at myself for a long time in the mirror, unable to see who was looking back at me—the girl broken and lost to a man she fell in love with or a woman who learned to survive with a broken heart. Maybe I was a little of both.
Brett was serving like a champion, pouring three drinks at once while taking cash and using his hip to close the cash register. I waited patiently to catch his attention. I was in no hurry, Kat and I had been dancing for an hour already, and I needed a break and another shot. We’d chugged back three tequilas when we arrived, and I was due for another.
A hand slammed down in front of me. “Emily, been a while. Where’ve you been, hot stuff?”
For all the commotion, Brett looked damn calm. His blue eyes flickered with amusement as he poured a Stella from the bar tap and slid it down the bar, all the while his attention never wavered from me.
