Letting Go (Mitchell Family #1)(38)
Author: Jennifer Foor

Colt

I didn’t need to hear Savanna tellin’ me that we were over. I just assume not to talk to her at all. She had already broken my heart. I didn’t need to hear it out of her mouth.

For the next week I did nothing but work during the day. At night, Sam and I would venture out in the woods, or hang out in the barn with the horses. On several occasions, Harvey and I would stay up late drinkin’ and playin’ poker.

As long as I kept myself busy enough, I was able to avoid thinking about Savanna. With my cousin’s return home fast approaching, my aunt and uncle stayed focused on him. They no longer threatened me or even paid attention to what I was doing. Staying out of their way was becoming a habit.

The day before Ty came home, my uncle came over and asked me to help set up the large tents in the yard. Harvey and I got right on it. At first they were a real pain in the ass, but once we figured them out, we got them all up in no time.

After carrying at least one hundred chairs that some person from church had delivered, I was beat. I started to head back to the carriage house when I saw Savanna pulling in the driveway. I stopped walking and just watched her car as it drove past me. In the passenger side was Ty, giving me a friendly wave. Savanna never looked my way, it was one thing that I couldn’t help but notice.

Realizin’ I couldn’t be rude, I headed in the direction of the car. Savanna got out and froze when she saw me approaching. I turned my hat forward and gave her a nod. It was all she was going to get without me losing it and tellin’ her my real feelin’s.

Savanna focused her attention on getting Ty’s wheelchair out of the back of the car. I took it out of her hands and got it unfolded, before helping to get my cousin out of the car.

“I thought you weren’t coming home until tomorrow.” I stated while getting him in the chair.

“The doc said I was fine to leave. Said my body had enough time recuperating.” Ty explained.

Pushing Ty across the dirt driveway was difficult even for me, so I insisted Savanna not do it. My aunt met us at the door and once we got him inside, I was shocked by what I saw. Savanna stood in the living room frozen as she looked around noticing all of her pictures had been put back out. It was like my aunt was erasing all of the months she had emotionally damaged the girl.

I don’t know which one of us was more pissed, but shockingly, Savanna put on a smile and gave Ty all of her attention, like nothing had happened. Knowin’ that I couldn’t take much more, I saw myself out, without anyone even noticing.

I needed to avoid seeing Savanna, so I took Sam and headed into the woods. We played fetch until my arms felt like jello. When it started to get dark, I headed back to the carriage house and locked the door behind me.

About an hour later I heard a knock at the door. I was surprised to find Savanna standin’ there looking at me. “Sorry to bother you. I was wondering if I could just get my bag.”

“Stay right there. I will get it for you.” I left her standin’ in the doorway. I was positive my uncle or someone was standin’ around watchin’ us and I didn’t want to give them any reason to doubt what I was doin’. Savanna was looking down at the ground when I got back to the door.

“Here you go. I packed everything up, even your things in the bathroom.” I stated.

She looked up at me. “Colt…I.”

I held my hand up. “Don’t Savanna. There is nothin’ left to say.”

I could barely speak. For the first time in my life I wanted to curl up and cry like a damn baby. I couldn’t keep seeing her. I needed to leave town.

I closed the door without sayin’ another word, but watched through the window as she got in her car and drove away. After the party, I would tell my uncle that I had to go. Hopefully, he would understand why.

Savanna

How could he be so cold to me after everything we had been through. He knew how hard all of this had been. I know he saw those pictures missing before, he had to notice the difference. I saw his face when we got in that house.

I didn’t understand why he wasn’t even being my friend. Was he just feeling sorry for me the whole time we had been together? Was it all a lie?

I was really getting tired of crying, but I couldn’t really help it. Once again, my mother sat up with me, holding me until I finally fell asleep.

Ty had insisted that my parents attend his welcome home party, so I decided to just ride with them. We got there a half hour early, but a bunch of people were already there, including some of the girls that had been involved in the fight with me. I felt my anxiety growing as we approached Ty. The girls had already started giving me dirty looks. One of them bent over and whispered in Ty’s ear before walking away. I couldn’t help but notice where his eyes went as she walked away from him. Some things never change.

As I went to turn to give my attention back to Ty, something caught my attention. Colt stood where the blonde was walking. He was wearing a sleeveless shirt that showed off his muscular arms and that mustang tattoo he had hidden at the top of his arm. I knew that the back of it revealed the large one he had on his back. It wasn’t Colts gorgeous body that I really noticed. It was the fact that he saw what Ty was looking at, and he knew that I caught it too. When our eyes met, I got butterflies in my stomach. I wanted to walk toward him, but just as I started to, I heard my name being called. Ty was wheeling toward me as I turned around. He had a fresh smile on his face and pulled me onto his lap.

“When did you get here babe?” He asked.

“Just a few minutes ago.” I explained.

“You gonna give me a kiss or what?”

I leaned down and kissed him softly on the lips, not being able to stop myself from thinking about him watching that girl.

“You okay?” He asked.

“Yeah, I just haven’t seen all these people in a long time. Guess I am overwhelmed.” I tried to sound convincing, but I don’t know if he believed me.

To avoid conflict, I stayed by Ty’s side. It seemed everyone was nicer when he was around anyway. After a few hours, the tents were full of people. I was pretty sure the whole town had come. I looked around for Colt a couple times, but never was able to find him. I don’t know why I kept trying. He obviously was done with our little fling. I guess that was all I was to him.

Ty had a bunch of catching up to do, so as the night went on, I found myself just sitting near him trying to stay out of his spotlight.

Finally, he stood up and whistled so that everyone looked our way. I was shocked to see him actually standing considering he had to be taught to do everything all over again. I could tell it was a struggle, as he leaned on his chair for support.