“Ellie, honey, are you okay?”
She was crying, and you could hear what she was saying to Jeff.
“No. She won’t let me into the house, and she’s screaming at me. The neighbors are going to start coming out soon if she doesn’t stop.”
The second I heard her voice over the phone, something weird happened to me. I couldn’t even explain it. An overwhelming sense of desire to rush into Austin and get her hit me from out of nowhere.
“I’m in Mason with Gunner, but we’re heading back.”
“No!” I heard her cry out.
“Ellie, listen to me . . . you’re not going to sit on the front porch of the house all night. Why don’t you go and get a hotel room somewhere; just use the credit card I gave you.”
Josh shook his head and looked at me. Jeff and Ellie’s mother was an alcoholic, and from what Jeff had told us, she had a tendency to take things out on Ellie.
“Ari’s calling! Hold on,” Ellie said.
Jeff let out a sigh of relief and looked at us. “Her best friend, Ari, is calling. Hopefully she’ll go and pick her up.”
Josh and I both nodded.
Jeff turned and started to walk back out into the yard.
“She is? Good. Don’t even bother, Ellie. Just go with Ari and call me if you need anything.”
I slipped my hands into my front pockets and waited for Jeff to finish talking to his sister. My heart was racing, and I couldn’t figure out why this phone call was bothering me so much. I was worried about Ellie because she was Jeff’s sister. That’s all it probably was.
When Jeff hung up, he faced us and let out a frustrated breath. “Her friend Ari is coming to get her. She only lives a couple of minutes down from us.”
“Damn, that sucks for your sister to have to go through that shit with your mom,” Josh said in a somber voice.
“Yeah, I hate it more than you can imagine. I wish Ellie would let me get her an apartment, but she keeps saying she can’t leave our mom. It’s so fucked-up.”
I glanced down to my boots and kicked at a rock that was on the front porch.
“I’m not in the mood for that beer anymore. I’m just gonna head in and get some sleep,” Jeff said as he walked up onto the porch.
I nodded in agreement. “Probably a good idea. Drake said he needs help hauling some hay tomorrow. Best if we get a good night’s sleep.”
“Sounds good to me. It just hit me how tired I actually am,” Josh said with a half-hearted chuckle.
The three of us quietly went into the house and up the steps before saying good night and retreating into our own rooms. By the time I got out of my clothes and crawled into bed, I couldn’t get Ellie Johnson out of my head.
When my eyes finally closed, I drifted off to sleep and into a dream that starred a girl I had never officially met, but who had consumed my thoughts as I drifted into sleep.
Ellie.
Chapter Seven – Gunner
The smell of my grandmother’s perfume floated around me as I leaned down to kiss her goodbye. I loved being on the ranch, and every time I had to leave, it gutted me.
“Bye, Grams, I’ll miss you.”
She kissed me on the cheek. “You be careful driving back to Austin, Drew. Don’t be gone for so long next time, okay?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Turning to Gramps, I reached my hand for his. “I hope we were of some help this weekend.”