Chapter 15
I watch Quaid fold sheets the same way he watches me eat a banana.
—Ellodie’s secret thoughts
ELLODIE
I didn’t know what I expected when I went to the family home of Germaine and GarnettCarter.
I mean, logically, I knew there would be a lot of people there.
WhatI hadn’t planned on was that all of the people would be there.
We were among the first to show.
The only person besides Germaine and Garnett themselves that was there was Auden.
Auden was halfway through a beer, and it looked like he’d been there a while based on the snack wrappers surrounding him.
“You got any more of those?” I asked curiously as I looked at the decimated snack cakes, and possibly empty box of ZebraCakes.
He leaned forward and dumped out a single ZebraCake, making me smile.
I caught it up and pulled it open just as Garnett walked into the room with a box of CosmicBrownies.
“Ohh,” I murmured as I bit into the snack cake but kept my eyes on the real prize.
Those brownies.
“Thanks, Mom,” Quaid grinned as she handed him the box.
I held out my hand for a brownie, which he readily gave me.
“Got any milk, Mamasauce?” he asked.
“In the hallway fridge,” she answered.
“Get me some, too!” I called behind him.
He flashed me a wink over his shoulder, then disappeared into the hallway, leaving me alone with Garnett and Auden staring at me.
“What’s your favorite snack cake?” he asked me.
I took another bite of the cake he’d given me, before lifting my hand up with the CosmicBrownie.
“These,” I answered. “By far the most superior snack cake. However, these are a close second.”
He flashed me a grin and jerked his head at my snack cake. “You’re lucky he gave that to you, to be honest. He would’ve thrown a fit if he’d had to share with one of us.”
“Even with me,” Garnett sighed. “I raised a bunch of assholes.”
“You raised us to act exactly like you, Mamasauce,” Quaid contradicted his mom. “IfI remember correctly, Dad doesn’t even like these.”
“He likes them,” Ande pushed through the door, her two kids nowhere in sight. “He just doesn’t have this weird adoration thing going on that you losers have.”
“Where are the kids?” Garnett asked.
“They’re with Keene at the circus. He was going to come, but they had a few girls quit one right after the other, and they’re short-staffed tonight. One of the sisters offered up Addison as a stand in, and Addison freaked and wanted to do it. So, Keene is going to be working with her tonight on the tight rope segment,” she answered as she collapsed onto the couch. “I’m here because I’m fucking exhausted.”
“Are you pregnant again?” Hollis asked as she pushed into the house, changed out of her scrubs from earlier, wearing a tight tank top and loose shorts that looked to be Quincy’s.
“You better keep that pregnancy thing to yourself, HollisAue.” Ande pointed her finger at her accusingly.
“HollisCarter,” Quincy corrected his sister as he pushed in behind his wife. “Hey, Mamasauce. Where’re mine?”
Garnett scoffed and disappeared into the hallway, only to come back moments later with some SwissRolls.
“Yum,” I said as I held out my hand. “CanI have one?”
He narrowed his eyes at me, but Hollis smacked him on the shoulder and said, “Give her one!”
SoonI had a CosmicBrownie, a SwissRoll, and an empty ZebraCake wrapper.
I took a seat on the couch with my spoils in my lap.
Then the words from Ande earlier had me whipping my head toward Hollis once they finally processed in my brain.
“You’re pregnant?” I squeaked, then remembered a passing comment Quaid had made about her. “And thirty-two weeks at that?”
“Yep,” she patted her belly. “The doctor said that my placenta is attached at the back, and that he’s more toward my spine than out the front. ButI do have a belly finally.”
She moved to the side to show me her belly and I laughed. “That’s like a food baby. But that’s good that you don’t have to lose all that weight after pregnancy. You get the best of both worlds. A baby, and your body.”
A warm hand closed around my hip and pulled me into his side, and I looked up to see Quaid chowing down on a turkey leg.
“Where’d you get that?” I asked curiously.
“Dad’s smokin’ ’em,” he said between bites, offering me a piece of his massacred turkey leg.
I shook my head, slightly disgusted for some reason.
Honestly, I wouldn’t mind sharing a lot of things with this man, but a turkey leg just might be one of those things that I wasn’t willing to share.
“Do you want children?” Germaine asked, coming into the living room from outside with a massive Tupperware container full of turkey legs.
He waited in the mouth of the hallway for my answer.
“I’d love to have children,” I answered. “My dad wanted me to have fifteen of them to help on the farm. Now that I’m not living in the same area, he wants me to have none because he doesn’t want them to grow up without him.”
His eyes twinkled as he nodded and disappeared into the kitchen, which I assumed was where the hallway led.
“And do you plan to stay here forever?” Ande asked.
“Actually, yes,” I answered. “Before, I’d planned on only being here to go to school and get the experience. WhereI lived didn’t have a trauma center. The closest one was in HotSprings. But over time, I’ve fallen in love with the area. I don’t necessarily like the traffic all that much, and the crime is way more than I ever wanted to live around. But you can’t beat the food and the events. For someone who craved anything to do besides look at fields of crops, this place is like a godsend.”
Quaid chuckled. “He could always move here.”
I snorted. “Dad wants nothing to do with city life. He’ll live and die on his land.”
“What happens to the land when your parents pass away?” he asked.
“I have a cousin,” I answered. “On my mom’s side. He loves that land more than even I do. SoI imagine he’ll get it. I’ll keep a fifty-fifty share of it, of course, because my parents wouldn’t allow all that land to go to anyone but their direct descendants, but if they do what I suggested…”
“That’s awfully nice of you,” Garnett said. “Not many people would’ve been happy to just give away something that brings in that kind of cash flow.”
“Mamasauce!” Quinn pushed through the door. Hot on Quinn’s heels were Atlas and Gable. “Is the washer empty?”
I snorted as Garnett left to help Quinn with his laundry, leaving Quaid, Quincy, Auden, Atlas, and Ande all staring at me.
“Where’d you get all those snack cakes?” Atlas asked curiously.
“Here,” Garnett came into the room with a box of StarCrunch and a box of OatmealCreamPies.
My eyes lit up with excitement.
“There’s a snack cake tax today,” Quinn grumbled. “You have to give one to her.”
Then he pointed at me accusingly.
I took a bite of Auden’s tax and waved.
“What for?” Atlas asked, sounding grumbly.
Garrett ripped open his box and tossed me one, then snatched the box from his brother’s arms and did the same to his.
“What the fuck?” Atlas snapped.
He was really in a bad mood.
I stood up and walked the snack cake back over to him, tucking it into his box. “You look like you need this more than I do.”
“We want her to like us, AtLast,” Garrett said.
Atlas grumbled something under his breath before saying, “Stop calling me AtLast.”
And, seeing that this man needed something that he wasn’t getting at the moment, I walked up to him and hugged him.
I was a freakin’ hugger.
It drove everyone nuts.
My mom. My dad. My grandma. The classmates I’d just met. The lady at the convenience store who gave me a free coffee on my birthday.
Anyone and everyone who showed me even a hint of kindness.
He held his hands out wide when I came in to hug him and stood stock still for a few long seconds before closing his arms around me, squeezing tighter than I ever expected him to. Almost as if he was holding on to me like a lifeline.
“Are you okay?” I asked him when he finally let me go.
He shrugged. “Really bad call before I came here.”
He didn’t elaborate, and I didn’t ask him to.
WhenI stepped back farther, it was to turn and lock eyes with Quaid.
He was watching me like he’d never seen me before.
“What?” I mouthed at him.
He shook his head, his eyes going soft, then turned back to the conversation he was having with his brothers.
Heading into the kitchen at Germaine’s call, I took a seat at the table where I was directed and wound up sitting between Quaid and Quinn.
I had to squeeze my arms to my body to keep from knocking the Carter on either side of me.
“Don’t you just hate it?” Ande said upon noticing my predicament—i.e., not being able to widen my arms a scant inch from my body without getting in either brother’s way.
“You’re used to this?” I teased.
“I’m used to them being assholes and not thinking about anyone but themselves, yes,” she confirmed. “Plus, you got extra shafted because Quaid’s right-handed and Quinn is left-handed.”
I looked at the two brothers, then said, “Is this the punishment spot for taking all of the snack cakes?”
The table laughed, and then we started eating.
The men at my side did their best to keep their arms down, but the table wasn’t meant for twelve, which was what it was currently seating.
Ten had to be the max.
“We used to have a bigger table,” Garnett said softly. “Nine kids. Two adults. That meant we needed seating for eleven. But then when Addison passed away, I couldn’t stand looking at the spot that should be hers. So, I got the smaller table. And then everyone started showing up with extra people.”
I smiled at her. “It’s okay. I’ll deal with the punishment spot if it means I got all those snack cakes.”
I winked at her, causing her to smile.
The table took on a somber moment as everyone thought about a sister they no longer had.
I reached under the table and placed my hand on Quaid’s thigh.
He caught my hand up in his and ate with his left hand for a few long minutes before conversation picked back up.
At the end of the night, after the meal was finished, and we were heading out, I stopped at the edge of the car and smiled when I saw the oatmeal cream pie on the passenger door handle.
I tucked it into my arm with the rest of what I’d gathered, and waited while Quaid got the door for me like he always did.
It was only as we were driving home that he said, “Thank you.”
I looked over at him with my eyes heavy and said, “What for?”
“For taking care of my family.”
That night, I slept in Quaid’s arms all night long.
Though, I couldn’t be sure if it was because he was forced to keep me there or I’d sleepwalk, or because he needed me there.
Either way worked for me.