Chapter 10
“I’ve never grown anything before,” Hudson said from his position crouched beside her. “Mom used to say that one day we’d have a garden.”
“And now you do,” Leah said.
He’s doing okay, Cass.
They’d both got out of bed early this morning and ate a bowl of cereal because if she was honest, other than toast, Leah had zero cooking skills. That was just another thing she needed to master because Hudson deserved home-cooked meals. His mother had been good at that.
Leah had read plenty of cookbooks and watched baking tutorials. Now she had to put them into practice, and here was the right place to do that. She was sure her mother’s kitchen was still full of all that baking paraphernalia she’d once had.
But not right now because they were getting their hands dirty today.
“Your mom and I used to grow stuff in a garden close to the house years ago. Then your granddaddy put these houses up, and we used this one for a while, but then we got too cool to garden,” Leah explained, looking at the earth as yet more memories slipped into her head.
She and Hudson were outside inspecting the first of the two big shade houses her father had randomly erected and never used, like most things in his life. Chuck Reynolds often had good intentions but never carried through with them if too much hard work was involved, which these would have been.
His daughters had decided that if they needed to eat fresh food, then they would have to grow it.
“Cool to grow what you can eat,” Hudson said, lifting a handful of dirt to sift it through his fingers.
“If you want, you can have some space in here just for you,” Leah said as she mentally went through what she needed to start her dream. “And soon you and I are learning to cook because we’ll have plenty of produce to use.”
“Really?” Hudson looked excited. “I used to cook with Mom sometimes.”
Born in the city, he’d lived in a high-rise and spent most of his time watching TV or walking to the park with Leah or Cassie.
“Really, and cool—you can teach me. What do you want to grow?”
“Carrots,” he said decisively, his little face smiling up at her.
When he did that, she saw Cassie, and she had to swallow down the emotion.
“Okay. Tomorrow we can head to the store that sells all the supplies we’ll need, and you can start planting. But you need to tend them, make sure they get enough water and stuff like that. But I’ll help, seeing as I’m going to be growing things in here too.”
“I like going into Lyntacky. It’s got nice people there,” Hudson said.
“Yup, there are plenty of those,” Leah said, stomping down the guilt.
Since seeing Dan five days ago, when he’d asked her if Hudson was his, she’d avoided going into town. Birdie had called and texted, but she’d ignored the calls and only answered the texts, saying everything was okay; they were just getting organized.
They both heard the crunch of tires on the driveway ten minutes later. Standing, Leah saw a blue pickup, and behind that, two more, plus a four-wheel drive last.
“Who is it, Aunt Leah?”
“Not sure, bud. Let’s go and see.”
When she arrived, it was to find Birdie standing beside the pickup and the rest of the Dukes getting out of their vehicles.
“Hey, I thought I’d drop by, seeing as you’re not taking my calls,” her old friend said, looking cute in purple overalls with white-and-yellow daisies all over them. “Hi, Hudson.”
“Say hi.” She nudged her nephew.
“Hi.”
“Birdie,” Leah added.
“Hi, Birdie,” he parroted.
“Mom’s having movie night at hers and wants you to come,” Birdie said. “So I’m delivering the invite personally.”
Leah looked behind her at the others getting out of their vehicles. The Duke family…. All of them except Robyn and Phoebe, who she guessed were looking after the two youngest.
“You brought your family to do that?”
Birdie just smiled.
“Movie night? Is this a new thing?” Leah asked, unsure what was going on.
Birdie sighed. “You know how my parents are always coming up with new money-making schemes, even if they no longer need to. Well, they’ve started kind of a drive-in theatre, but not.”
“Makes sense,” Leah said.
“You park and then get out and sit on the rugs and seats set up. Mom then sells you her food and popcorn, all vegan, of course, and Dad fires up the big projector and shows a movie on this massive screen he got from somewhere that I don’t want to know about.”
“How’s that all working out for them?” Leah asked.
“Oddly, good. They’re actually making money, and the proceeds go to the new school library. Tonight, Mom’s making caramel corn, and Libby gave her all the chocolate bits she didn’t use, and she’s bagged those up to sell too. Plus, there’s those brownies you liked,” Birdie said. “So how about it?”
“Why is your entire family here to invite us to movie night tonight? I’ll add to that why are they standing silent beside their vehicles, looking at us?”
“Well, movie night is tonight, but today, this morning, actually, we’re here to do a worker bee,” Birdie said.
“No—”
“Yes,” her friend said firmly. “This place is run-down and needs work. Winter will be here before you know it, and even you, the most stubborn person I know who doesn’t have Duke as a surname, can’t get it in shape by then.”
“I don’t need help,” Leah said, sharper than she intended, as panic tightened in her chest. Pride rose right alongside it, that old familiar feeling she’d carried for years.
She didn’t want anyone’s help, didn’t want their pity.
But hadn’t she promised herself she’d swallow both if it meant something better for Hudson?
The thought clawed at her, leaving her torn between what she wanted for herself and what she needed to do for him.
“Too bad,” Sawyer said, coming to join his girl. “Hey, bud, how you doing?” He held out a hand, and Hudson slapped it. “Tell your aunt to go lock herself in the bedroom if she’s not on board with us, because we have work to do.”
Hudson looked up at her. “Why don’t you want their help when you’re always saying the house will fall down around us soon?”
Out of the mouths of babes, Leah thought.
“I can get what needs doing done, and if I can’t, then I’ll call for help,” Leah gritted out.
Dan Duke got out of his brother Brody’s pickup. With him was Ally. “I call BS. Sorry, Hudson,” he said, moving closer. Clearly having heard her words.
“You don’t get any say in this,” Leah hissed, feeling cornered. Control, she thought. She needed to always be in control because for so long, she had none.
Dan walked until he was standing beside Sawyer. He then smiled down at Hudson. “I’m Dan Duke, and I used to be good friends with your mom and aunt. Nice to meet you.”
He held out his hand, and Hudson slapped it too.
“What do you think needs doing around this place, Hudson? Because we’re here to help,” Dan said with a gentle smile that notched Leah’s anger up more.
“We don’t—”
“Aunt Leah needs her shade house fixed so we can grow stuff. I’m growing carrots. Then there’s the hole in the roof over the bathroom. Plus, that board that the wind whistles through in the kitchen.”
He was recounting word perfect the things she’d written on the list that Leah had put on the fridge door two days ago.
“Okay, well, they’re all good places to start. What else you got?” Dan said.
“There’s a list on the fridge,” Hudson said, suddenly helpful—and talkative, which he rarely was. “We’re going to grow our own vegetables.”
“Yeah, that could be fun, right?” Dan said while Leah stood there, fuming. “Growing your own food is healthy, from what I gather.”
Hudson nodded. “My teacher, Miss Trout, said that.”
“She’s still teaching there? Wow. I had her,” Dan said. “Ally, did you have Miss Trout?” Dan called to his niece.
“Yes!” came the reply.
“I don’t need this, Sawyer,” Leah said softly.
“Now that’s too bad because it’s the Lyntacky way to look after our own, and you’re that, even if you don’t want to be,” he told her, then went back to his pickup with Birdie on his heels.
“You can either direct us, or we’ll just do whatever the hell we want, and the things you think need doing that we don’t see may not get done.”
The words had come from Dan, who she was now left alone with because Hudson was running with Ally in the direction of the shade house.
“I don’t want you here.”
He studied her. “I was sure when you grew up, you’d realize why I did what I did. Seems I was wrong.”
“Don’t you dare blame me for what happened back then.”
He sighed. “Look, let’s just get on with living in the same town, okay? I’ve apologized for the conclusions I leapt to, and there will be a conversation between us, but I’m not having that with my family listening in.”
“Damn. I thought the show was starting early,” Zoe said, walking by them with a bag of tools.
Leah stood there as Dan went to help his brothers unload timber and other supplies. They then wandered off in different directions while she grappled with the emotions inside her.
More locals arrived, and Sawyer and Brody seemed to have taken over as project managers and put everyone to work.
Humbled, raw, and unsure how to process what was happening when for the past seven years, it had been her and Cassie, Leah went into the house.
“Leah!”
She turned on the front step and found Ryder walking toward her with a huge box.
“Here’s some food for the workers.” He handed it to her. “We’re doing this because we want to. Because you and Hudson are important to us. Don’t get all bent out of shape, okay?”
She nodded and then headed inside. After setting the box down, she went to the drawer where her mother’s cookbooks were kept and got one out.
If these people were here helping her, she’d damn well give them something she’d made to eat. Leah had to offer her thanks in some way, no matter how small. It was a matter of pride, which at the moment was shredded at her feet.
After finding a recipe that was simply titled Chocolate Chip Cookies, she opened her cupboards. Leah had bought baking supplies because she’d planned to use them…so far, she hadn’t.
With Hudson’s help, all she’d mastered was cutting up a roll of dough Leah had bought and putting cookies on a baking sheet.
Forcing down the panic that was clawing its way to the surface, she read through the recipe.
When the back door opened ten minutes later, she was still trying to find the baking powder, which she didn’t think she’d bought but wasn’t sure, as Leah had never used it before.
It was like reading a foreign language and one she’d never ever mastered.
She’d lived her life trying to rise above her birth.
Be better, and do better, but even cookies were too much for her to manage.
What hope was there Leah would work out how to raise a kid?