Chapter 12 #2
Tripp laid a wedge of cornbread in his bowl and covered it with chili. “Brodie left that up to Audrey. She chose a place on the beach in Florida. Her old foreman lives down there, and she wants to see him on the way to the house that Brodie rented. Where would you choose, Willa Rose?”
“She’s always wanted to go to England,” Hank answered. “I told her that I would take her if they ever built a bridge from here to there. I don’t like airports or the idea of shooting through the air in what amounts to an overgrown tin can with seats in it.”
“I could fly by myself,” she said.
“Where’s the fun in that?” Tripp asked. “Sharing the experience with someone is half the joy.”
“There has to be a marriage before there is a honeymoon,” Willa Rose said. “Speaking of that, who’s going to take care of Pansy?”
“From love to pigs,” Tripp chuckled. “That’s quite a jump, but just so you know, I volunteered you for that job. All you have to do is go out to the farm, clean out the little pen they built for her in Audrey’s barn, and make sure she has food and water.”
“Do I have to tell her bedtime stories, too?” Willa Rose barked.
“That would be great,” Tripp answered. “You could choose one of Endora’s children’s books. I bet Pansy would love any of them.”
“You can call them today and un-volunteer me,” she said through clenched teeth. “I like Audrey, but I wouldn’t clean pig poop for anyone.”
Tripp pulled the tab on a can of root beer and took a long drink. “Santa Claus is putting you on the naughty list for that, and for your attitude.”
Hank chuckled and took a drink of sweet tea from a bottle. “Y’all remind me of the way me and Vada used to banter. I miss that.”
Willa Rose laid a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Daddy. I didn’t mean…”
“Don’t be,” he interrupted her. “I love the happy memories. Carry on, Tripp. Tell me more about the pig that Willa Rose is going to babysit.”
She shook her head. She couldn’t be tied down to a pig when a baby would show up on her doorstep any day. “I am not going to do that,” she declared. “She’s cute, but I’m not going out to that farm and taking care of her. Tripp had no right to volunteer me.”
“I’m sorry.” Tripp’s tone or the expression on his face did not match his words. “I overheard you tell Mary Jane that you were willing to do anything to help with the wedding. I assumed that meant the honeymoon too.”
“I did not!”
“How about we bring the pig to your house? That way you wouldn’t have to go to the farm in the cold weather, and I understand that she is trained to use a litter pan,” Tripp suggested.
A pig in the house with a newborn baby—if Erica proved her wrong? That would never work.
“No!” Willa Rose raised her voice a notch.
“You are a hard woman,” Tripp said with a fake sigh.
“Since I volunteered you, I guess I’ll have to be the one who takes care of Pansy.
She’s going to be so disappointed. I already told her that you would be there to visit her every evening.
Will you at least go with me a few times, so she won’t throw a fit and refuse to eat?
It wouldn’t be a date. That would make Aunt Bernie mad, and we don’t want to ruin her holiday. ”
“I would never go on a date that involved a pig,” she said, and wondered if he really volunteered her for the job. If he was teasing, she didn’t like it—especially that day.
Yes, you do, the voice inside her head said. You haven’t had so much fun in years, maybe forever.
Hank chuckled again. “I remember when me and Vada took Erica to the county fair, and she wanted to take a piglet and a lamb home with us. When I told her no, she got so angry that she wouldn’t even tell me goodbye the next day when I left on the truck for a week.
” He glanced over at Willa Rose. “A few years later, we took you to the same event and you wanted to take home a cow and calf.”
“I remember that, and I cried all the way home,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to babysit a pig.”
“When you have kids, are you going to let them have pets?” Hank asked.
“That’s something I’ll never have to make a choice about,” she blurted out—and wished she could put the words back in her mouth.
Hank laid down his spoon and raised an eyebrow. “You’ve always said that you wanted a big family. What changed your mind?”
Willa Rose blinked back tears. “The doctor did when he said that I would never have children of my own. That’s the reason why Dillon broke up with me. Since he was the last Holton, he felt it was his duty to carry on the family name.”
“Why didn’t you tell me then?” Hank frowned.
“Mama was sick, and y’all always wanted grandchildren,” she answered. The time was right, but she wasn’t going to tell him until it happened. “I didn’t want to disappoint either of you. Let’s talk about this another time.”
“Okay, but I adopted Erica and always felt like she was mine,” Hank said.
Too bad she didn’t feel like you were hers, Willa Rose thought.
“Knox and I were adopted when we were only days old,” Tripp said. “We had wonderful parents, and now we have Mary Jane and Joe Clay. I’ve always wanted a big family, too, but it doesn’t matter to me if they are mine through DNA or adoption papers.”
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” Willa Rose said around the lump in her throat. “There is a little pan of gingerbread for dessert. Mama always made it for you during the holidays, Daddy.”
“With lemon sauce?”
“Yes, sir.” She finally managed a smile. “I’ll heat it up in the microwave while y’all finish eating.”
While the sauce heated, she wondered if she should even mention that she had talked to Erica earlier that day. Perhaps that would at least break the news gently. She really shouldn’t wait until the child was there to tell her father, but she had no idea where to even start.
“No,” she mumbled. “No use in getting Daddy’s hopes up that she might drop in to see us.”
Are you going to help Tripp babysit the pig? Her mother’s voice was as clear as if she was standing behind her.
“No, I am not.”