Page 10 of Bad Decisions & Back Roads

I heard his words.They were practical and reasonable.But they twisted everything inside me, like he’d already decided where he stood…and it wasn’t with me or the family.

“Do you think Erika is actually going to take time off after having a baby?”I heard myself say it before I could stop.Mean.Precise.The kind of hit I only made when I was losing control.

Josh’s head snapped toward me, his expression tight.“She will if I say she will.”

There was no weight behind the words.No real authority.Just a man trying to convince himself he had control over something when he absolutely did not.We both knew better.If Erika wanted to be back here a week after giving birth, she would be—baby strapped to her chest, scrubbing into surgery like nothing had changed.“Force of nature” didn’t even begin to cover it.

And Josh?—

Josh wouldn’t fight her about it.He might fracture inside, but he’d hold it together, unlike me.It was all in the way he stood there, braced between everything—his wife, his job, me—and somehow still chose to hold the line for all of it…even if it meant I ended up on the other side.

“Dad’s here,” Josh said.“He wants you to take his truck home.He’ll get yours detailed to clean up the blood.Mom will pick up Sofia and bring her home.I’ll bring Buck back later.You’ve got that production consult at the dairy in an hour.Andy flew in from Michigan and we’re paying him a fortune for the evaluation.”

“I know.”I blinked hard, once, twice, like I could force everything back into place if I focused hard enough.I had places to be today and two businesses to hold together.The dairy was doing okay but could be better, which is why we were investing in the consultation.

“Buck will be fine.This kind of shit happens.”Josh’s voice dipped, quieter now.Careful.“Dad mentioned Milly.She?—”

“Yep, got it.”The words came out fast, too fast.I cut him off before he could finish and open a can of worms I wasn’t willing to discuss right now.I dragged a hand down my face.I didn’t want another lecture about how stupid I’d been to get involved with Milly.I knew.“I’ll head out.It’s handled.Every goddamned thing will be handled.”

ChapterThree

GIA

I easedonto the edge of the bed and set a fresh tumbler of ice water on the nightstand.The ice clinked together too loudly in the quiet room.

“Oh, hey.How’s my sister the vet doc today?”Misty dragged her tongue over her cracked lips, then swallowed like it scraped all the way down.

I grabbed the lip balm and pressed it into her hand, nodding toward the water.If I opened my mouth to speak, too much might come out.

“It was a day,” I settled on.“How about you?”

“The day after chemo is a bitch.”She smeared the balm across her lips, missing the corner the first time before correcting it, already reaching for the water tumbler.“I threw up for hours.I thought I was going to pass out, but I took more meds.Now I can’t keep my eyes open.”She let out a short, humorless laugh, then winced like even that cost her.

I stepped forward automatically when she struggled upright, but stopped myself mid-motion.My hands hovered uselessly in the air before I forced them back to my sides.

She noticed.Of course she did.“I’ve got it,” she muttered, softer than I expected.Not snapping.Just stubborn.

“I’m glad you’re here.Really.I know this…isn’t small.”Misty didn’t quite look at me when she said it, like meeting my eyes would make it too real.“Also glad you picked me up last week.I couldn’t have left on my own.”

I was furious at both of my parents for not helping Misty through her diagnosis or treatments.Since she was no longer able to do chores around the farm, they treated her like a defective puppy that needed to go off on its own and die.

“I glad you decided it best to leave.”I’d been sneaking on the farm to take her to treatments for three weeks.

She gave me a fragile smile, the kind that flickered in and out like it might not stick.“I haven’t had this much time to binge shows in my life.”A faint laugh followed.“Silver lining, right?”

“Yeah.”I fanned my shirt to get air moving, realizing it was stifling in this room.“It’s so hot in here.How can you be under all those blankets?”

“I think the A/C is out or something.I don’t notice, though.I’m always freezing these days.”

“I’ll check it later and call the landlord.”The rental house hadn’t been upgraded since the nineties.Many of the appliances were spotty, but it was what I could afford for the two of us.

Then, like it took effort to pivot, Misty asked, “Was it bad?Work, I mean.”Her eyes lifted to mine, a little unfocused but trying.

I hesitated.

“Tell me about it,” she said, nudging when I didn’t answer right away.

I dropped my gaze to my hands.It should’ve felt like an opening.It didn’t.