The Ranch at Havenwood

Chapter 3

The 5:30 wake-up alarm came all too soon. I rolled to my side, blindly searching for the snooze. Why is falling asleep impossible but getting out of bed was painful? Not going to sleep until around 1:00 A.M. didn't help.

Once my hand hit the snooze, I moved to my back with an unceremonious flop, regretting my agreement with Jace. He wanted to join me in the gym for my morning workout that I hadn't planned on completing today. I groaned as I pushed myself into a sitting position, rotating my left shoulder to release some of its tightness. I finally stood, grabbing my navy running shorts off the dresser and slipping them on over my boxers. I added socks and my trusty grey Brooks sneakers before heading out the door and down the metal staircase to the gym floor. Jace was already stretching his shoulders and torso in preparation for bag work.

"Nice of you to finally show up," he said with a smirk, his eyes filling with laughter. I rolled my eyes and grunted in his general direction as I reached for my back brace that I'd left near the heavy bag.

"Don't know why I agreed to this. Did you even go to sleep?" I mumbled, slipping the black strap around my waist before pulling it snug. Jace just grinned. He'd always been a morning person. I bounced on the balls of my feet a few times to get some blood pumping as Jace stepped up to the bag and began warming up with a 1-2 combination; I held the backside steady as his hits increased in force.

"Watch that right knee as you follow through."

He paused long enough to adjust his feet and reangle his body to the bag before returning to his left jab/right cross pattern, adding in the occasional left hook as his muscles loosened. After a few minutes, he backed away while bouncing on his toes before settling back to the flats of his feet.

"Swap me," he said, as he moved to hold the bag for me. I started with the same pattern; I couldn't hit with nearly the force that he could, but I carried on anyway. Physical therapy had just cleared me a little over a month ago, and I still wasn't anywhere close to peak fitness. I continued with the combination, noting the stiffness throughout my body as I rotated through a punch. Jace noticed the struggle, too.

"Can you rotate that hip more on your cross or is your back too tight?" he asked.

"Too tight today."  He nodded as he changed the subject, realizing I wasn't awake enough to discuss what I could and couldn't do. It was still a sore subject.

"So, what do you know about whoever's supposed to be moving into the old, abandoned house down the street?"

I swung harder than intended on the added left hook and let out a curse as I felt the screws in my shoulder rub against skin. I stepped away from the bag massaging what I could reach of my shoulder blade, cursing the rare side effect of my surgery that had caused a need for hardware removal.

"You okay, man?"

"How'd you know about anyone moving in?

"Dude, I own a bar. Small town gossip. The men are worse than the ladies most nights." I nodded as I stepped back up to steady the bag, allowing Jace to work on his uppercuts while inflammation ate at my shoulder.

"It's Gavin and Marley." Jace paused mid-swing, his face scrunching into disbelief.

"No way. Dean Batur's kids? Why are you just now telling me?"

"They're not kids anymore. Hell, Gavin and Declan are the same age. But yeah."

"How long has it been since they left? I vaguely remember taggin' along with your brother and Gavin and them constantly gettin' mad at us for getting 'em into trouble." He moved over to the treadmill and started jogging. I started on some lighter free weights as I continued to work on restoring some muscle mass through my upper body. Jace remembered correctly; we always got the older boys in trouble. I saw it as a little brother's duty to annoy.

"Declan and Gavin were 18 when they left, so Marley would have been 11 or 12. She's turning 22 next month."

"You kept up with her?" he asked. I felt my cheeks heat up, and before I could turn away, Jace saw. He froze, shocked.

"No! She's mystery girl? Your monthly trips? Dude! Why didn't you tell me it was Marley?" Jace was nearly jumping up and down at the revelation that my out-of-state trips for a girl every four weeks had been for my childhood crush. You'd have thought we were discussing his love life instead.

"Declan stayed in touch. I went with him when he visited." My heart clenched as I remembered how much Marley had been struggling that last time. She'd been hit with PTSD symptoms shortly before, her hair had lost its shine, and in the mess of it all, she'd forgotten how to smile. I'd learned from Declan that she'd been separated from Gavin when their dad passed; the court had awarded custody to Marley's mother even with the pleas of Gavin and his lawyer. In no way could it have been deemed a safe living environment.

As for why I never told my best friend I said, "Marley asked me not to."

Jace, in all his Jace-ness, said, "Is she still as cute as you used to think she was?" I laughed, which was his intention, but answered him sincerely.

"She's still the most beautiful girl I've ever met." No one could ever hold a candle to her in my eyes.

I finished my workout with images of the green-eyed beauty that stole my heart at fourteen and nearly shattered it a decade later. I said a silent prayer that she'd found her happiness and the spark that she'd been missing the last time we spoke.

As we wiped down the equipment and each chugged a protein drink, Jace turned his attention to me. I hesitated mid-wipe on the weights, unsure of where that look would lead. It was his I want to ask but don't look. 

"What?"

"How's your shoulder feel?" I went back to cleaning and then to stacking the weights back on their rack while continuing to ignore the fact that my entire left side felt like it was burning all the way to the bone.

"Like it needs a plate removed and an AC resection." Jace shook his head.

"I know Doc Lindsey recommended both. I take it that you still don't want either surgery, then."

"I have no desire to get back under the knife, thank you." I looked at the clock on the wall that read 7:40. If I didn't leave now, I would be late to my meeting with Alanna.

"And on that, I'm off to see Alanna since you threw me under the bus with her and Declan last night," I said as I tossed my towel into a hamper and headed for the door while ignoring the "Love you, man" that was hollered from across the room.

Follow me on TickTock and Instagram!!
emchandler1020