Page 15 of Set It Right
By the time dinner ended, my skin had grown too tight for me to sit still another second. I made my excuses and left quickly, the need to get out of that room urgent and overwhelming.
Something had cracked open inside me, and though I didn’t have a name for it, I was pretty damn sure it couldn’t be shut again. At least not while Zara was on the ranch.
I didn’t know what that meant, only that I couldn’t ignore it. I knew what I had to do, and hesitating or dragging it out wouldn’t be fair to anyone.
Chapter Seven
Zara
Aftermyfirstdayat work, I slept better than I had in years. Javier ran a tight ship and used his guides to the fullest, but that wasn’t what had knocked me out cold.
It was spending the day in the sunshine, my feet planted in soil that held nothing but good memories. It was smiling until my cheeks ached, getting nuzzled by gorgeous horses, and feeling like I was exactly where I was meant to be. It was peace, heavy and warm, settling into my bones.
My second day was just as good. I joined another guide, Henrik from Germany, to lead guests on a hike and rock climbing. It reminded me of when Cormac would take me out to his favorite scrambles, him standing on the ground, yelling directions at me as I climbed my way up.
“To the right, Z. Keep your foot where it is and reach out with your right hand.”
I hugged the face of the boulder, every instinct telling me to get my butt back on the ground. “I don’t think I can.”
“You can. I’ve done it a hundred times. Do you really think there’s something I can do you can’t?” he called.
I squeezed my eyes shut. “You’re manipulating me.”
“Maybe. Is it working?”
I bit back a smile. “It might be.”
“Do it, Zara. Trust me, all right?”
I slowly exhaled and nodded, reaching out my right hand. “I trust you, Maccie.”
I’d trusted him so much, I was sure he would have caught me if I’d fallen. For a long time, he had. Even from a distance, he’d been there, arms wide open.
When my mom got sick, he was the only one I wanted to talk to.
He came to visit after her surgery and held me while I cried out all my worries—worries I’d hidden from my dad and Zane. They’d already had more than enough to bear. But never Cormac. And he’d never made me feel like I was a burden.
Cormac had been a once-in-a-lifetime kind of friend.
I wasn’t so sureI’dbeen a great friend to him, though. If I had, he wouldn’t have said those things about me.
I’d just finished my third day of work, and exhaustion was seeping into my bones. The good kind where I was melting into my couch with my feet kicked up, eating a sandwich, talking to my brother on the phone.
“Ready to come home?” he deadpanned.
I laughed. “Not even close.”
He sighed. “I was afraid you’d say that. They’re going to get to keep you, aren’t they?”
“I told you, this is just for the summer.” I was trying not to think about the end, though—especially since it had just started. “By then, I’m sure I’ll be longing for fluorescent lights and my computer screen.”
He snorted. “Has anyone ever truly longed for either of those things?”
“I’m sure someone has.”
I shoved my sandwich into my mouth while Zane told me about a cantankerous patient he’d been dealing with this week. Then he waxed poetic about Steven’s lifting gains at the gym.
“It still boggles my mind you married a gym bro.”
