40. Paige
40
Paige
W ith new sheets on the bed and a very content Cleo, Rhodes and I walk hand-in-hand toward the farmhouse. After the show earlier with Granny, we couldn’t refuse dinner. The promise of more entertainment was within reach, and I couldn’t deny a home-cooked meal.
Rhodes takes the few porch steps two at a time, knocking briskly on the front porch screen door. “Do you think we should have brought something?”
I scrape my shoes on the doormat and scrunch my nose. “What, like the one hot dog we had left and part of a chocolate bar from the gas station?”
“I guess we’re kind of running low,” he says. “We should stop in town tomorrow before heading out. Ronny mentioned there were a few places to find all the essentials.”
“You mean the cinnamon rolls the size of your head?” I cross my arms.
A smile lifts his cheeks. “Obviously we’d need to grab a couple of those, too.”
“Obviously—”
The door swings open before I can say anything more, and a beautiful blonde woman with bright blue eyes and tanned skin welcomes us with a smile.
“You must be Paige and Rhodes.” She’s beaming, and I think I am, too.
“That’s us.” My eyes drift down to her shirt. Not because I’m a creep, but because Bob Ross is riding a leaping horse with rainbow beams around them both. The words Thirst Trapp Farms are scrawled above his head in an arch.
I need one of these shirts before I leave.
“I’m Avery.” She opens the door wide to let us in.
I stop short, forcing Rhodes to ram into my back since there’s a giant moose head with beady eyes, giant antlers, and a long snout that could probably fit my entire head.
“Oh, don’t worry,” she says. “That’s Moosifer. He is one hundred percent dead.”
I swallow. “Good to know.”
Rhodes leans close to my ear when Avery starts down the hallway. “I’d say ninety percent dead. The shit he’s seen will live on in those eyes.”
I snicker as we toe off our shoes and follow Avery into a formal dining area set in its own room between the kitchen and living spaces. Wallpaper lines the walls as it did in the hallway with dark wood accents and family photos from just about every generation.
You can tell which were the more recent since Ronny and the owner, Wyatt, aren’t wearing shirts in most of them, ranging from eight years old to…muscles.
“You’re still here,” Granny says with a big smile.
I match her expression. “Still here.”
Avery pulls out a chair next to Wyatt at the head of the long oak table, and Ronny and Tilly sit on the other side from Granny.
“Sit by me,” Granny directs us, then points across from her. “They bite.”
Ronny rolls his eyes. “Sit wherever you’d like. We don’t have anyone else joining us tonight.”
I take the seat opposite Avery while Rhodes sits by Granny. I shoot him an apologetic look across the table. “Who else usually joins?”
Wyatt leans into the table. “All of the guests are invited, plus my parents, sister, brother-in-law, and their two kids. It started as family only, but like Granny always says, there’s really no better time to get to know the Trapp family than at a dinner table.”
“I don’t say that,” she retorts with a furrowed brow.
“I’m sure you’ve said it once,” he says under his breath. “Ronny, would ya?”
Everyone bows their heads, and Rhodes and I quickly do the same.
“Bless this food, the people who are with us tonight, and those who aren’t—”
“Don’t forget Bob,” Granny adds. “He’s got a difficult heifer to deal with.”
“And for Bob and his heifer,” Ronny says before ending the prayer.
Avery sticks a spoon into what looks to be a chicken and potato casserole. “Which heifer is giving Bob some trouble?”
“The one who lives with him.”
Everyone stills, and Wyatt asks: “You mean his wife?”
“Sure do,” Granny confirms.
Avery curls her lips in, trying to conceal a laugh, but unfortunately, I can’t help myself. I hide my grin and try coughing to disguise my chuckle behind my hand while Avery offers to dish everyone else up.
“You two married?” Granny asks, digging into her food.
I choke on my water, rendering me unable to answer. Rhodes takes this one. “No, just…” He stops himself, his fork hovering in the air to take his first bite.
I clear my throat and set my glass down. “We’re dating.”
Tilly smiles at me while chewing. “Good for you both.”
“It’s still pretty new,” I confirm, fiddling with my cloth napkin until it resembles a rose like one does when nervous. I have my stint working at a restaurant to thank for this random skill. “Like yesterday.”
Wyatt’s eyes widen. “Holy shit—”
“Language!” Granny shouts before he can finish.
“Sorry, Gran.”
Rhodes finds his voice. “We’ve been friends for a long time, though. Took me a while to figure out how to tell her.”
“So he joined this blind dating experiment I was testing out with two other guys and told me his name was Roger, and then he eventually told me it was him when I had chosen Roger, so I bought my camper van and left the state.”
Is there some kind of truth serum in this food?
Everyone stares quietly.
Nope. Just me.
“Do you all not talk where you’re from?” Granny asks. “And what the hell is that?”
I stare at the rose napkin I’m twisting in my hands. “Oh. It’s a rose. I learned how to do this when I worked at a steakhouse. They didn’t have the best reputation around town, so I mostly spent my time making napkin art. And we do—talk, that is—I was just hurt and needed some space.”
“I lied to her.” Rhodes toys with the food on his plate. “And it was good we had some space to figure out what we both wanted. I picked up pickleball while she was gone and found I really loved it.”
“What the hell is pickleball?” Granny’s brows appear to be in a constant furrow.
“Gran!” Wyatt scolds.
She waves him off. “Rules don’t apply once you reach eighty. It’s like a free pass to say what you want.”
Wyatt and Ronny share a look. Something tells me this isn’t the first time she’s likely made up her own rules.
Rhodes explains. “Pickleball is a paddle sport that combines elements of tennis, badminton, and table tennis. It’s become rather popular recently.”
Granny scoffs. “Or you could just go sling a few hay bales, shoot at some cans, hammer something to be useful in your distraction.”
He shrugs, then finds my leg under the table with his.
“What do you both do for work?” Ronny asks through a mouthful.
Rhodes answers first. “I create stop motion videos with Legos and post them on the internet.”
“That’s really cool,” Avery touts, then proceeds to ask where she can find them.
“I think I’ve seen them,” Granny replies and Wyatt shoots her a questioning look. “What? I know my way around the internet now. Don’t go acting all surprised.”
Ronny’s attention slides to me, and I realize it’s my turn to answer.
Naturally, I have nothing to say on this topic because I don’t have a job.
I have a van.
I have a cat.
I have a little bit of savings.
And a very cluttered resume.
“I…uh…” I can’t even force myself to lie. “I’m in between jobs right now.”
Rhodes smiles and nods in support.
I wish it were enough.
“Is that code for you got fired ?” Granny’s elbows are on the table like two stakes in the ground.
“Gran!” Tilly snaps, but I don’t miss the laugh behind it.
“You were all thinking it.”
There really is no filtering this woman.
I shake my head. “No, I, uh…I quit. I’ve worked a lot of odd jobs, and I’m just trying to find something I can make a career of.”
“Almost anything can be a career these days,” Wyatt says under his breath. All gazes slide to him, and he peers up. “I didn’t mean that in a bad way. I just meant that’s what happened to me, too. I moved back from San Francisco after being in a soul-sucking industry and started this business here to help out the farm. We worked hard to get this place going and made sure to include activities that would draw in visitors.” His gaze meets Avery’s. “But we did it. Now it feels like I get to do the best job in the world with my friends and family. We get to meet people from all over, work with our hands…it’s a good deal.”
I smile at him, forcing the tears pulling at my bottom lids to stay back. Everyone else seems to stumble upon their thing . The job they’re good at or the thing they’re most passionate about. But even after this road trip, I’m not sure what that is for me.
“You seem to know a bit about a lot of things,” Wyatt says, directing his attention to the folded rose napkin I still haven’t put to practical use on my lap like everyone else. “Maybe you see that as a difficult thing, but really, it’s your superpower. You just have to figure out how to use it. I mean, I’d give you a job.”
I'm sure he says this as a joke, but there’s a moment where everyone is eating, absorbing the words Wyatt just said while I push the food around on my plate. I think he might be right, I just don’t know how quite yet.
Tilly slowly pushes to a stand. “I— we —have an announcement.”
Ronny wipes his mouth and then holds his wife’s hand, staring up at her with so much love in his eyes.
“You bought more cookies?” Granny guesses.
Tilly exhales. “No, I—”
“You had to put a horse down?”
“I don’t think that’s a dinner table kind of announcement—” Ronny tries to say.
Granny snaps her fingers. “Pregnant!”
Everyone looks at Ronny and Tilly, waiting for them to confirm and save us from this awkward silence. I swallow and see Rhodes sitting statue-still out of my periphery. Did Granny really just guess their news?
Tilly’s shoulders drop. “No, Granny, we’re not pregnant. Now, would you just listen?”
“Damn it,” Granny says under her breath. “I thought I had that one.”
Tilly stands straighter again. “We’re getting a puppy!”
Wyatt and Avery offer up congratulations while Granny mumbles something about her guess being better while Rhodes and I smile on. I wouldn’t call it a fake smile on my face. I’m happy for them, really. Getting a pet is a magical experience I hope to repeat again soon. But I’m still held up on where I feel most stuck. One question still agitates my gut: what the hell do I want to do with my life?