Chloe trotted in. “What are you guys doing?” she asked. Her eyes glanced toward her granddad’s boots. She bent down and stroked the leather. “Soft. Smells like the country.” She smiled, her gaze twinkling with love. “Grandpa, Glad says it’s about time to put the steaks on. I can’t wait to sink my teeth into that. They look gigantic, big enough to feed a whole posse of wranglers.”
He winked. “She’s a fast learner.”
She stood up and took his hand. “Come on, Glad is pretty hungry, too. She’s nibbling on everything. We have to feed her.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m pretty sure no one is starving around here.”
“She’s hungry, Maggie. You don’t want your momma to be hungry, do you?” Winston smirked.
“I guess not.”
Bones ran in. His tail whipped across Winston’s calf.
“See, he’s hungry, too,” Chloe said.
“He’s always hungry,” I grunted.
Chloe pinched my side. I rubbed my skin where she left a red mark. “What was that for? Geez.”
“To remind you that you need to eat more, too. Put some meat on your bones. Not all of us can eat like a bird.”
That wasn’t my eight-year-old friend talking. “Eat like a bird?” I questioned.
Chloe crinkled the bridge of her nose in thought. Then the left side of her mouth curled up. “Yeah, I think that’s what Glad said, eat like a bird. But I’m not sure what that means cause I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t eat worms.”
I uncrossed my arms. “Okay, I’m coming.”
Mom stood at the counter tossing a salad. “Well, it’s about time. This old lady is starving.”
“You’re not old,” Chloe and I said in unison.
“Jinx, you owe me a Coke,” we both said in unison, holding out our pinky fingers. Chloe hooked her pinky finger with mine and laughed.
“Here you go, Mr. McIntyre,” Mom said, handing Winston a platter of steaks. “The grill is on and ready to go. I’ll bring out the salad.” Mom continued tossing the salad then winked at Chloe.
“I’ll get the bread,” Chloe said, scurrying over to my mom’s side.
“What can I do?” I leaned against the counter wondering how I’d live in this big house alone once Chloe and John were gone.
“Nothing,” my mom said. “Tonight we’re taking care of you.”
Winston strolled out to the patio.
As nice as that sounded, I feared her hidden agenda. “Why? Do I look tired?” Stepping closer to Mom, I picked up the wicker basket of napkins.
“No, you look lovely. I thought we could take care of you for a change,” she said, quietly.
Chloe smiled. “Yeah, it’s probably a good idea. You take care of all those children at school then you come home and help me and I’m not even yours.”
I raised an eyebrow to both of them. “Thank you.” Resting my finger beneath Chloe’s chin, I tilted her head back so I could see her better. Her hands wrapped around me and she squeezed tight. “You’re squishing me.”
“Sorry.” Chloe looked me in the eye. “That’s why you need to put some meat on your bones,” she added. “Grandpa said I need more meat, too.”
“You’re a funny, kid,” I said.
Mom’s eyebrow curved toward the ceiling as she shrugged her shoulders with innocence. “Okay, Bert and Ernie, let’s go get us some grub.”
Chloe expression questioned me.
“Grub, that means food,” I clarified.
“Sounds like something my grandpa would say,” she said, wiggling free.
I handed her the breadbasket.
She smiled. “This is warm. And smells delicious. I can’t wait to eat!”
“Like I said before. No one goes hungry around here.”
Chloe skipped out to the patio humming an unfamiliar tune. Mom took the salad from the counter and led the way. Winston stood at the grill. Sizzling sounds popped. He closed the lid then faced us. I couldn’t help but fixate on his stature. The gate creaked and I investigated to see who our visitor was. John came around the corner with a smile on his face.
“Daddy.” Chloe ran to John and wrapped her arms around his waist. He picked her up with a grunt.
I set the napkins on the table. Mom put the salad down then subtly flashed me a look. She leaned over and whispered, “You sure you want to give that up?”
Mortified, I glanced to Winston who was engrossed in flipping steaks. “This is not the time, Glad,” I said under my breath. “And I am not giving them up. They are the ones who are moving.”
“It’s all relative, my dear.”
I cleared my throat then stepped away.
Winston focused on the grill. “Almost done. Then we’ll let those boys rest a spell.”
John put Chloe down next to the table. His eyes danced at the scene before him. A blind man could’ve felt his energy.
I met his gaze. “Glad you got home in time for dinner.”
Mom handed Winston a clean platter. She helped hold it while he piled a mountain of beef upon the dish.
“Got the new guy to finish up so I could be here.” John loosened his tie.
There was a new guy?
Winston brought the steaks over to the table. He helped seat my mother. Chloe pulled out a chair for me. Then she pulled out a chair for her dad. Mom plunged the tongs into the salad and scooped some onto my plate. I watched John interact with his dad. Their playful banter like young pups amused me. Chloe munched on her salad and gave Glad a thumbs-up.
“I saw that,” I said as she snuck a bite of bread to Bones. “You’re always good for a nibble.”
Chloe smirked, her mouth full. “Can’t help it,” she said, “He’s so darn cute.”
“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” John reminded her.
“Sorry,” she sputtered, trying to speak through closed lips.
John’s carefree attitude infectious. That was not a man unsure of where he was going or when. Not wanting to break the spell, I ate quietly taking cautious bites as the men spoke.
Winston glanced my way. “You have the summer off?”
“Yes.”
“She’s got time?” Winston said.
“Time for what?” I asked with trepidation, thinking back to Mom and Chloe’s generosity in the kitchen.
Mom smiled at me as she plopped a cherry tomato in her mouth.
Chloe shoveled food in her mouth like she hadn’t eaten in days, her eyes glued to me. Ambushed? What now?
Chloe chugged her water. “Grandpa said you should come see the ranch this summer. That’s where the real cows are. I think it’s a great idea. Please, Maggie. I’ll be there.”
John lowered his gaze at her.
Winston shrugged.
Mom’s smile, as usual, screamed instigator.
I’d interrogate her later. With a polite grin, I sipped my water pretending to wash down food. Interesting.
“He’s got enough bedrooms for all of us. He even said that Walter and Harry could come with their mom.”
I scanned the cast of characters with a questioning smile. John caught my stare. I looked from him to Chloe. His eyes filled with as much hope as his daughter’s. His gaze held a quiet plea. “Wow, that’s some offer.”
“Pleeeaaaassse, Maggie. We’ll have so much fun. There’s a pond and a creek and everything. I can teach you how to fish.”
“You know how to fish?” I asked, nibbling at my garlic bread.
“Yeah, Dad taught me how. We fish at the park. I can touch the worms now and everything.”
John beamed with pride. “It’s true.”
Chloe leaned on the table.
Bones trotted over, stared at me, and plopped down. His wrinkly jowls just as pitiful as the eyes upon me.
Chapter 30
There we were, two peas in a pod. Mom and I, feet propped up on the coffee table, holding a hot cup of tea sipping simultaneously as the fire flickered. The question posed at dinner etched in my mind, the face
s, the pressure.
“You’re not going to say anything?” my mom asked.
Focused on the flames licking the firebox, I sat stoic. My eyes narrowed as I lifted the cup to my lips. Green tea tickled my bottom lip the way John had when he kissed me. I set my teacup down on the table beside me, crossed my arms, and leaned my head back to close my eyes.
“I can wait,” Mom said.
Her cup clanked against her saucer. I felt the shift of her weight in the cushions. I could go, but what would be the purpose? It would be a golden ring on a carousel that I just couldn’t reach because my arms were too short. It would be leading him on? What would be the purpose? I had things to finish here.
The droning thoughts smothered Mom’s questions.
“You think too much,” Mom whispered.
She’d had been telling me that since I was a child. “What does that even mean?” I mumbled.
“Good, for a moment I thought you were asleep.”
She slurped her tea. I didn’t look.
“You’re the one with the degree actually a couple of them. It’s pretty straightforward. It means what it sounds like it means.”
I opened my eyes. She spoke her words into the fire as she knelt before the hearth poking at the embers with the brass poker. Her profile aglow, like she was a girl at a campfire stoking fortune from charred kindling. Her lip curled as she glanced in my direction, monkey business brewing behind her eyes. I wondered like hell why I hadn’t inherited that gene. “You think I am boring, don’t you?”
“No, darling, I think you’re old enough to throw away the rule book and play.”
She turned back toward the fire then pushed herself up from the ground after leaning the poker against the mantle. I got up to help her as she teetered.
“Careful,” I said, holding her elbow. When had my mother started to teeter? “You okay?”
“Yeah, I just can’t get up like I used to,” she answered.
I thought about it. “Yeah, I know what you mean,” I said with a chuckle.
“Well, I think I should be getting home. You have school tomorrow. You need your rest.”
I think I need more than that. “It’s only nine o’clock,” I said, checking the clock on my phone.
Mom took her purse from the table in the foyer as I opened the door. “I love you, Mom.” Emotion filled me, a knot at the back of my throat.
“I know, Bubby. I love you, too.” She leaned in and hugged me. Her tender lips kissed my cheek, and I breathed her in. I swallowed hard trying not to cry.
“Thanks for having dinner tonight,” she said, tucking the hair behind my ears.
Her words washed away the threat of tears. “Yeah, anytime. I’m pretty good entertainment.”
“You certainly are. I know you’re thinking about it.”
Mom’s gaze held my stare. I saw myself in her, but time had modified her stature and I wondered if I would shrink, too. “You look shorter.”
“Thanks, Marjorie Jean. I believe you’ve mentioned that before.”
“Sorry …”
“Damn gravity,” she sputtered.
Rubbing her back, I laughed at her guttural tone. She clicked the key fob to her new Volkswagen on her keychain. It beeped. The headlights blinked in the dusky light. “I sure do like that little car of yours.”
“You can borrow it anytime. It wouldn’t be right to hog all the fun.”
Mom slung her bag over her shoulder and gave me a wink. “Thanks again, that was some dinner.”
“Night, Mom,” I said, closing my sweater to keep out the chill.
“Night, my darling girl,” she said.
She waved over her shoulder, and I sat on the swing as she drove away. As her taillights faded into the distance, I swayed to the sounds of spring. Voices from John’s house drifted through the hedges. His father’s voice deeper, sterner. I wondered if time would change John’s voice, too. I wedged my foot between the floorboards of the porch when I heard my name. I contemplated getting up, but was frozen with curiosity.
“I don’t know, Dad. I’m putting the house up sometime around the fifteenth of June,” John said.
Distorted voices chatted just beyond the greenery between my porch and John’s driveway. I strained to hear, but couldn’t make out the words. I thought I heard Winston’s boots on the concrete.
“I sure do like your neighbors, son.”
“Me, too,” John replied. “Me, too.”
How much had he shared with Winston? Did Winston know about our attraction? Of course he did, Mom probably said something. A flash of heat lit up my cheeks. Who was I kidding? Nobody. Not even myself. John was the best thing that’d happened to me in a long time and I was leading him around like Chloe did Voodoo on his purple leash. I clenched my teeth. What were the damn rules anyway? I picked up my foot and let the swing sway to and fro.
Tucking my leg under myself, I shut my eyes. What was I expecting to find in John? What if I found something good? Would I ruin it? Would it take me over? Would I let it take me over?
“Hey.”
I opened my eyes at the sound of John’s voice. He stood at the top of the stairs with his hands tucked in his pockets. “Hey.”
“I didn’t mean to put you on the spot tonight, but that’s how Chloe rolls,” he said.
He lowered his gaze.
A thin line of agreement crossed my grin. “I know. Don’t worry about it,” I told him. “I’m used to it.”
“We really do want you to visit us. Thought it might ease the transition for Chloe.”
I lowered my gaze. “And for you?”
“Maybe,” he confessed. “But it really was Chloe’s idea.”
“Of course it was.” I stopped the swing.
“Really, it was,” he said. “Bring Judy and the boys, there’s plenty of room, plenty to keep you busy.”
“Plenty to reel me in,” I muttered. He tried to hide his grin. “I see the look in your eye, John Patrick.”
“Hey, your middle naming me.”
“Yes, I am,” I shot back. “You’re not playing fair.”
His stare took my breath away. “Nope, guess not, but a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do even if it means not playing fair.”
“What would your father say about that?”
“If my dad had anything to say about it, he’d hand me a rope, tell me to hogtie you and bring you home.”
I raised an eyebrow at him in disbelief.
“How do you think he got my momma?” His shoulders shook when he laughed.
Standing up, I folded my arms across my chest, then stepped closer to him. He let me. “You are so full of it.”
“No, ask my dad, he’ll tell you. That’s how he got my momma.”
I narrowed my gaze.
“Damn it, Maggie,” he said. “I’m not gonna hogtie you, but just come see what it’s about.”
Taking his hand, I held open the creaky screen door and invited him in. He switched off the light in the foyer and shut the door. I leaned into him, letting my lips graze his. His soft moan filled with sexy introspection.
“What?” I nibbled at his bottle lip. “Two can play at this game. Is this not fair?” His emerald eyes sparkled in the night. Smiling, I wrapped my arms around his waist.
“You asked for it.”
I shut my eyes and waited as he drew me closer. Nothing. I opened my eyes. His teasing expression baited me. Just when I’d given up on the notion he’d kiss me, his lips covered mine.
“Goodnight, Maggie,” he said with a perilous smirk.
“What?” I yearned for more.
He stroked my messy locks.
“You really don’t play fair. Have you been like this all your life?” I asked.
“I’ve gotta get back home. If I stay one minute longer, I won’t be able to stop.”
“Stop what?” I asked.
John’s mouth covered mine. His kiss filled me up. His hands covered my cheeks and he held me steady.
My insides flipped over. Heat flooded my veins. “Oh,” I mumbled.
John caressed my face with his thumbs. I nuzzled into the palm of his warm hand. “You’d better go,” I whispered into his lips, feeling electricity spark between us.
“You never know, Maggie, what you just might find if you let yourself have an adventure,” John whispered.
I shut the door after he left, then tiptoed through the dark hallway and into the living room. The last flame died out, red incandescent coals glowed in the dark as I huddled under the blanket on the sofa. Silence filled the air upon the last flicker. I checked the time on my phone, the wallpaper reminding me of Bradley. With the rise and fall of my breaths, I wished him goodnight even though he was miles away. Turning off my phone, I headed upstairs.
Shadows of the night made it hard to see in my dark, but after all these years, I learned to navigate every twist and turn of my sleepy house without bumping into anything or even stubbing a toe. I didn’t have to feel the wall or count my steps, every creak or seam of cool wood flooring beneath my bare feet induced confident footing. Standing at the end of my bed, I stripped in the silvery moonlight that washed over me. Crawling under the covers, I waited for Montana to whisper my name.
Chapter 31
Elated to be home, I ticked off one more day of school on the calendar. I kicked off my shoes and wiggled my toes against the cool floor. Scorning the ungraded papers, I slid my book bag into the closet and shut the door. It was already almost six and I’d been sitting at my desk calling parents and wrestling with technology that was supposed to be my friend. The endless mound of work took its toll. Montana hadn’t whispered to me in my sleep, but I sure thought about it all day long. The house was cool and quiet. Perfect.
I scuffled into the kitchen and opened the French doors to let in fresh air. Bones waggled out into the yard, his husky hindquarters bouncing back and forth. I expected Mom to be lurking in the shadows, but her blue Bug was nowhere in sight. I poured myself a glass of wine, grabbed my book from the counter, and headed for the chaise lounge to keep an eye on “the beast.”
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