Chapter 3 #2
An eight-foot folding table had been set up at the end of the really long dining room table to accommodate all twenty of the family, and with so many conversations going on at once, it was easy for Brodie to block everything out.
He finished his dinner and then sat back to think about the next step after his land was cleaned up.
A house would have to be built eventually, but taking care of the crops would slow down that process for sure.
“Daddy, y’all guys can go on as soon as you finish eating,” Endora said. “We’ll take care of cleaning up the kitchen. Be sure to leave the keys to the van. We’ll need it if we’re all going shopping together.”
“The keys are on the hook by the back door.” Joe Clay pushed back his chair, stood up, and then bent down and kissed Mary Jane on the forehead. “Looks like we’re all done here, so let’s get headed out to the farm. And y’all girls have a good time at the mall.”
That word, Daddy , stuck in Brodie’s mind. He had more right to call Joe Clay Daddy or Dad than any of the girls. The seven sisters did not belong to Joe Clay by blood.
You had a Dad that did not share a drop of DNA with you, but he raised you just like Joe Clay has done with these girls, the pesky voice in his head scolded him.
He was still thinking about his little bout with jealousy when he, Joe Clay, and the seven brothers-in-law arrived at the mess the tornado left in its wake.
Would Joe Clay even want him to call him Dad?
Would things be simpler if they just kept their relationship as good friends?
That was more than Brodie had ever thought he could have with Joe Clay when he met the man for the first time.
Of course, he would have never believed that he and his two brothers would be accepted by such a large family, either.
“Brodie Callahan!” Knox’s voice brought him back to reality. “Where’s your mind? Remy just asked if you wanted to save any pieces of the boards.”
“Sorry about that,” Brodie raised up and wiped sweat from his brow with a bandanna he pulled from his hip pocket. “No, I don’t want to keep anything.”
“Toss it all!” Knox yelled.
A movement out across the barbed-wire fence caught Brodie’s eye. He thought it might be a deer coming around to trample his strawberry field, so he took a couple of steps that way. Then he realized it was a person and picked up the pace and jogged to the barbed-wire fence.
“What are you doing here?” he asked Audrey.
“Aunt Hettie wanted to come out and see what was left of her brother’s house,” Audrey answered, and tipped up her chin in a defiant gesture.
“We didn’t expect to see all y’all cleaning up the place this afternoon.
But since you are here, my offer to buy the place still stands.
Like I told you before, I won’t even lower my price because the house is gone. ”
Brodie looked toward Audrey’s house and sure enough saw Hettie slowly walking away and leaning heavily on a cane. “Why do you want it so badly?” he asked.
“I already told you,” she answered.
“That’s why your aunt wants the place,” Brodie said. “Why would you want to deal with an organic farm?”
“Maybe I want to win this battle with you,” she answered.
“Keep dreaming,” Brodie told her. “I’m more stubborn than you’ll be in your entire lifetime.”
“We’ll see.” She turned and walked away without even looking back over her shoulder.
Brodie turned around to see Tripp at his elbow. “I don’t need backing up. I can handle Audrey on my own.”
“We would have quit cleaning up if we found out that you’d gone and sold out to her,” Tripp said at his elbow. Tripp raised an eyebrow. “Well?”
“I’m not selling my place,” Brodie declared. “Not now. Not ever. It’s what I’ve dreamed of doing since I was a kid and Mother had that little organic garden in the backyard.”
“She loved working in that. No one would have ever believed that she had a trust fund big enough to choke a full-grown Angus bull,” Tripp said.
“Mother was her own person,” Brodie said past the lump in his throat. “I’m living proof of that.”
“Yes, you are, and so are me and Knox,” Tripp said with a sigh.
“The flatbed, my truck, and Knox’s are all loaded, so we’re going to the landfill with it all.
The guys are finishing up by filling your truck and Remy’s with the last of it.
With the family’s help, we’ve gotten a week’s worth of work done in half a day.
And brother, that woman is going to be the death of you. ”
“Joe Clay says that family is everything, and Tripp, that woman isn’t a match for me when it comes to being stubborn. She might as well get prepared to lose this war,” Brodie said as he turned around and headed back toward the empty spot where his house used to be.
Tripp patted him on the back. “Good to hear, and I got to admit that I’m loving this big family. Not just for the help but for the fellowship.”
“Me, too,” Brodie whispered.
“Done in time for supper and Sunday night services,” Parker, Endora’s husband, yelled and then threw the very last shingle over into Brodie’s truck. “And that finishes the job.”
“Does that mean we have to go to church again tonight?” Tripp said out the corner of his mouth.
“Think about all we’ve gotten done today,” Brodie answered. “Sitting on a pew for an hour is a small price to pay, and also shows respect. Plus, it’s a way of giving thanks for this family.”
“I understand all that, but I didn’t sleep too well last night,” Tripp said. “I was looking forward to a little nap when we get back to the Paradise.”
“Too late for sleep now,” Brodie told him. “I promise to kick you in the leg if you snore in church.”
“Thank you so much for that,” Tripp said in his most sarcastic voice.
“Hey, before everyone splits and runs, I want to thank you again for all this hard work,” Brodie yelled out across the yard.
“You are welcome,” Parker said. “Will I see you guys at church?”
“You bet,” Tripp answered. “Wouldn’t miss it.”
“You better sit up straight and listen to the sermon after that lie,” Brodie whispered.
Tripp patted his brother on the shoulder again. “I will because I’ll be watching you and Audrey battle without saying a single word to each other. The looks that you give each other could fry the horns off Lucifer. That’ll be so much fun that I’ll forget all about taking a nap.”
“I’m going to win this war,” Brodie declared again. “She’ll get tired of messing with me after a while.”