Small Town Superhero by Cheree Alsop

Author:Cheree Alsop
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: young adult contemporary fiction romance action fighting bullies
Publisher: Cheree Alsop

Chapter Fourteen

I FELL INTO BED exhausted that night. I was tempted to take the four-wheeler to Madelyn’s, but my leg throbbed angrily by the time I sat on my cot, and my body screamed at me for all the unaccustomed horseback riding.

I glanced at my phone and was surprised to see a message flashing. I picked it up warily and hit the voicemail button. It rang and I entered my password. My mom’s voice filled the phone.

“Kelson, I miss you. I thought it would be easier without you here, but I find now I’m missing you both instead of only Zoey. I know it wasn’t your fault, and it was wrong of me to blame it on you. Lauren said you’re doing well and helping out. Thank you for being the tough one in all this. You’re a good son.” She paused as if she wanted to say something else, then she said, “Good night.”

I deleted the voicemail and stared at the phone. Mom’s words ran through my head. “It was wrong of me to blame it on you.” “Thank you for being the tough one in all this.” I rose from the cot and set the phone back on the end table, then limped to the door. All thoughts of staying in for the night fled. Memories from last night’s nightmare threatened to swarm me. I had to get away.

I climbed on the four-wheeler and drove toward Madelyn’s house. Jake followed faithfully behind. He had to have been at least as tired as I was, if not more, given his efforts at herding, but he didn’t show it as he loped gracefully beside the four-wheeler.

I stopped at the edge of her property like I always did, but instead of waiting for me, Jake darted ahead. I heard Buck’s playful growls. He was untied, which meant Madelyn was outside. I limped toward the house.

“You’re looking a little worse for wear.”

I turned with a smile at the sound of her voice coming from the shadows of the tree. It was amazing how such simple words—demeaning words, really—could make my heart dance away from the cares and worries that drove me out into the night. I didn’t realize until that moment how much I had missed Madelyn. I had searched for her at the game and dance to no avail. Now that I was near her, I felt complete and relaxed again.

“I feel a little worse for wear,” I admitted. I eased down to sit at the base of the tree and looked up at her.

She was barefoot and her toes dangled just out of reach. “Enjoying the farming life?” she asked in a teasing tone.

“Oh, so much,” I replied. “I can’t even begin to describe it.”

She laughed quietly, a musical sound that made me smile without realizing it. “I think farm life is doing you well, Kelson Brady.”

I straightened my leg out. Most of the pain wasn’t coming from the stitches—it was coming from the part of me that hit the saddle a million times before I learned to ride.

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