Chapter 29
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“Mark, will you say grace?” Mama Louise says. Everyone bows their head and he repeats the same thing he does every night. But tonight, he adds to the end . . .
“ . . .and thank you for bringing more good people to the table. Amen.”
We lift our heads, and Mark doesn’t so much as look at Erica, but I know he was giving his stamp of approval.
Not that I need it, and not that he hasn’t already given it and warned me not to fuck this up because she’s way out of my league, but it’s a kind gesture.
Erica smiles his way, only to finally be greeted by his blank stare. Fucker.
We pass the platters around, serving ourselves meatloaf, green beans, new potatoes, and cornbread. “Do you have any Tabasco?” Erica asks Mama Louise.
Blink. Blink. Blink.
All around the table, brows knit together.
“Of course, dear.” Mama Louise grabs the Tabasco sauce from the pantry and hands it to Erica.
She starts shaking the bottle over her meatloaf, and I can’t bite my tongue any more as horror settles in my stomach. “What in the world are you doing?” I ask, editing myself for Mama Louise.
Erica looks at me, attitude and challenge in her expression. “You put ketchup on yours. I put Tabasco on mine.”
“That’s disgusting,” Cooper announces. “Ketchup and Tabasco.”
Brutal jumps in. “This coming from a kid who puts ranch on literally everything.”
Erica cuts off a too-big bite with her fork and moans loudly as she eats. “Mmm, delicious as always, Mama Louise. I think this is even better than Hank’s. Especially with the little extra kick added.” She’s proud of herself, her smile so big I can nearly see the food in her mouth.
“Thank you, Rix.”
As she cuts another bite, she adds, “Know what else is good, Cooper?” She’s got his attention now. “Ice cream with popcorn sprinkles.”
“Can we try that, Mom?” he instantly begs Allyson.
There is zero shame or regret on her face until Allyson says yes. “Of course, Cooper. Rix can make you some tonight after we play cornhole. Bruce and I need to go over and check the progress on the house, so that’d be perfect.”
Well, shit. Erica just walked us into getting cockblocked by a kid.
And I know damn well that Brutal and Allyson aren’t checking the progress of their house in the dark.
I guess that’s how they avoid being heard fucking .
. . they get someone else to watch Cooper and take off in the truck.
More than I need to know about my brother, but I’m damn sure storing that trick away for Erica and me.
And also, I’m never getting in Brutal’s truck again.
“Sounds like a plan.” Erica fist-bumps Cooper from across the table.
Shayanne starts humming under her breath, and I instantly recognize the tune. Another One Bites The Dust.
I grin, not fighting it anymore. I’m all in with Erica, for as long as she’ll have me. She’s it for me.
And I know I’m it for her. Because I love her just as she is and accept all of her, even the prickly parts that made her a badass on the day we met and a badass every day since then.
Bobby shakes his head mournfully. “Last man standing.” He points his fork at each of the women at the table. “And that is not a challenge. If anything, I challenge you to let me live in peace. Me and my guitar.”
Rookie mistake. He just painted a big ol’ target on his back.
Over dinner, we talk about the new cattle, who are doing well and blended with the main herd, the rising price of hay, and Cooper’s latest building project, a birdhouse for the tree in Mama Louise’s yard.
Then the conversation turns to Brutal and Allyson’s wedding, and all hope for any other topic is lost as they discuss their plan to turn the foundation of their new home into a wedding venue with the addition of some rugs.
I don’t get it at all, but Katelyn and Allyson say they have a ‘vision’ and I don’t doubt that they’ll come up with something beautiful.
After dinner and the dishes are done, we head outside for a cornhole tournament. “The first bracket is Erica versus Cooper,” Shayanne announces. “Watch out for that one, girl. He’s little but he’s got good aim.”
Erica looks Cooper, who is only a couple of inches shorter than she is, up and down and grins. “Me too.”
Their game is the upset of the night when Erica wins, but Cooper quickly forgives her when she loses to Bobby on the next bracket. Bobby takes on Shayanne, and most everyone gathers in the yard to cheer on the close game. Except Erica and Cooper, who take off to catch fireflies.
I sit on the porch, sipping at a Budweiser and watching the two of them run around. Erica’s good with kids. I don’t know why that surprises me, but it does. Or maybe she’s just good with Cooper because he’s bit of a spitfire himself. Her soul probably recognizes a kindred spirit.
Mama Louise drops into the chair next to me. “Pretty evening, huh?”
I grunt and take another sip, avoiding the conversation she’s trying to start because I’m still me, even if I have grown a bit.
“You don’t have to talk. I know how you boys are, but I’ve spent a lot of years reading people, especially stubborn, grumpy old men, and I’m perfectly happy to carry the conversation myself and say what I want to say.”
‘Old?’ Hardly. The rest I won’t argue with.
“You’re almost there, Brody. I can see it for you, the future you’ve been quietly dreaming of.”
She looks at me, and though I fight it, my head turns and I meet her eyes. Once upon a time, I thought she’d been a godsend, helping Mom and helping us through a rough spot, and then she was gone from my life. Another of Dad’s doings with his piss-poor decisions.
But the joke’s on him in the end, because Mama Louise has a heart bigger than the sun when it fills the whole horizon, and when we needed her like never before, she came through. I will never be able to repay her for what she’s done for my family. For me.
“Thank you. For everything,” I say quietly, my voice rough and scratchy like I haven’t used it in too long.
She nods, not needing the thanks but appreciating it all the same.
“Keep at it. You’ve got your family to a good place, and now you’re finally letting yourself live too.
” She puts her hand on my arm, squeezing tight.
“Your parents would be proud of the man you’ve become. You took the best of both of them—”
I open my mouth to contradict her.
“Don’t argue with me about your Dad. Paul had his demons, but don’t we all?
” She lifts a brow, telling me to shut my mouth, and I oblige this time, not sure what to say.
“You took the best of both of them and grew into a man with a good heart, a strong work ethic, and a mouth fouler than the Devil himself.” For once, she says it like it’s a compliment instead of her typical reminder to watch our language, something I’ve never quite understood.
I smile, hiding it with a sip of Bud, and she goes back to watching Erica and Cooper run around and Bobby and Shayanne play cornhole. But after a second, I give her more.
“When I lost the farm . . .” I clear my throat, not used to opening myself like this.
“It could’ve gone . . . I could’ve gone wrong, turned into Dad.
He lost the most important thing to him, and so did I, in a way.
I’m not diminishing how important Mom was or how much losing her hurt, but that farm became a barometer of sorts.
And I lost it. I felt like a failure. Hell, I still do sometimes.
But I won’t always be. I’m going to buy it back from you one day. ”
It’s both a promise and a notice of my intentions. I don’t want her, or the rest of the Bennetts, to get too comfortable with the Tannen farm on their books. It’s temporary. I have to believe that.
She nods agreeably. “I don’t know many things that would make me happier than signing your farm back over to you.
Trust me, Brody . . . I’m just holding it for you.
Safekeeping it for when you’re ready for those roots again.
” She points at Erica, who’s managed to catch a firefly, but before it can get injured in her gently cupped hands, she sets it free.
Her arms are spread wide, her smile is bright in the dim porchlight, and her dark hair blows wildly in the soft breeze.
“I think you’ve got some more flying to do first, though.
Enjoy it. Enjoy each other. Let us do the heavy lifting for a bit while you take care of you the way you’ve been taking care of everyone else. Take the time you need to just be.”
My throat is too tight to respond this time, so I grunt. She chuckles and pats my arm again. “I’ll do the popcorn and ice cream deal with Cooper tonight. I like trying new things. Keeps me young. Though I do think he’s right. Tabasco on meatloaf sounds disgusting.”
“Thanks,” I manage to say.
Both of us having said what we needed to, we companionably go back to watching the cornhole tournament. It’s gotten heated, with Mark and Katelyn somehow playing against each other.
“Katelyn’s gonna win,” Mama Louise asserts confidently.
I raise a brow. “You think? Mark’s good, and competitive as . . . heck.”
She smiles at my stilted correction. “He is both of those things. But I didn’t raise him to be a stupid man, and he will make sure Katelyn wins that match because it’ll give her something to hold over him. Mark my words.”
In the end, she’s right. As always.
“Come on, let’s go to bed.” I step over Murphy, who’s ‘guarding’ the front room and waiting for Brutal to come home.
“So romantic,” Erica teases, but she slips her hand into mine. “Is that what passes for a pickup line these days?”
She’s baiting me on purpose and we both know it.
“You wanna get picked up?” I smirk at her for a split second before taking her by the waist and flipping her over my shoulder, heading to the stairs.