Not anymore.
Eric had leaned forward, his arms wrapping around my middle, his hold tightening on me the more I wrote. After Iturned the notepad to face Sadie, Eric shifted me back to being sideways on his lap with a growl that had me holding my breath, unsure what was wrong.
“He threw out your crochet things? Your stepfather seriously tossed out your craft supplies?”
Relaxing now I understood he was angry at Jack and not me, I nodded and reached for the notepad again.
First day: Crochet things. ADHD meds. Phone.
“That bastard.”
Master Cord’s low voice held ice that I was glad wasn’t directed my way. Eric trembled beneath me. Tossing the notepad onto the table near where Kimori still sat, I cupped Eric’s face between my palms, tilting his head down before dropping one hand to his shoulder so I could press my cheek against his. Closing my eyes, I just breathed with him, hoping he found the same solace in me as I did in him. While I appreciated that he clearly didn’t agree with Jack’s actions, there was no need for him to get this angry over it. I knew better than most that the past was set in stone and there was no changing it.
Sadie whispered, but I still heard her clearly.
“Starting to wonder who is gonna end up helping who more.”
“Sadie, love, that’s the beauty of Rawhide magic. It knows exactly what people need and provides it. There’s no more or less, only the perfect amount for everyone.”
So maybe it wasn’t Eric that was magic, but the Ranch. He turned his face a fraction and brushed a kiss to my cheek, making me shiver as heat fired through me, and confirmed that it was Eric who held magic.
Pulling away, I kept my gaze on Eric’s lips, not ready to face the others yet.
“Calla, we’ll make it right. We’ll fix everything he screwed up for you. I’ll take you this afternoon to see Quincy Nelson, he’s the primary doctor for the Ranch. Dr. Nelson can call Dr. Stringerand we can work out what you were taking and if we need to adjust it. You’ve got your new phone, and we’re getting a tablet and laptop sorted for you as well. Then tomorrow, I’ll take you shopping. I will find the biggest craft store in Montana and take you there to buy all the supplies you could want.”
My breath caught as I tried to process that he was offering me everything I could need.
“That’s why we were so excited when we arrived, Calla. We’ve got all the cases and stuff for your tech. Eric told us you liked purple, so we went hunting for the coolest purple stuff we could find. We’ve also gotten a room over in the university dorms set up for you.”
Sadie stopped talking when I spun on Eric’s lap to look at her, panic rising. They were putting me into a dorm room? I couldn’t stay in the princess room I’d slept in last night? With Eric next door.
Sadie’s expression softened. “We’re not forcing you to take it or move in right now. Just, well, no one wants to live in a resort room long term. And Daddy mentioned you were looking through the courses to decide what you wanted to do, so it makes sense for you to live in the dorms. At least to start with. And the dorms are super nice. We can go check them out later once you finish with Dr. Nelson. You’ll have a bedroom all to yourself and share a common area with a few other students. There’s currently only three others where I’ve got you set up.”
While I understood everything Sadie just said, added to all that Eric had told me just prior, my mind spun into chaos, all the different threads trying to grab my focus. I considered signing yellow or red even, so Eric would take me to the calm of the sensory room where I’d be able to retreat from the world and process everything. But I didn’t want to end this experience just yet. I’d never had friends before. Never had people so willing,excited even, to help me achieve my dreams. Ones that I’d been sure were destined to stay out of my reach until today.
Chapter Thirteen
Two Months Later
Eric
I tilted my wrist to check the time and stilled as Cord barked a laugh. Turning, I glared his way as he shook his head.
“Just go get her already. It’s not like you’re getting anything done here other than checking the time every thirty seconds.”
Wincing, I rubbed a palm over the back of my neck.
“Can’t, she’s in class for another fifteen minutes.”
Cord shut the lid on his laptop and turned in his chair to face me.
“All joking aside, what’s your plan for today? You taking Calla to see your new place?”
Nodding, I packed away the research paper I’d been attempting to read for the past hour before returning my focus to Cord.
“Yeah. I’m worried she won’t like it. What if she hates her rooms?”
A mix of worry and excitement had my stomach in knots. I’d barely slept, hadn’t been able to eat breakfast this morning. This was utterly insane. In the two months since Calla had arrived at Rawhide Ranch, she’d never outright objected to anything I’dever suggested. Occasionally she’d request a tweak to my idea, generally simply a change in time or day, but she’d never once told me no. But there was always a first time for everything, and she’d grown so much stronger, more confident in her time at Rawhide.
