by Liz Isaacson
Better you’re here than Temple, he thought, and Micah often used Temple as a reason to be happy in Three Rivers. And he was happy in Three Rivers. He was; he just wanted a few things to change, so he could feel like he was in charge of his own life again.
Chapter Five
Callie kept one hand looped through Gideon’s arm to make sure he didn’t stumble. “C’mon Denise,” she called over her shoulder.
“Aunt Simone is comin’,” the girl said, and Callie looked behind her to see her sister walking toward them.
“Okay, you wait for her, and then join us at the beehives, okay?”
“Okay, Mama.”
Callie smiled at her daughter, a bright ray of joy infusing her soul. She’d never imagined she’d have someone calling her Mama and doing what she asked them to. She glanced over to Penny, who held Ginger’s hand with two fingers. They toddled along slowly, as the two-year-old didn’t move very fast anyway, and she was interested in every little thing she saw.
They were making a trip out to the beehives so Gideon could get the exercise and everyone could get out of the house for a little bit. It was supposed to rain later that day, and the winter rain in Three Rivers could be a torrent no one wanted to be out in.
Liam was on deadline, and Callie had seen him for maybe a couple of hours over the past few days. He’s almost done, she told herself. Then she’d have her husband back, and the girls would have their father.
He still had a year and a couple of months left on his contract, and Callie wouldn’t be surprised if that got extended. His bosses were always impressed with his work, and Liam rarely had to edit what he’d done. He’d promised her he wouldn’t take another contract like the Marvel one, especially now that they had kids.
“There they are,” Callie said to Gideon, as if he didn’t know what beehives looked like. He’d been in a terrible car accident about eight months ago, and he was almost back to normal physically. He’d come home in November, and he’d walked with a crutch for three more months. He’d just given it up, and he needed practice with all kinds of terrain.
Callie loved Liam’s parents, especially his mother. She accepted everything that came her way with poise and faith, and Callie really wanted to be like that in the face of difficult times. Penny laughed behind her, and Callie turned to find Ginger standing very still, something on her hand in front of her.
“Looks like Momma got her a ladybug,” Gideon said. He’d also turned to look, and he wore a fond expression on his face. “How are you doing, Callie?”
She looked at her father-in-law, a powerful wash of love moving through her. “I’m okay,” she said, but her voice sounded tired to her own ears. “Busy.”
“We’d love to take the girls tonight,” he said. “Or any night, really.”
“Oh, you don’t need to do that,” she said. She didn’t want to say he could barely walk, because Gideon had bred seven tall, tough, big, broad cowboys, and he himself was exactly like them. But he wasn’t unbreakable, as they’d all learned in the past eight months.
“We want to,” he said. “And when Penny gets something in her mind, she doesn’t let go of it. You best say yes when she offers.” He faced forward and took another step. “And here she comes.”
Penny caught up to Callie and Gideon, Ginger in her arms now. “Tell your mama what you did,” she said.
“Ladybug,” Ginger said, her sweet voice like music to Callie’s ears.
“Did you hold one, baby?” She smiled at Ginger. “What color was it?”
Ginger looked at Penny, and she said, “It was red.”
“Red,” Ginger repeated, and Callie beamed at her even as a prayer of gratitude filled her mind, her body, her whole soul.
“Okay,” she said. “Here we are.”
“Bees,” Ginger said.
“Yep, bees,” Callie said. “There aren’t very many right now. But we get lots of honey in the spring, summer, and fall.” She took a long breath of the fresh air on the ranch, so much thankfulness inside her. For this land. This ranch. Her husband and family—and her extended family.
No, life was not perfect, even though she had so much. But it was still good, and Callie wanted to be able to recognize the Lord’s hand in all He’d done for her, especially in the past few years.
“Mama,” Denise said. “Aunt Simone said Uncle Micah took her to a restaurant where they have a whole bar of noodles.” She wore a look of wonder on her face as she came up to Callie.
“Wow,” she said. “We should go, don’t you think?” She looked at Simone, who didn’t seem quite as enamored with such a thing.
“Can we go today?” Denise asked.
“Not today, baby,” Callie said. “I put ribs in the slow cooker for lunch today, and Grandma and Grandpa are with us.”
“We’ll take you tonight,” Penny said. “You and Ginger, and you can come sleep at our house.” She met Callie’s eyes. “What do you think of that?”
“Yes!” Denise danced around the beehives, and Callie laughed with Penny. Simone, she noticed, was not laughing.
Callie released Gideon’s arm with, “You okay?”
“Yes, fine,” he said, reaching for the top of the closest beehive to balance himself.
Callie stepped over to her sister. “What’s eating you?”
“Nothing,” Simone said, but Callie had known her sister for almost forty years, and she had a hard look on her face that said she was only going to be giving one-word answers.
“Sure,” Callie said. “I think I know what it is.”
“Callie,” Simone said, plenty of warning in her voice. She wouldn’t look at Callie but kept her gaze on Liam’s mother. Micah’s mother.
Everyone knew Simone had stopped coming to most of the Walker family dinners. The celebrations. The picnics and the potlucks at church. She wasn’t really a Walker, not the way Evelyn and Callie were—and she felt it keenly, Callie knew.
“I think it’s because you’re dating your niece’s uncle, and that’s a little weird for you.”
Simone blinked a couple of times. “I have so much work to do today,” she said. At least it was a full sentence. “I’ll catch up to you later, okay?”
“Simone,” Callie called after her, but her youngest sister just kept moving. Callie sighed, wishing she could reassure Simone that it wasn’t weird for her to date Micah. Callie had never felt odd dating Liam though Evelyn was married to Liam’s brother.
That’s because you never dated Liam, Callie said. Every time he’d asked her out, she’d said no. They’d gone from good friends, to not speaking to each other, to married. She still wasn’t sure how that had happened, as Callie had never thought she’d get married.
Simone, on the other hand, had always wanted to be a wife and mother. She’d planned her wedding at the age of eleven, and she’d made Evelyn and Callie dress up with her as she acted it out.
Callie watched her for another moment, recognizing the straight back and strong shoulders as her sister strode toward her workshop. Yes, the Foster women were stubborn, and Simone hadn’t escaped that curse. Callie herself had almost lost the Shining Star completely because of her stubbornness.
“Help her,” she murmured just as Ginger called “Mama! See!”
She turned, forever going to see whatever Ginger had found that had captured her attention. This time, the little girl had sat down on her haunches and was watching a beetle in the dirt.
“Bug,” Ginger said.
“Yep,” Callie said. “Don’t touch it, okay?”
Of course, Ginger reached right out and jabbed at it, as if Callie had said to do exactly that.
“Ginger,” she said at the same time the little girl pulled her finger back and a wail filled the air.
“Oh, it’s okay,” Penny said, sweeping in and picking up Ginger. “Did that nasty bug sting you?”
Callie wasn’t pleased her daughter had been injured, no matter how small, but at the same time, she felt vindicated that she’d warned
Ginger not to touch the bug. Penny seemed to be able to read her thoughts, because she said, “Let’s go get you packed up for your sleepover at Grandma’s.”
She patted Callie’s forearm and said, “And I have seven of them,” with a laugh. “I think the boys mostly listen to me now.”
“So you’re saying I have to wait forty years before she’ll know I was right?” Callie looped her arm through Gideon’s again, noticing the wind was picking up. They had a long walk back to the homestead and safety, and she hoped the storm would hold off until they made it.
“Yes,” Penny said over her shoulder. “Forty years ought to do it.”
“Great,” Callie muttered as Ginger continued to fuss over her finger. “Come on, Denise. Aunt Simone left, and I need you where I can see you.”
Gideon patted her hand, a perpetual smile on his face. “I sure do love your family,” he said as Denise skipped ahead of them to join Penny and Ginger. “And you. You’re such a great fit for Liam, and you’re a good mom to those girls.”
“Am I?” Callie asked, the question a reflex. “Sometimes I feel like every day is a failure.”
“We all feel like that sometimes,” Gideon said. “Just keep doing what you’re doing. It’ll all work out fine.”
Callie pressed her lips together and nodded. But she didn’t want her life to be like it had been the past month or so, with Liam sequestered behind his closed office door while Callie dealt with both girls on her own. All of the doctor’s appointments, the meals, the cleaning, laundering, grocery shopping, and bedtime routines. And that didn’t even touch on what she had to do to maintain the ranch, pay those bills, pay their cowboys and cowgirls, and deal with a dozen different personalities.
So she’d talk to him. Make sure he knew that once this contract with Marvel ended, she did not want him to take another one. Period.
Satisfied with her plan, Callie was finally able to enjoy her walk back to the homestead with Gideon, where she promptly busied herself in the kitchen for yet another meal.
Once Penny and Gideon left with the girls, Callie felt like collapsing onto the couch and crying. Tears welled in her eyes, but she didn’t let them fall. Now that she was alone and had time to do whatever she wanted, she wasn’t going to waste it by crying.
No, she’d take a nap. Or go get ice cream without any whining or ripping napkins on sticky fingers.
“Or,” she mused. “Go talk to Simone and find out how things are going with her boyfriend.”
That idea brought a smile to Callie’s face, and she quickly slipped on her shoes again and headed toward Simone’s workshop. She hadn’t been out to it in a long, long time, and a hint of guilt tugged against her heartstrings. She used to come out to Simone’s she-shed all the time to visit with her sister, and Simone must feel like Callie had abandoned her for the greener pastures of home, husband, and family.
Maybe Callie had.
She arrived at the she-shed and lifted her hand to knock, as Simone normally kept the door locked. Then Callie noticed the door was slightly ajar, and alarms wailed in her eardrums. She tapped on the door with two fingers, and it swung in a little further, a squeal coming from the hinges.
“Simone?” Callie called, her nerves beginning to fray. Simone never left her workshop open. Never. “Simone?” She stepped inside, scanning the shelves and space for her sister.
There was no answer. There was no one there.
Chapter Six
Simone had far too much work to do to be crying. She wasn’t really crying. More of a slow weep that left her eyes burning and her chest too tight. Then she’d tame the feelings and move something on the counter over to the desk, only to move it back again.
She should be in her shed, working. She had the Spring Fling coming up, and the boutique brought a lot of people to Three Rivers. She could get at least one dining room table done and put it on display to take orders for more. But she couldn’t get herself to leave her house.
After she’d marched away from Callie for asking too many questions—and mentioning “Uncle Micah”—Simone had gone to her shop. She’d unlocked the door and gone inside, only to be faced with the fact that all of the things she’d bought yesterday were still in the delivery truck. So she couldn’t work on the dining room table anyway.
Not without help, and there was only one man she wanted to help her. Micah Blasted Walker.
“Why does he have to be a Walker?” The tightening came; the tears refreshed in her eyes. Why couldn’t Simone be unreasonably attracted to someone else?
Her phone rang, and Callie’s name sat on the screen. Simone hesitated, because she knew her voice would come out too high and strained. But if she didn’t answer, Callie would probably bring the kids by to check on her. Simone loved her nieces, but her cabin was already a disaster. She had toys just for them here, and she didn’t feel like picking them up after they left.
She jabbed at the phone and got the call connected. She tapped the speaker button, because that would make her voice echo a bit. “Hey,” she said as cheerfully as she could. She couldn’t believe she was crying over Micah this morning when she’d kissed him last night. She pressed her lips together so she wouldn’t make a noise.
“Hey, are you okay? Your shop is open.”
“My shop is open?”
“I came by to sit with you while you work. I know you like to have company sometimes, and Penny and Gideon took the girls. But the door was open, and you’re not here.”
“Yeah, I….” Simone scrambled for a reason why she wasn’t there. She’d worked through some of the worst times of her life. And now she was sniveling over a man?
He’s more than a man, she thought, and that only angered her further. Micah Walker was just a man. A very good-looking man, especially in those dark jeans, that cowboy hat, those boots, with a hammer in his hand….
“I’m coming over,” Callie said, snapping Simone out of her daydreams. She felt like a yo-yo, up one moment and down the next. She had no idea what emotion would strike her next, and she wondered if she needed to go see a counselor or something. She knew Jeremiah Walker saw a therapist, and she had his number.
She’d never really had to use it, but now she flipped her phone over and over in her palm, trying to decide what to do.
Simone had never been the indecisive type. She knew what she wanted, and she went after it. She’d known from a young age how happy being behind the sewing machine made her. She loved taking raw things and turning them into something else, so her second love behind her shop was her kitchen. And she loved sitting down at an inanimate object and producing beautiful music that could bring a person to tears.
She’d studied piano all the way through high school, and she dropped her phone and moved over to the electronic keyboard she had in her small living room. Just sitting on the bench brought her a measure of peace. Her fingers knew exactly where to rest. With her eyes closed, she noised a song she’d been playing for twenty years, the familiar melody as welcome as a warm blanket on a cold night.
She knew the song so well, she didn’t have to think about where to place her fingers. They knew their path, and they took it. Her mind wandered, conjuring up images of Micah watching her play the piano. During their last try at a relationship, she’d played for him several times on the piano at the homestead where Callie and Liam lived. The first time, he’d clapped loudly, laughed, and kissed her so completely, Simone had thought she was falling in love with him.
The tears traced lines down her face as the last strains of music filled the air and then faded away. She finally lifted her fingers to wipe her face. Tipping her head back, she whispered, “What do I do? How do I get over this relations thing?”
“Simone?” Callie’s voice came only a moment before the front door of the cabin opened. Simone quickly spun the other direction, wiping furiously at her eyes now. She stood up slowly and faced her sister, whose eyes only held concern. “Oh, sissy. What’s wrong?”
Of course Callie wou
ld know just by looking that something was wrong. Simone just shrugged, glad she didn’t have to try to hide the tears or make meaningful conversation. Callie gathered her into a hug, and Simone held on tight.
“I know this is about Micah,” Callie whispered several seconds later. “And honestly, Simone, you need to move past this. No one cares about him being a Walker but you.”
Simone’s defenses went back up, because she just needed a friend right now. Not a mother; not someone to tell her what she needed to do. She wanted a sister with a shoulder to cry on. She stepped back and smoothed her hair back. “Let’s go see Evvy.”
Evelyn would probably say the same thing Callie had just said, but she’d at least serve banana bread while she lectured.
Callie looked at Simone, taking a long moment to study Simone’s face. “Liam will be working all day….”
“Let’s have a girls’ day,” Simone said, seizing onto the idea. “I’ll order pizza, and we’ll keep Conrad out of Evvy’s hair, and if she has Nutella, I’ll make that molten chocolate hazelnut cake.” The whole day came to fruition in Simone’s mind, and she needed this today.
“I’ll text Liam.”
“I’ll call Evvy,” Simone said, practically diving for her phone now. She tapped and dialed her sister, who answered on the first ring.
“Tell me you have something interesting going on,” Evelyn said. “I’m so bored.”
“I—well, have you watched those movies I told you about?”
“All of them. The one with the dachshunds twice.”
“Twice? The dachshunds?” If there was any movie Simone would’ve chosen to watch more than once, it wouldn’t have been that one. She shook her head. This wasn’t why she’d called. “Gideon and Penny took Callie’s girls for the night, so we’re coming your way for a girls’ day.” She squealed, bouncing on the balls of her feet like a woman two decades her junior. But she didn’t care. She needed a day where she didn’t think about the complexities of Micah’s role in her life.
