33. Lila
CHAPTER 33
Lila
I’d been helping Amelia in the kitchen all day in preparation for Fourth of July.
She and Desmond invited everyone to a barbecue and Manny also showed up to help grill the meat since there were so many mouths to feed. Everyone was outside, music was playing on the speakers someone brought out, and laughter echoed nearby.
River had been hanging out with the boys on the back porch all day, sticking to Travis like glue. Looking out toward the window over the sink, I spotted him running away from Finn in the backyard with a shriek of delight. Desmond snuck up behind River and hauled him over his shoulder. They both smiled at each other before Desmond tossed him over to Finn.
A part of me was worried they were treating my kid like a football, but I knew neither Desmond nor Finn would let anything happen to him. They loved him too much.
It’s funny how things could change in so little time.
A few months ago, it was just the two of us in our little apartment. I was running late to everything, and River constantly had to get dragged around wherever I went .
I used to think accepting help from the Adlers was a sign of weakness. It took me a while to understand that they didn’t pity me or think less of me, though sometimes I still couldn’t understand it, but in time I had a feeling I could. Because this family genuinely wanted us in their lives.
Now I couldn’t possibly imagine going one day without seeing one of the Adlers. Couldn’t imagine a world without the family that had shown up for us more times than I could count.
“You look happy, Lila,” Amelia said, snapping me out of my trance.
Turning to face her, I noticed she was smiling at me with affection. Her blonde hair was loose around her shoulders and the faint makeup she’d applied gave her a flawless natural look.
“I am happy.” I finished washing up one of the pans and placed it on the rack to dry.
She walked over to me and patted my shoulder. “Happy looks good on you. You know, when your grandfather first brought you to the ranch you were a scared little kid who didn’t even know how to accept a kind word. You’ve changed so much since then.”
I remembered those days well. I tried so hard to forget them over the years, but I realized that wasn’t possible. The hardships I went through with Irene were what led me here to this very moment, like a thread of light leading me out of the darkness until I found myself standing beneath a willow tree, staring into the eyes of a handsome boy who asked me what I was doing with a scowl on his face. A family that welcomed me with opened arms.
“I’m finding it’s getting a little easier. I’m trying.”
“And that’s all you have to do, honey.” Amelia wrapped an arm around my shoulder, facing the window and spotting Finn carrying River over his shoulder. My brother reached his little hands toward Travis who was leaning against the railing, watching them play with a smile on his face. It was small and I’m sure not many people could tell he wasn’t scowling for once. But I could. He didn’t hesitate to walk down the steps and save River from Finn. He clung to Travis, beaming at him as he spoke animatedly.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen my son this happy either. It brings me so much joy to see the two of you together again,” Amelia added before releasing me and going back to check on the mac and cheese in the oven.
I couldn’t quite put into words how I felt hearing her say that, or the fact that she knew we’d been together years ago and never said anything.
Here I was thinking the Adlers merely tolerated me as a pitiful girl taking care of her alcoholic mother with no real family to turn to, and yet I’m proven time and time again with every kind word, every selfless gesture of theirs, that it couldn’t be further from the truth. They loved me and River as if we were a part of this family without question.
“Amelia?” She looked over at me and my voice broke when I said, “I love you. Thank you for everything.”
Her gray eyes shined before she looked away and cleared her throat. If this were a conversation I was having with Desmond, I suspected he’d have tears rolling down his cheeks by now. But I could hear the emotion in her voice when she softly said, “I love you too. It’s good to have you home.”
Home.
This was home, wasn’t it?
I knocked on Wren’s door after she still hadn’t come out of her room for dinner.
“Wren?”
“It’s open,” I heard her muffled voice answer before I open the door. Wren was lying on her bed, reading a book with her leg propped up by pillows.
She didn’t look up from her book as I approached and said, “Dinner’s almost ready. Would you like to come out and join us? The guys are going to go out to light the fireworks after.”
Her face was unreadable as she said, “I’m good. I’m getting pretty tired anyway.”
She’d been like that all day.
I thought being around anyone who wasn’t family made her uncomfortable. After the rodeo with people screaming and cheering all around us, I couldn’t say I was surprised. Still, I didn’t like the idea of her being alone.
“Does your leg hurt? Need anything for the pain?”
“I’m good. Thanks, though.”
I nodded, knowing she didn’t want me here even if she wouldn’t say it.
“If you need anything call me, okay?”
I turned toward the door and reached for the knob when she called my name. I faced her and saw that she was looking at the window where music continued playing and the ranch hands were gathering around the grill.
“Can you pass me my headphones? They’re on the dresser,” Wren murmured, still looking at the window.
“Of course.” I reached for the headphones and noticed they were the noise cancelling kind. In all the times I’d seen her since her accident, Wren hadn’t worn headphones all that much. These must have been new. I handed them to her, and she thanked me .
I headed for the door and looked over my shoulder to say goodbye, but she was already sliding the headphones on and blasting music with her eyes closed.
“There you are.” Travis wrapped his arms around me from behind the moment I stepped out onto the porch. He kissed my cheek and I smiled. “I was about to go looking for you.”
“I just went to check on your sister.”
“Is she…”
“She’s asleep,” I said, knowing that if I told him about our interaction, he would go straight to her room to try to convince her to join us outside. We were all worried about her, no question about it, but I knew when someone needed their space. That was all she wanted right now.
Travis grunted, clearly not convinced, but one kiss from me and he dropped it.
The rumble of a truck approaching caught our attention. Finn waved a hand at whoever was parking an old red Ford Ranger with white paint on the side. It was a beauty and clearly well taken care of.
It made me think of Beth and how much work I’d have to get done on her. The last time the Bronco broke down, it had been because of the battery. Travis called the mechanic and we got it switched out. But not without the mechanic telling us the long list of things wrong with her.
Travis had been trying to convince me to sell her and get a new truck ever since.
I told him over my dead body would I get rid of my pride and joy. Still, our little arguments and disagreements never lasted longer than a few hours. At night, we always found ways to make it up to each other. We’d been insatiable ever since the first night we spent together. Now, any time River wanted to go to Amelia and Desmond’s, Travis wasted no time before pouncing on me.
As if he knew exactly what I was thinking, he whispered in my ear, “River is begging to have a sleep over at my parents’ tonight. He guilted me into convincing you.”
“Oh, he did, huh? Are you sure it isn’t you who wants to convince me?” We both knew I couldn’t deny River anything, especially when it came to Amelia and Desmond. Still, I couldn’t say I’d be opposed to having one night with Travis without having to be quiet or being scared that at any moment he’d wake up.
His hands squeezed my hips and I giggled. We both walked down the steps as a man got out of the Ford Ranger and greeted Finn. They made their way over and I tried to figure out why he looked so familiar. His tanned skin was golden under the porch lights and his brown hair was short, almost cut to a buzz. When he shifted his gaze toward us, his green eyes were piercing but not unkind.
Why did he look so familiar?
“Lila, I don’t know if you remember Logan from back in the day,” Finn introduced us. “This is Lila, Travis’s girlfriend.”
Girlfriend.
That was…new.
Travis hadn’t even introduced me as his girlfriend—it was hard when everyone in town knew both of us well. The fact that Finn was the one introducing me like that made me bite down on a smile, more than happy. Travis’s hand rubbed the small of my back as if he shared the same sentiment.
“Logan, it’s nice to meet you. Sorry, I feel like I’ve seen before. You look familiar. ”
“It’s probably the Ward gene.” Logan pointed to his face. “Once it’s there, it sticks. Sorry.”
Ward. As in Victor Ward.
I hadn’t heard much about Logan, the youngest Ward, and the few times I hung out with Finn and Wren and their circle of friends from high school, I rarely saw him. He always kept to himself. He was quiet but respectful when he shook my hand and greeted a reluctant Travis.
“I wanted to thank you for what you did for my sister at the rodeo,” Travis said when we were all done eating and Finn and some of the guys took off in their trucks to go light fireworks down the road. I looked over my shoulder as I held River, swaying him from side to side now that he was starting to get tired. Travis was talking to Logan and they both had serious expressions on their faces. Logan stood stiff as a board as Travis stuck his hand out to him. “You were the first one to get to Nila, so thank you.”
Logan shook his hand and murmured something I couldn’t hear, but I did catch the surprised blink Travis gave him as the man said his goodbyes to the rest of us before getting in his truck and driving down the gravel road to join Finn and the others.