Chapter 11 #2
I sighed. “Lenni has to do a project for school. It’s a family tree, which is going to bring up all sorts of issues.”
She inched the mason jar closer.
I scooped up the jar and put it into my purse.
“Bringing up issues is good. Because then they can be addressed. And discussed. Can’t tiptoe around what she’s going through.”
“Yeah.” I sighed. “I think she might be braver than me. I told her we could talk to her teacher and explain her circumstances, but she nipped that in the bud. She doesn’t want to do the project, but even more than that, she’s smart enough to realize that playing the pity card will end in disaster.”
“Ah. Kid’s got grit. I like that.”
“Me too.” I smiled. “So, what’s the plan for Thanksgiving?”
“Connor is going to take the boys hunting for wild turkey just before the holiday. Day of, I’ll be in the kitchen early. Salem and Hadley too. We’ve got an army to feed.” She beamed.
“You’re in your element, aren’t you?”
“Yup,” Muddy said. “We haven’t had a holiday like this in years. I’m so grateful that all my girls are home. Including you.”
Tears gathered in my eyes.
“I’ve heard you’re good at making sides . . .”
“The best.” I preened. “When you say the boys, who do you mean?”
Muddy stared at me for a moment and then said, “Connor’s taking his sons-in-law.”
“So, not Archer?”
“Not Archer.”
I frowned. “What about Brooks?”
“He’s taking Brooks.”
“But Brooks isn’t his son-in-law.”
“Not officially, no,” Muddy agreed. “But Brooks bought land on the ranch. That makes him family.”
“I see,” I murmured.
Though I didn’t. Not really.
It was just another reminder that even though I was here, I was still sort of left out in the cold.
Again.
“It’s good that there’s nothing between you and Garrett,” Muddy said. “He’s not the one for you.”
Who is then?
The front door opened and a moment later, Lenni appeared with Archer trailing behind her.
I tried not to stare at him, but it was like trying not to stare at a summer sunset when the sky was splashed with pink, purple and orange.
His eyes found mine and we held each other’s gazes until Muddy said, “I was just telling Wyn about Thanksgiving.”
“Are we deep frying a turkey?” Lenni asked. “It’s the way we did it in Georgia.”
As Muddy filled Lenni in on the holiday plans, Mildred walked toward Archer. He leaned down and scooped her up. She placed her head underneath his neck.
He absently rubbed her back but kept his focus on me.
It was suddenly too hot in the kitchen, and I quietly excused myself and headed out onto the front porch. I gulped a breath of fresh mountain air that was laced with the scent of cattle and horseflesh.
The door opened behind me, but I didn’t have to turn to know it was Archer who’d followed me outside.
“You’ve been avoiding me,” he said.
“I have not.”
“No?”
“We were together all yesterday,” I reminded him.
“Yeah, helping Lenni get her room ready to paint and settling into the house. We made dinner together, but you barely looked at me. And then you went up to bed right after dinner.”
“Because I wanted you and Lenni to spend some time together without me as the buffer.”
“You sure that’s all it was?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” He paused for a moment. “Muddy invited us to stay for dinner.”
“Oh.” Archer sidled up next to me. Mildred was no longer in his arms. It was just the two of us standing there, looking out over the land. The land that had been in the Powell family for generations. Land that Hadley, Salem and now Poet would build houses on. Land where they’d raise their babies.
Without me.
Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.
Disgust filled me. I didn’t like self-pity, but lately I’d been feeling it in spades.
“Lenni told me about the family tree project. I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
I looked at him. “What are her choices? If she doesn’t do it, the kids will all wonder why she didn’t. Worse, they’re going to make up reasons for why, and you know how mean children can be. It will be uncomfortable for her, but at least she can face them and that’s the end of it.”
“So, her choice is bad or worse,” he said with a sigh.
“You don’t have to tell her everything, Archer. You can gloss over it.”
“Yeah. I know that. But she’s going to have to tell everyone that her mother is dead. There’s no glossing over that.”
“The truth sucks sometimes.”
“No kidding.” He rubbed his mustache. “She brought me a burger from Hawthorne’s. Was that your idea?”
“Hawthorne’s was my idea. Bringing you food was hers. She thinks about you, Archer.”
“You think we’ll get there? She and I?”
“I do,” I said.
“You think she’d want to go on a ride with me before dinner?”
I smiled. “I think she’d love that. Go ask her.”
He paused. “You want to come with us?”
It was on the tip of my tongue to say yes.
“No,” I said, my tone gentle. “You don’t need me there.”
“I wasn’t asking because I need you there,” he said, taking a step closer. “I was asking because I want you—”
The front door opened, and Lenni came outside. “Muddy said you’re supposed to take me on a trail ride before dinner.”
Archer turned his head over his shoulder to look at his daughter. “Did she, now?”
“Please?” she begged.
“I was just coming in to ask if you wanted to do just that,” Archer said with a laugh.
“Yeah?” Lenni’s eyes slid to mine and I knew she was going to ask me to join them.
“I need to help Muddy prep dinner,” I said. “You two go have fun.”
I brushed past Archer, wishing I could shove the words back into my mouth and go with them.