The Unbound Horizon

Joshua

Evelyn

The weeks that followed were really hard, yes her family had forgiven her, but it was still awkward around the house. The Johnson's and the Miller's had stopped meeting at each other's houses for dinner on Sunday nights, because they knew there would be no way to avoid the subject, or for Evelyn and Mason to avoid each, which was the main goal. Evelyn didn't like being chaperoned but she knew it was necessary, and not because she was tempted to go over to Mason, but because he would come to her all the time, but because of her family they would run him off before he got a chance to talk to her.

Evelyn tried hard to distract herself from Mason and the affair, and she did this by working herself into the ground. in the morning she would get up at four o'clock to go milk the cows, when she finished she started on breakfast for everyone, which would usually contain coffee, eggs, biscuits, gravy and bacon, but by the time it was ready and everyone started eating she was already out the door with a biscuit in her mouth. She went and checked the outskirts of the property to make sure there weren't any new breaks in the fence, and would begin to feed the horses and the cattle, once that was done she came back to the house to give William a riding lesson, and then grab Joshua to help her round up the horses to take them to another pasture. because she was so busy she would generally skip lunch and just wait until dinner, which she would make, that night it was creamed corn, mashed potatoes, fried chicken, and grits. but she only ate a little bit before she went back out to milk to cows again, it was only after she had finished milking the cows that she would come back inside, and start getting ready for bed. After she had taken a bath she slipped on her night dress and fell into bed, and then heard a knock at her door.

"Hey Evelyn, are you awake?" She heard Joshua's voice asked.

"Yeah Joshua I'm awake, do you need something?" she asked.

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah ok" she groaned, she was so tired, but she sat up to look at Josh when he came in.

"I'm just wanting to check on you, make sure that you're alright." he asked. Evelyn look at her little brother, the only thing was that he wasn't little anymore, he had grown, and was now taller than her, and she could see his muscles starting to develop, and she didn't like it, because she only ever saw him as a young boy.

"Yeah Josh, I'm fine."

"Really? non of us ever see you around anymore, your working yourself to hard."

"No I'm not, really, it's just all things that need to be done."

"Yeah, but you don't have to do all of it by yourself."

"But Josh, I do have to," she said, looking down.

"Because of Mason?" Josh asked. Evelyn's face shot up looking at Josh with a shocked look on her face.

"How do you know about that?" she snapped. Josh rolled his eyes at her,

"Oh come on Evelyn, I know I'm your younger brother, but I'm also almost sixteen, and yes I understood everything Elizabeth said when she came barging in her, and what Emily said when she was explaining everything. I'm young, but I'm not a kid, and I'm not stupid."

"I know, I'm sorry, I'm just so used to protecting you from everything, and I just forget."

"I know and it's ok, and I have always appreciated how much you did for me, and how you looked out for me, but now it's my turn to look out for you,"

Joshua said.

"Fine," Evelyn said, " I can tell that you're not going to leave until I talk, so here it goes. I'm working so hard, because I have to get my mind off of Mason, and not just Mason, but everything that I did, the people I hurt, the families I broke, my shame, the shame I put on my family and his, how stupid I was, sometimes I really hate myself, and I wonder how anything can ever get back to normal, or if that's even a possibility? Or if my family can even look at me the same way again, I know that some people dislike me, and that some people hate me, and I don't blame them, but will they ever actually forgive me and leave it behind? or is there any amount of time that will ever make me feel normal again? I don't know, and it scares me. So there you go, that's how I am right now, is it what you wanted to hear?"

"Yes and no," Josh said, his heart was heavy and aching for Evelyn, his older sister who was so strong, and always did the right thing, who was so confident in herself and abilities was now dealing with feeling weak, and insecure, and unsure and questioning everything. Josh grabbed her hands in his and looked into her eyes, "No one hates you, I promise, and you don't need to worry about the families everything will sort itself out in time, no one in our family dislikes you, they just don't know what to say, but we all love you. You know that Emily stuck up for you when this all happened, she loves you, Matt loves you, and I love you, and we are all here for you."

"But what about mom? and dad? and Rebecca and William, they are all ignoring me and I try to nice, but they pretend like I don't exist."

"Well mom and dad are disappointed but they are still on your side, I know they'll back you up if ever in trouble. Don't worry about Rebecca she's being the most ridiculous I've ever seen her." Josh said with a chuckle,

"Why?" Evelyn asked, now curious.

"She acting like your the scandal of the century, and that you have ruined oh so wonderful Johnson name, and she's now worried that if she has children that they won't get married, because she had a dishonorable younger sister. it's ridiculous!"

"Yeah, it may sound ridiculous, but Josh I don't think she's that far off."

"Oh come on Evelyn, we all know this wasn't all your doing. It's not that big of a deal."

"I don't want you believing that, this wasn't a big deal, because it was. You need to understand that a woman being with a married man is wrong, and shouldn't happen, look at how much I've hurt our family, and the Millers.

"Evelyn I didn't mean it like that, I just meant that because I know you, and I know that your a good person at heart, that you never meant to hurt anyone, and you have done your best to resolve it, and I guess I just think that anyone who knows the whole story, can't blame or judge you to harshly."

"Yeah, but not everyone is going to hear the whole story, literally all they will hear is how a girl slept with a married man while his wife was pregnant, and that's all that's going to get out."

"That doesn't seem fair, it makes you sound like the bad guy."

"I know but, people love scandal and gossip, and they always stick the parts that sound the worst. Anyways, Josh it's time for bed." she told him, and he just rolled his eyes.

"We talked about how I'm not a kid anymore."

"Yes, we did, but I need sleep, so go to bed, so that I can go to bed." she said and kissed his head. "thanks for talking Josh, your great."

"Anytime, and your great too." He said and closed the door behind him.