Fall With Me (Sugarland Creek, #3) (50)

The consensus is that brain injuries affect people differently and there’s not always a rhyme or reason for it.

While it’s somewhat helpful and reassuring that most people get their partial memories back, it’s frustrating not having the answers.

Some people on Reddit wrote that forgetting their trauma was the best thing that ever happened to them. Even if it was only temporary, they lived with peace for the first time.

Part of me wonders if this is a blessing in disguise, and I should appreciate it instead of wishing for it back.

I think I’d be okay with that as long as I get to ride again someday.

Finally, after begging my dad, he agrees to take me to the ranch to see Ranger after work. If even for thirty minutes, he needs to know I haven’t abandoned him.

I text Noah to let her know I’m coming and she meets us outside the stables.

“Hey, you look good!” She gives me a small hug, but I know she’s just being polite. The wound on my head looks better, but I still have a small bandage to cover it. “How’re you feelin’?”

“Pretty good. The headaches are mild, and I get a little bit of dizziness, but it’s gotten a lot better.”

“Well, that’s progress at least. Are you sleepin’ okay?”

“All I do is sleep.” I groan. “I’ve slept more this week than I have my whole life.”

Noah chuckles at the exaggeration, but I never sleep more than eight hours a night. Even when I don’t set my alarm, my body wakes me up, but this past week I’ve slept for twelve hours or more each night.

“You probably needed it,” she says. “Well, let’s go see Ranger. He’s been a little restless, but he’s gonna be so excited.”

I smile because she’s right. The moment he comes into view, he releases a high-pitched squeal, and I almost cry at how good it is to see him.

“Hey, buddy!” I walk inside his stall and wrap my arms around him, inhaling his earthy scent. “I missed you so much.”

Petting his neck, he nuzzles his nose against me.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner.”

Noah pets him on the other side and we talk for a few minutes while my dad walks around and checks out the other horses.

Although I can’t ride, I can talk to and groom him. Though I don’t have anything interesting to say, hearing my voice is enough to calm his anxiety.

When the brush slips out of my hand, I carefully bend to grab it, but when I go back up, I jump at the sight of Landen.

“Jesus Christ, you scared me,” he says, a palm over his heart.

“I was about to say the same thing.”

“Where’d you come from?”

I hold up the brush. “I dropped it.”

“I mean, when did you get here?”

“Oh, just a bit ago. My dad’s walkin’ around so I could spend a few minutes with Ranger. What’re you doin’?”

He holds up a thick book in his hand. “I came to read to him.”

“You did? Why?”

“You said it calms him, so I figured I’d try it and it has so far. But nothing beats you being here, so he probably doesn’t need me tonight.”

“Wait, you’ve been readin’ to him this whole week?”

“Yeah, we’re”—he flips through the book—“about two hundred pages in.”

Stepping closer, I flip the cover so I can see what it is. “Oh my God, that’s my favorite book!”

He points to the title, Project Hail Mary. “Your favorite?”

Smiling, I nod. “One of ’em, yes.”

He bursts out laughing. “You see the irony, right? He loses his memory on a spaceship?”

“Yes, it’s very funny,” I deadpan. “Maybe I’ll solve a mission.”

“You never know.” He winks. “Do you wanna read it to him tonight?”

I lower my eyes and shuffle my boots in the straw. “Um…I can’t read right now. My vision is still a little blurry.”

He smacks his forehead with the book. “Oh shit, sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Well, if you wanna stick around, I’ll read to you both.”

My heart swells at the thought of him sitting in Ranger’s stall and reading to him. I know Ranger must love it.

“Sure, I can stay for a while.”

As I continue brushing Ranger’s coat and combing through his mane, Landen reads and it’s mesmerizing. He has a great reading voice.

“Sweetheart, it’s gettin’ late. We should go,” my dad says an hour later.

When I stick out my lower lip, he sighs. “You can’t push yourself too quickly.”

“I’m just standin’ here,” I argue.

He gives me a pointed look. “You know what I mean.”

“Can you bring me back tomorrow?” I ask him.

“Maybe. We’ll see how you’re feelin’.”

Landen flashes me a small smile, and I give him one in return. “Thanks for readin’ to Ranger and me.”

“Anytime, Ellie.”

The smooth way he says my name sounds like he’s been eagerly waiting to speak it out loud.

Dad nods at Landen, and then I say goodbye.