Chapter 38
What Family Feels Like
? Feels Like Home - Bonnie Raitt
Callie
The fall festival is in full swing at Whispering Oaks Ranch, and I finally made it—on a technicality, I kind of live here now, but who’s counting?
The ranch is decorated in vibrant fall colors with pumpkins and hay bales, corn stalks and scarecrows—the joyful kind you find in a craft store, not those scary ones from the movies.
Olivia’s mobile bakery smells like pumpkin spice and apple cider had a baby, and there’s a face painting station set up outside the big barn.
Lexi strides toward the petting zoo with Emmy clinging to one hand and Gracie on the other. Clio’s arm links through mine, and she lays her head on my shoulder. “They’re really freaking cute. When are you going to give me a niece of my own?”
I jerk my head at Jaxon. “After this guy puts a ring on it.”
He leans in next to my ear and whispers, “That’s not what you said last night.”
“I heard that, and I do not need to know what kinky shit you and my baby sister are into, thank you very much.”
She jogs after the kids, leaving Jaxon and me to fend for ourselves.
It’s been two months since Clio showed up in Willow Valley, and we haven’t spent more than a few days apart since.
She told me her story, and I told her mine.
We laughed, we cried, and when it was all said and done, we agreed that we both probably needed therapy, but we settled for hurricane shots at the Ridge and matching tattoos.
Evie helped me find a therapist who takes virtual clients, so I can meet with her in the comfort of my home. She suggested that Clio and I visit our mother’s grave in New Jersey, and we’ve decided to go in the spring once we’ve had more time to reconcile.
I still have complicated feelings about everything, but I’m grateful to have my sister back in my life. Lexi is just like her when she was fourteen. She’s been helping out with story time after school, and we’ve gotten really close over the last couple of months.
Jaxon wraps his arms around me from behind as we watch the kids feed the goats.
“Hey, look, isn’t that your friend?” I point toward one of the fall photo displays.
Jaxon’s brow furrows as he scans the area. “Who?”
My lips twitch as I try to contain my smile. “That guy. The one with the overalls and the pointed hat.”
“The scarecrow?”
“Mhm. I wonder if Dorothy and the lion are here, too.”
Jaxon whirls me around to face him. “Are you ever going to let that Tin Man joke go?”
“Nope.”
He bows me backward as he takes my mouth in a passionate kiss. “You’re ridiculous, Callie baby.”
“You love me.”
“I do. I really fucking do.”
He grabs my hand and tugs me into a dark alcove inside the big barn, pressing my back to the wall. His lips descend on mine, teasing and tasting me as his hands roam all over my body.
Raised voices drift into the barn from somewhere outside. “Are you fucking serious? Best man? You want me to be your fucking best man?”
“Is that…”
“Griffin?” Jaxon says. “Yeah.”
“I don’t see what the big deal is.” This time, it’s a voice I don’t recognize.
“Fuck you, Ty. You know what you did.”
“I thought we were past that. Angie—”
“Don’t. Don’t fucking say her name right now.”
Jaxon kisses my knuckles. “We should go. I’ll check in with him later.”
I nod and follow him out of the barn, joining my sister and the girls at the face painting station.
“Uncle Jaxy!” Emmy bounds over to us, and he squats down to her level. “Mama said I can get my face painted. Will you match with me?”
He smiles. “Of course! What should we get?”
She screws up her face and taps her finger on her chin. She’s adorable, and I can’t help but smile. Watching Jaxon with his nieces always makes my chest ache with longing.
After a brief pause, she says, “I wanna be a mermaid!”
He presses his tongue to the inside of his cheek and lets out a half-hearted chuckle. “Sounds good, Emmy girl.”
I roll my lips together to stifle my laughter. My boyfriend is about to get his face painted to look like a mermaid because the man can’t bear to say no to his niece, and I love him all the more for it.
She grabs hold of his hand and drags him toward the face painting station. He glances over his shoulder, eyes wide, mouthing the words “help me,” but I wave him off.
I cup my hands around my mouth and shout after them, “I’ll just enjoy the view.”
I stand behind the kitchen island, clinging to the large plastic cauldron as a lime-green witch who looks vaguely like Clio pours in another bag of mixed candy.
“What are the ground rules?” I ask. “How much candy are we supposed to give out to each kid? And what happens if we have leftovers?”
Jaxon skates his silver-gloved hands up and down my arms in a soothing motion. “Breathe, Bluebird. You’re spiraling.”
“I’ve never been on this side of the door before.” My voice comes out all high-pitched and frantic.
“You handed out the flyer to the parents at the library, right?”
I nod.
“So, if you count up all of those families, plus all of the kids who live and ride here at the ranch, we’ll probably see about thirty or forty.” He points to each of the empty bags littering the countertop in quick succession. “That’s at least four pieces of candy each.”
I turn my head and smile. “I love when you get all nerdy on me.”
He leans in for a kiss, but I stop him. “Don’t. You’ll get silver makeup all over me.”
“Let me remind you that this family costume was your idea, Dorothy.”
I giggle. “In my defense, you were already halfway there. I just needed to add a few finishing touches.”
“It’s cute that you think that particular appendage accounts for half of me.”
Clio’s face pulls into a look of disgust as she tears open a Twix. “Ew. Gross. That’s TMI, even for me.”
“Where’s Lexi?” I ask.
“Last I checked, she was in the office trying to coax Atticus into his costume.”
Footsteps travel down the stairs, and Lexi materializes in the kitchen with Atticus in her arms. He’s half her size and looking as disgruntled as ever with his fluffy ears peeking out of the lion’s mane Clio crafted for him out of colorful felt and hot glue.
He swats at the straw sticking out of Lexi’s overalls, and she giggles.
“Your hat is done,” Clio says, gesturing to the deconstructed straw hat sitting on the island. My sister is exactly the kind of mom I always knew she’d be—patient, compassionate, resourceful—everything a mother should be.
Lexi sets Atticus on the floor so she can put it on. He jerks his head to rid himself of the costume to no avail.
“I think he’s broken,” Jaxon says.
The doorbell rings, and I rush to answer it, armed with the overflowing bucket of candy. Our first trick-or-treaters of the night are Emmy and Gracie. They’re in matching fairy princess costumes, complete with shimmering wings and plastic tiaras.
“Trick or treat!” Emmy hollers.
With a bucktoothed grin, Gracie echoes her a second too late.
Jaxon joins me at the door.
Emmy beams. “Uncle Jaxy! Callie! Look!” She does an impressive pirouette on the stoop, showing off her costume. Gracie mirrors the movement.
“Wow, Emmy girl,” Jax says. “You’re the prettiest princesses I’ve ever seen.”
I wave at Liv and Wilder, who are standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking on with pride.
When Wilder spots Jaxon, he lets out a hearty chuckle. “Never thought I’d see the day.”
“Fuck you. Just because you’re too chicken shit to dress up with your kids, doesn’t mean I am.”
“You don’t even have kids,” Wilder retorts.
“Not yet.”
I glance down at Emmy, who’s holding out her palm. “That’ll be two dollars, please.”
Jaxon slides the cash into Emmy’s hand, and I drop two handfuls of candy into their pumpkin buckets.
“Go see Uncle Griff next,” Jaxon whispers. “I heard he’s got the full-size candy bars.”
“Yes!” Emmy fist pumps the air and bounds down the steps.
Jaxon wraps me up in a hug from behind. “That was way more than four pieces of candy.”
“At least I didn’t have to pay the piper.”
At the end of the night, when the candy bowl is empty and my heart is full, I sink onto the porch steps. Lexi waves as she follows her mom to the car, and I watch them go, feeling whole for the first time in my life.
Jaxon joins me like he always does. I rest my head on his shoulder and sigh.
“So, this is what it’s supposed to feel like.”
“What’s that?”
“Family.”