CHAPTERTHIRTY-SIX
When I get home to the cabin I used to share with Jared and Louie, I sink down onto the couch and pull up my phone contacts.
Then, I close the tab.
Here’s where I’d normally call Win or Peyton and ask for advice. New Orleans Ashley may even call my mom to get their opinions onmy life.
I’d listen to everybody but myself.
But this is Montana Ashley. Not New Orleans Ashley.
And Wild West Ash is braver than Southern Ash.
Southern Ash was hella brave. She survived an abusive household for most of her childhood. She took care of her mother.
But she didn’t take care of her own heart.
That’s where Wild West Ash needs to step in and be braver.
I open my social feed.
Fifteen minutes before I go live, I debate over what to do. Text could be missed until it’s too late. But I can’t call Jared because he’ll want to talk.
So I do the next best thing.
I find Max’s name in my contacts and press the button.
When he answers, I keep it short—
Tell your twin brother to look at my social.
* * *
Jared
Cabin twelve is lonely as hell.
Louie’s been wandering around the living room meowing since we moved in.
“I miss her too,” I say into the empty living room.
Meow!
Louie glares at me and then struts out of the room like she knows I’m to blame for the separation.
Which I am.
I thought I was doing it for Ashley.
Now I’m not so sure.
As I walk around and around the room, staring out the windows at the ranch fields and the majestic mountains beyond, my phone vibrates in my pocket.
Liam’s name scrolls across my screen, and I swipe.
“Hey.”
“What’s up with you?” he says right away.
