Reaching over, I grab my phone off the nightstand. I ignored it yesterday and last night while I was with Devlin. When he’d come and gotten me at the pharmacy, I hadn’t expected him to bring me to his house. It hadn’t even been a thought on my mind. I assumed he would take me home to my apartment. I hadn’t imagined he’d bring me here, not when the Nelson brothers are so private about what their home and business look like. There aren’t a lot of people here that actually know what the hell is going on out on the Nelson ranch. Opening my phone, I see a few texts from my sister.
Lennon
Atlee, I heard about what happened last night, are you okay? People said they saw you leave with Devlin. Get back to me as soon as possible.
God, I hadn’t even thought about texting her to let her know I’m okay. Not that our parents would care. She and I have always been the keepers of each other.
Me
I’m so sorry I didn’t text you after everything went down. I was slightly in shock. Even more in shock that Devlin brought me to his house.
Lennon
You’re on the Nelson ranch?
She’s gonna flip her shit when I tell her this.
Me
I’m not only on the Nelson ranch, but I’m in Devlin’s house. He lives separately from the rest of his brothers.
I wait for her to get back to me, but three little dots keep appearing and then disappearing. I know her better than anyone else, so I know she’s trying to get her thoughts together. But I’m not surprised when the text comes through.
Lennon
SHUT THE FUCK UP! Atlee, what the hell is happening?!?!?!
Me
I don’t know. I was at work, and then someone came in and threatened to rob me. I called Devlin because he told me to call my boss. He came storming in like he was about to save the damn day. Fuck it all if he didn’t. He was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen running in there.
Lennon
I’m sure he did, and I would have loved to have seen him running to save the day. Do you know how hot that is, Atlee? You’re living a real-life romance novel right now. You realize that, right?
I inhale deeply, hoping that it’ll settle the nervousness in my stomach. While I may be living a real-life romance novel, what got me here is bound to give me nightmares for a while.
Me
Yeah, I just wish I didn’t have to look at my face and see what happened to me.
Lennon
What do you mean?
Shit. I didn’t realize that she hadn’t been told about the violence of the robbery.
Me
What do you know about what happened?
My stomach is full of nerves as I wait for her to answer. I’ve never been the type of person who liked to call attention to myself, even if I’m not the one doing it. I’ve always been theone to make myself smaller. It was the easiest way to live in the household where we grew up. We were encouraged to never tell the truth, to always make people feel sorry for us, and to gather sympathy. If we didn’t, there were consequences. Now? I find it difficult to be honest without feeling guilty.
Lennon
Just that someone broke in and then Devlin came charging in to save the day. Is that not what happened? I saw Noah at the gas station this morning. He said you were lucky, but didn’t mention that anything worse than what I thought went down. Am I wrong?
My hand shakes as I lift my phone up and turn the screen so that I can take a selfie. It takes everything I have to firm my bottom lip up and clear the tears from my eyes, but I don’t want her to see me as her small, little sister who she’s had to protect her entire life. Quickly, I snap the picture and attach it to the message I’m sending.
