by Marla Monroe
“Hey. I was just starting to have fun,” her friend pouted.
“You were just starting to meddle in something you have no business in is what you mean,” Erica said wagging her finger at the other woman. “Let Evan and Lisa find each other on their own. No need to interfere, Sarah. You know how ornery young people are. They’ll go right just because you said left was a better way.”
Brent couldn’t help but laugh at that. His sister, Jocelyn had been notorious for that. He felt Kent thinking the same thing.
“We’ll walk you ladies out to your cars. It’s time we head back as well. The damn animals have to be fed before the butt crack of dawn or they get a little loud outside our windows,” Kent said.
They walked them out, a hand at their elbows to be sure they didn’t trip in the gravel parking lot. Once they were driving off, he turned to Kent and smiled. They were in agreement. They didn’t really need any more time with Erica to know she was the one for them.
“Time to make plans to rope us a pretty filly, brother,” Kent said as they climbed up into the cab of the truck.
“I’ve been practicing my roping skills all my life for this event,” Brent assured him. He prayed his aim would be true.
Chapter Five
The days swept by fast as Erica worked on Brent and Kent’s Thanksgiving family get together. She made numerous trips out to their ranch to work on the bedrooms and confer with them on plans. She’d managed to locate a set of bunk beds that were easy to assemble and take down and store. They would set them up in the den on the back wall while the kids were there then take them down and store them when they left.
A week before the big event, she had her kids with her when she drove out to their ranch with the last of the gifts they’d picked up and either wrapped or bagged. The kids were going to help her with decorating the downstairs with the small hints of the harvest and giving thanks for what they had.
“Thanks, guys, for agreeing to help. Amy and Ginny are working on the hayride this weekend, so I really needed the help,” she told them.
“We like helping to decorate,” Sissy said with a wide grin.
“Just not with the clean up after it’s all over,” Ricky pointed out.
She smiled. “I think I already figured that one out.”
Ricky smiled at her through the rearview mirror. He always sat in back with Aaron and let Sissy sit up front with their mom since she’d gotten big enough to do safely. Her oldest thought that if they were in a wreck he could get Aaron out while she took care of Sissy. He was the worrier in her crowd and Erica had never figured out why. She tried to give him every bit of security she could, but he still tried to second-guess any possible problem that might pop up.
“Wow! Look at that gate!” Ricky suddenly shouted. “Is that a real speaker box?”
“Yep. We have to call on it to get permission to drive in,” she said hiding her smile.
“Can I do it?” Ricky asked.
“Sure. Let me pull up some, but as soon as they answer, pull your head in the window so I can back up some. The gate might hit the car if I don’t,” she told him.
Erica pulled the car up enough that Ricky could push the button on the intercom. When it crackled and what she’d come to recognize as Kent’s voice answered, her son handled it like a pro.
“Erica Carol and crew to see the Stones, please,” he said in a slightly low-pitched voice.
There was a second of silence as Erica backed the car up a good foot. Then his voice boomed out over the speaker.
“Erica, Carol, and crew have permission to enter. Please drive forward and park in the front. Welcome to Double Stone Ranch.”
“Wow! Awesome,” Ricky said.
“Mom, do I have to keep my hands in my pockets again?” Aaron piped up as they pulled up in front of the house.
“No, you will be careful though. Remember, we are here to do a job,” she told him with a stern face in the mirror where their eyes met.
“Yes, ma’am.” Aaron unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the door to climb out.
She wasn’t surprised to see both of the Stone men standing on the porch when she’d rounded the kids up and started handing them bags to carry in.
“Let us help with that,” Brent said.
“Then you can introduce us to your crew. I don’t believe we’ve met them,” Kent said.
“There’s not much. We brought the remainder of the gifts and the last-minute decorations for the downstairs.” She handed a large bag to Kent then three smaller bags to Brent.
Once they had everything inside, she introduced her kids to the two men. She expected something to come out of Aaron’s mouth. It normally did and she wasn’t disappointed.
“How can you tell yourselves apart? You look just alike,” he said.
Brent burst out laughing. “Well, I have longer hair than my brother. He keeps his cut close. That way when we look in the mirror we know who is who.”
“What about your clothes. How do you know which ones are yours? Mom sews names in our underwear so that it doesn’t get mixed up with anyone else’s when we have sleep overs,” Aaron told him.
“That’s a good idea. I hadn’t thought about that,” Kent said, looking serious. “I’d sure like to keep my brother from wearing my favorite jeans.”
“I keep telling you those are my jeans,” Brent said playing along.
Aaron laughed. “Get your names put on them and you won’t have to fight every morning when you get dressed.”
“Thanks for the advice, young man,” Kent said.
They stood there for fifteen or so minutes discussing the merits of having the intercom system for the gate and why they needed the gate in the first place. She finally managed to stop the thousands of questions her kids could think up and put them all to work.
“Sorry about that. They are curious and don’t seem to know when enough is enough with the questions. Sometimes Aaron gets silly just so he can keep asking them.” Erica liked that the two men hadn’t dismissed the kid’s questions or appeared aggravated by them. To her it had looked as if they’d really enjoyed it as much as the kids had.
“Don’t worry about it. We miss having our nieces and nephews around. They come up with some humdingers that sometimes we have to refer them to their parents to answer,” Kent told her.
“Ah, they were playing you, you know that don’t you?” she asked with a small smile.
“We figured as much. Mom and Dad won’t talk to them about it so they hit up Uncle Brent and Uncle Kent to yeah or nay their questions.” Brent nodded his head.
I’d better get to work or the kids will accuse me of child labor infringements.” Erica picked up her bag of harvest items they were spreading around the house.
Two hours later, they’d managed to put everything in place. The house looked wonderful without appearing fancy and too nice for kids to run around and bounce on the comfortable couches. She was proud of how it had all turned out and even prouder of the way her kids had helped and stayed out of trouble.
“It’s dinner time, guys. We’ve made spaghetti. How about staying and helping us eat it,” Kent asked.
Her kids looked up at her as if she’d deny them something different and home cooked after helping her. She sighed and nodded. To her relief, they kept the triumphant yelling down to a dull roar.
“Thanks for asking us. I have dinner in the crockpot at home, but we can have that tomorrow night instead. They love spaghetti,” she said.
“The pleasure is all ours. I love seeing the house full of kids. I can’t wait for the family to get here next week,” Brent said.
“It’s going to suck when they leave on Sunday though. The house will be back to being quiet again,” Kent told her.
“Hey, you ever long for some noisy kids for a while, just call me. I’ll lend you mine. You’re responsible for feeding them, though,” she said.
“Mom! We aren’t that loud,” Ricky said furrowing his brows.
“I know, honey. I was just tea
sing them. You’re great kids. I’m proud of you all.”
“Mom, can we come over and play with their kids when they come for Thanksgiving?” Sissy asked.
“Oh. It’s not their kids, it’s their brother and sister’s kids. Remember, that makes them their nieces and nephews, pumpkin,” she told her daughter.
Without missing a beat she nodded and continued. “Then can I come play with their nieces and nephews when they get here?”
“Sweetheart. This is a family gathering. They are going to be going on the hayride with us on Friday though. You’ll enjoy that.” Erica hadn’t anticipated that Sissy would want to meet the brother’s family. Sissy was much more grounded and tended to stick close to those she knew.
“Of course they can come if you aren’t busy with your own family gatherings,” Kent told her.
“We don’t got any family,” her youngest volunteered much to her embarrassment.
“Aaron. It’s ‘don’t have,’ not ‘don’t got,’ young man. And we do have family. There’s Aunt Sarah and Uncle Jack for starters,” she reminded her son.
“They aren’t really our family though, so we can’t count them,” Sissy said looking very serious.
Erica didn’t know what to say to that. “But they’re your honorary aunt and uncle. They chose to be, honey.”
“I know. I love them, but we don’t really have any family like Hope does. She’s got a huge family with lots of other kids to play with,” Sissy said still looking somber.
“Well you are officially part of our family now,” Brent told her. He squatted down next to her and smiled. “The only thing is if you’re part of the family, you have to put up with my brother and me as well. No playing favorites.”
Sissy’s entire face lit up like a thousand-watt lightbulb. She even gave a little hop to Erica’s astonishment. How had she not known Sissy was lonely for friends? She thought she’d had plenty of friends. She was always going to someone’s house to play. Now she wondered if she’d made a mistake not checking to be sure her little girl was really having fun.
“Hey,” Kent whispered in her ear. “She didn’t mean that she wasn’t happy. She just wants a big family. Don’t take it too seriously.”
How had he known what she was thinking? Was she really wearing her thoughts out there for everyone to see? Erica pulled herself together and made sure her face didn’t show any of the distress that had her heart in a tight fist right then.
“Thanks for making us honorary family, but this family needs to help clean up the dishes and head home,” she said looking pointedly at her crew.
Ricky and Aaron didn’t hesitate to pick up their plates and head over to the sink. Sissy took her time but still followed directions. She loved them, really deeply loved her kids. They were so good.
“Hey, we’ve got this. You don’t have to wash dishes, Erica. We’ll put them in the dishwasher,” Brent told her, taking her plate from her when she started to run water in the sink.
“At least let me rinse them off so they won’t be so hard to clean.”
“No need. We’ll put them right in the dishwasher. I just wish you guys didn’t need to go. We really enjoy having you here,” Kent said.
Erica realized she felt the same way. She hated to leave, but the kids needed to get into bed soon and she needed to do some thinking. Funny how it took someone else to uncover problems in your own family. It burned that she hadn’t known it and the twins had managed to unearth it without even trying. What kind of mother did that make her? Was she spending too much time on the business and not enough time taking care of her kids?
Brent and Kent walked them out to the car, carrying their bags and helping her stow the empty ones as well as the ones that had some unused items in it. Brent closed the trunk then walked around to open her door for her. She looked over and saw Kent helping Sissy buckle up.
“The house looks amazing, Erica. We couldn’t have possibly done all of this without you. Send the bill as soon as you finish pulling it together. And remember that we’re serious about you guys coming over for Thanksgiving. We’d love to have you and the kids would enjoy it as well. Then they’d have some familiar faces on the hay ride Friday.” Brent squeezed her hand. “Just think about it, okay?”
“I will. I’ll bring over the fresh flowers on Wednesday morning if that will work for you guys,” she reminded him.
“Sounds like a plan. Be careful driving home.” Brent leaned in and looked back at the boys. “Great meeting you guys. Be good and we’ll see you again soon.”
Her boys shouted their good-byes even as she pulled down the drive. She looked over to see Sissy craning her neck to keep looking out the window at the twins. It was obvious that her little girl had developed her first crush. Erica sighed.
“Okay boys. Roll up the windows. It’s chilly in the car,” she said.
“Mom, can we go there for Thanksgiving? I like them, they’re nice and they don’t talk to me like I’m a baby,” Sissy said.
“I don’t know, hon, let’s see what is going on next week and we’ll decide then.” Her daughter didn’t say anything.
All the way home, Erica wondered if she’d somehow missed things with her kids that she should have caught on to. Everything she’d ever done since her ex had left had been for them. The realization that maybe she hadn’t done as fantastic a job of raising them as she’d thought cut deep. She had never wanted them to feel the least bit different, or unloved despite their father leaving. Maybe she should have paid more attention to how they interacted with their friends instead. That thought carried her all the way past putting them to bed and climbing into bed that night, and it taunted her in her dreams.
Chapter Six
“How are the flowers doing back there?” Erica asked as she drove slowly down the road toward The Double Stone Ranch entrance.
“They’re fine. Nothing has turned over yet,” Ricky said for maybe the fifth time.
“Okay. Let me know if we need to stop,” she said, glancing in her rearview mirror.
“Mom. I know,” he said rolling his eyes at her.
She smiled but continued to check on the flowers and the boys as she drove. Normally she put boxes in the back seat to hold them, but the kids had begged to come with her since they were out of school. She hadn’t been able to say no with Sissy jumping up and down on her toes and using her best sad face.
Finally the turnoff to drive up to the gate came into view. She eased the car up to the call box and pushed the button.
“Yes?” a strange female voice answered.
“Um, Erica Carol to set up the flower arrangements,” she said, wondering who that had been.
“Drive on through.” The static told her they’d shut the intercom off.
Erica hoped that she wasn’t interrupting something with her kids in tow. She hadn’t really considered that one of them might have a girlfriend who might show up. As she eased down the drive toward the house, she struggled over what to tell her kids to keep them in the car.
“Guys, why don’t you stay in the car while I take care of the flowers? It sounds like they might already have company,” she tried.
“We’ll help you, mom. Besides, they invited us to come to Thanksgiving lunch tomorrow,” Ricky said.
She sighed. Sometimes she was a loss as to how to tell her kids no when there didn’t really seem to be a good reason to say it in the first place. Instead, she waited until they stopped in front of the house and climbed out of the car to meet Ricky just as he got out.
“Ricky, could you please keep the others in the car for me while I do this? I’m, um, not sure this is a good idea. They obviously have a guest.”
“They can stay in the car, but I’m not letting you carry all of this by yourself. You hurt your back when you fell off the ladder yesterday,” he said, sounding bossy as if he were a grown man and not her fourteen-year-old son.
“What happened?” Brent quickly walked down the stairs to stand next to her.
�
��Nothing,” she said at the same time her son started talking.
“Mom fell off a ladder yesterday while she was putting up some decorations at the park for the hayride. The guys who brought all the stuff from the courthouse gave her a broken ladder and it fell with her.” Ricky scowled at her as if it had been her fault to begin with.
“Did you see a doctor?” Brent asked looking her over.
“No. I’m okay. I’m just a little sore,” she said. “I brought the flowers, we’re just going to set them in place then get out of your hair. It sounds like you already have company.”
“Ricky and I will handle this, you can direct where they go, right champ?” Brent asked looking over at her son who puffed up like a peacock.
“Right.” He turned to where Sissy had climbed out of the car and was standing next to Aaron. “Sissy, you and Aaron make sure Mom doesn’t do anything to hurt her back while we carry the flowers inside.”
Erica saw something in her oldest son that both warmed her heart and hurt her soul. He’d always been strong and protective over his family, but under Brent’s acknowledgement that he was old enough to help, her son seem to grow in statue in a matter of seconds. It was obvious he needed a strong male model to help him develop.
Before she could dwell on it or figure out what to do about it, Kent and a pretty woman with long black hair and startling light blue eyes walked out on the porch.
“Hi Erica. Hi crew.” He waved at the kids. “Looks like there’s work to be done.”
Kent jogged down the steps and shook hands with Ricky. “Need help unloading, young man?”
“Brent and I could use some help. Mom doesn’t need to pick anything up that’s heavy,” Ricky said.
Kent glanced over at her with a frown then at his brother. That odd sensation she got when they seemed to talk to each other poured over her once more. Then Kent was nodding and turned to the pretty woman standing just behind him.
“Jocelyn, this is Erica, her daughter, Sissy, and her sons, Ricky and Aaron. Guys, this is our sister, Jocelyn. She and Gabe came in a day early because they have to be back for Jocelyn to pull call on Sunday.
