Hopeless by Elsie Silver ePub EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Authors: Elsie Silver
- Language: English
- Genre: Western & Frontier Romance
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
Beau
I thought pissing my brother off and storming away would make me feel
something.
I was wrong.
Even acting like a raging dick when I’m supposed to help a family friend
move into their new house feels … bland.
As I walk down the main drag in Chestnut Springs, my fingers curl into
my palms, nails digging against skin.
I don’t feel that either.
I only feel tired.
But not tired enough to sleep.
A train horn blares, and I freeze in place. For years, I’ve covered the way
loud noises startle me, but it’s different this time.
You’d expect me to choose either fight or flight, but these days I brace.
Pause.
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Wait for any emotion to hit. Fear, anxiety, disappointment.
But these days, I feel nothing.
I pivot on the corner of Rosewood and Elm to watch the train puff past.
Chugging along. Back and forth. Point A to point B. Load. Unload. Wait
overnight. Start over again.
“I am a train,” I murmur as I stare at the wheels crushing against the
tracks.
I work all day on the ranch because I’m supposed to. I go through the
motions. And I hate every second of it.
A woman pushes a baby in a stroller past me and shoots me a confused
look. Her expression changes to surprise when she recognizes me. We
might have attended high school together, but the same is true for anyone in
this town born within a few years of each other.
“Oh, Beau! Sorry, didn’t recognize you for a second there.”
Probably because I haven’t cut my hair in months.
I don’t remember her name, so I plaster on a smile. “Not to worry. I’m
blocking the crosswalk, aren’t I? Here … ” My arm stretches out to press
the crossing button for her.
The woman I can’t remember shoots me a grateful grin, hefting a bag up
on her shoulder while trying to keep hold of the stroller overflowing with an
unnecessary amount of stuff. “Thanks! Nice to see you out and about. You
had all of Chestnut Springs worried for a couple of weeks.”
My cheek twitches under the strain of keeping my mouth upturned. Yes, I
was JTF2, Canada’s elite special ops force. Yes, I knowingly missed our
transport out to save a prisoner of war. Yes, I was missing in action for
weeks and was in rough shape when they found me.
I’m still in rough shape.
People love to talk about it.
You gave us quite a scare.
Try to catch your ride out next time, eh?
I bet you’re loving all this attention.
It’s when they think I’m not listening that the comments become less
tongue-in-cheek and more dagger-in-back.
He looks like he’s gonna flip out any second.
Even the therapist couldn’t fix him.
What I call stupid, he calls heroic.
I know they all mean well, but the way they express their interest bugs
me. Like my getting stuck in enemy territory on deployment has a single
fucking thing to do with them.
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