“I’m going to finish cleaning the back room,” I tell her as I kiss her cheek.
“Finish what?”
Please tell me she didn’t touch anything. “Organizing the stock . . .”
“Sugar, you’re going to be done awfully fast, there’s no stock to be put away.” She comes around and points. “It’s all done. It was done four days ago.”
“But?”
“I came in to check on things so I could get the stock room cleaned before you go back to school, but . . .” Mama looks around the store with a smile. “It was already done.”
For the first time since I got here, I actually look around, and my mouth drops. Everything is done. It’s all put away, there are bins holding the overflow with it all in order. I go over each row in the back room with so many things racing in my head.
Only Wyatt knew how bad things were. Surely, he wouldn’t . . .
Would he have told his brother?
I don’t even know what to say.
Trent is the only one who would’ve done all this. It would’ve taken him hours to figure out all the boxes. This would’ve taken me a week, and he did it without me askin’.
“Trent?” I breathe as a smile stretched over my lips.
“He was here the other day and asked me not to say anything. He did good,” Mama remarks.
“Yeah, he did.”
Mama pats my back. “I think we should talk, sugar.”
This might be the time to tell her about my concerns with the store. She’s just so stubborn, and I know this won’t go well.
“Sure, Mama. I wanted to talk to you about somethin’, too.”
“Go on and sit, honey.”
We move around to the two chairs, and she takes my hand in hers, which is something she has always done. She used to say it was so she felt connected. It’s probably why I do it as well. Her dark blue eyes that mirror mine are filled with worry.
Fear starts to build as she doesn’t say anything. She’s usually very forthright, so her hesitation starts my mind reeling with what could be wrong. Considering what the Henningtons are dealing with, I start to worry and bite my bottom lip. “Are you okay?”
“Oh, I’m just fine,” she says, laughing. “It’s nothing like that, I’ll be around for a long time. I’ve been thinkin’, and you see, Macie, Becca, and Vivienne are all retired now . . .” A rush of relief courses through me, this is even better. It’s her idea, and now I don’t have to be the bad guy. “And I just would like to be able to do coffee dates and card games with them. With Rhett’s treatments startin’, we’re all going to help during the day. I know you work, but maybe you can take over the store and hire people to manage it?”
I do my best to hide my emotions and look a little disappointed. “Well, it would be an undertakin’.” Her grip tightens a little. “But you and Daddy need to enjoy your time.”
She scoffs. “Who said I wanted to spend time with him? I see him so much now that I’m surprised I haven’t beaten him with a rollin’ pin.”
I burst out laughing. “Oh, Mama.”
“You wait, Grace Louise. You just wait. Spend fifty years with the same man and then come back to me. I’m a damn saint, and that man is the devil some days.”
A saint? Oh, dear Lord.
“Whatever you say, Mama. I’ll take over the store. Don’t you worry.”
Her eyes tighten a little as she tilts her head. “Hmmm.”
“What?” I ask.
She leans back and taps her chin. “What was it you wanted to talk to me about?”
“You know, I can’t remember.”
Crap. She’s on to me .
“Right.”
“Well, let me know how you want to handle all this. I’ll start lookin’ for a manager and some workers.”
There are a lot of kids who are trying to save, and this would be the perfect job for them. I hop up, knowing she’s about to pry into what I wanted to talk to her about when we sat. “I love you, Mama.”
“I love you, too, sugar.”
Phew, that was close.
I spend the rest of the day preparing the store before I have to start back at school. I put a few flyers outside to advertise that we are hiring and call the local paper so I can put an ad in tomorrow’s edition. Mama may drag her feet a little, but knowing her best friends are all pushing her, she won’t doddle too much and I can rest easier about the future.
* * *
I t’s finally Friday . Trent has been messing with me all week about what we’re doing today. He’s been at his parents’ all morning, and I’m on pins and needles.
“Hi, darlin’.” My father says as I saddle Lightning.
“Hi, Daddy.”
I walk over and kiss his cheek before watching him shuffle over to his workbench and take a seat.
“You’re goin’ out on a ride?”
“Trent is supposed to be meeting me,” I explain.
He smiles. “I heard somethin’ about that. You women are more confusin’ than that confounded cube thing we used to try to make line up. Remember that?” I nod. “Damn thing made me so mad I peeled the stickers off and won. Anyway, so Trent is who you chose?”
“I think you knew I was going to choose him, didn’t you?”
“Did I ever tell you the story about how I decided I loved your Mama?”
“I’ve heard Mama’s version.” I abandon the leather straps I’m trying to tighten and move to where my dad sits.
“She don’t tell it right.” He waves his hand dismissively. “It wasn’t like one of those books she likes to read.”
My mother has always been creative in her storytelling. Daddy is always more realistic, but as a kid, I loved her version. It was filled with undeniable love and magic. Who the hell wouldn’t want that?
Maybe that’s my damn problem.
“We were only seventeen when we met, two weeks before my eighteenth. I just enlisted and was leaving in a month for basic. All I wanted to do was serve my country. Your granddaddy was a Marine, his daddy was a Marine, and by God, I was going to be, too. She was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen, and she was dating some idiot from another town.”
Here’s where my mother would tell me that he fell head over heels in love with her the second their eyes met. And he walked over to her, told her they were going to get married, and she was going to love him because he loved her already.
“I told her he was a fool, and if she would go on one date with me, I’d show her what a real man was like.”
“Daddy, you weren’t even a man yet.”
“Hush, darlin’. She didn’t know that.” I giggle and lean back, listening to my father tell his story. “Anyway, I couldn’t afford much, but I knew I needed to put my money where my mouth was. So, I worked a few extra hours for your grandpa and scraped together just enough for dinner and one rose.”
Trent exits from the shadows of the barn with a single rose. I stare with surprise as he steps in front of me and extends the flower. He doesn’t say a word as I watch him.
“Our dinner wasn’t much,” Daddy continues as if my boyfriend didn’t materialize out of thin air. “I found a basket in my kitchen and filled it with two sandwiches, a bottle of wine I stole from our liquor cabinet, and one piece of cake.”
Trent removes his other hand from behind his back and places the basket in front of me. Everything inside me tingles as I realize that Trent’s heard this story before and he planned this. All of it. He moves around behind me and pulls my back against his front.
Daddy touches my chin, forcing me to look back at him. “I saddled my horse and picked her up. I told her it would only take one night for her to see why I was worth the chance. Sure, I had no money, I was leavin’ in two weeks, and she didn’t know me. There was nothing I could offer her except my heart. That night, I decided I was going to love her. I was going to give her the best life I could.” His voice cracks on that last part. “I left her two weeks later, and I hurt her. I didn’t write like I
promised. I didn’t go see her when I came home on leave like I told her I would. But she came to me, darlin’. She found me and forced me to see the mistake I was makin’. The right woman will always make her man see sense.” My father looks over at Trent and then back to me. “But it takes the right man to hold on to her once he finds her.”
Trent’s arms tighten around me, and he bends close to my ear, whispering, “I won’t always see sense. I won’t always do right, but I know you’re who I love, and I won’t be such an idiot again.”
I look at him over my shoulder with more tears falling. “I’ll make you see sense.”
He leans in and touches his lips to mine. “I’m countin’ on it.”
Daddy stands, shakes Trent’s hand, and then touches my cheek. “Love isn’t always easy, baby girl. It takes a lot of work. Sometimes it fails, and sometimes you have to let it go to get it back.”
“I love you, Daddy.”
He smiles at me. “I love you more.” Daddy turns to Trent, and his face grows serious. “I’m trustin’ you, son. Break her heart, and I don’t care what side of the law you’re on.”
“Yes, sir.”
“All right now, you two go off on your ride, but let’s plan to go shootin’ this week.”
I watch the man I’ve admired my whole life walk away before I turn to Trent. “You planned all of this?”
He shifts me so we’re face to face, he wraps his arms around my waist, and I lean back. “Your father has told me that story so many times. When we’d go huntin’ he would ask me my intentions—a lot. I didn’t have any other than I knew I needed you in my life. I was content with how things were, and your father didn’t push me. But after Scarlett, he wanted more for you, and then shit changed. Your sister was killed, we lost the deputy a few towns over, and I felt like if I allowed myself to love you, I’d lose you.”
I cinch his arms tighter around me, feeling a bit silly for not realizing they would have actually talked while they were on all those hunting and fishing trips. I never knew that they talked like this. Not that Trent or my dad are big sharers about what they do when they hunt. Daddy took me one time, and he told me I could never go again. Apparently, talking while in the deer stand is not a good thing. Neither is eating, having to pee, singing, or any of the other things I did in the two hours we lasted out there.
“But then I lost you. I know we’ve had breaks before, but this was different. I knew I loved you years ago, but when you didn’t say it to me again, I let it go. I thought you knew and sayin’ it wasn’t going to make a difference.”
“You were wrong.”
“I know that now.” He kisses the top of my head. “My father laid into me after the wedding. He told me that no son of his would let the woman he loved walk away so easily.”
“I’ve always loved your dad. He’s a smart man.” I smile as I say it, and I know he can hear it in my voice.
“He’s raised three idiots.”
“I think you Hennington boys aren’t half bad,” I joke.
Macie and Rhett are the epitome of marriage and strength. They’ve been together as long as my parents and have had a lot of struggles, but he still looks at her as if she’s the sun. When we were kids, we’d walk in and they’d be kissing like teenagers. It was so weird back then, but as an adult, I can appreciate that level of love.
My parents are not too far off, they just bicker a lot more and there’s no such thing as public displays of affection. My mother always thought Macie was off her rocker for that.
“You ready?” he asks.
We get the basket secured to Lightning, and Trent grabs his horse from the trailer. “Hi, Montana,” I coo as I pet the side of his neck. “You’re such a handsome boy.”
“Quit makin’ him love you.”
“Aww are you jealous?” I tease.
“Nope. Not when I know who you’ll be ridin’ tonight.”
“Trent!” I look around, afraid my mother’s sonic hearing might have heard.
“Relax.” He smirks. “You all set?”
“I’m ready if you are.” I mount Lightning and we head off. The ride is nice, although the heat is freaking brutal. It’s almost eight, so it should keep cooling down, but it’s still sticky and gross. We set a slow pace to the spot we think of as our own, and I turn to him.
“How’s your daddy doin’?”
“Not good, the doctors said we need to limit his visitors, Cayden and Logan can’t come around, and they may admit him again if this cold doesn’t clear up quickly.”
“Oh, honey.” I pause, trying to find the right words. “I’m sure your mama is watchin’ him like a hawk.”
He nods. “Let’s enjoy tonight and try not to think about this.”
I hate this, but at the same time, I understand wanting to distract yourself from the reality of life. So, that’s what I do. I distract him by talking about everything and anything I can think of.
We get to the top of the hill, and Trent helps me off Lightning. We set up a small picnic, and I smile when he takes out two sandwiches and a single slice of cake. We don’t have to talk. I am perfectly content just being with him.
After a few minutes, he shifts and grabs the wine. “Here you go.”
“Did you steal this from my parents?” I smile as I take the glass from his outstretched hand.
“I did.” He lets out a deep chuckle and pulls me onto his lap. “Your dad said I needed to be authentic.”
“You know my daddy proposed to my mama that night.”
“I do.”
My mouth goes dry. Oh my god. What if this is his plan? I don’t know that I’m ready to say yes. We just got back together, and it feels like we’ve gone from idle to full speed in the matter of a minute. I love Trent, and I want to spend the rest of my life with him, but I want to be sure this is all real.
“Trent—” I touch his hand.
“Grace, I’ve been with you for a long time. You’ve waited. You’ve been patient and understanding.”
“Please.” I try to stop him. I don’t want to say no, but I don’t think I’m ready to say yes. A few weeks ago, I was on a date with Cooper, we weren’t together, and my life wasn’t any less crazy. This is way too soon.
“Listen to me, sweetheart.” Trent takes the glass, shifts me off his lap, and then climbs to his knees in front of me. “I need to finish what I came here to say.”
“But . . .”
“Shhh.” His hand covers my mouth. “I know you’re not sure about us. I’ve given you pretty much every reason to doubt me. So,” he removes his hand, “I’m not going to propose, but I am going to tell you that I don’t plan to wait long. Losing you taught me something I won’t ever forget. I have every intention of tying you to me—legally.”
I let out a deep sigh of relief. “I want to believe all of this is the new you.”
“But you don’t, yet.”
“I’m gettin’ there.”
“You once said you wanted a love like your parents.”
My smile is soft as I lean back to look at him. “I remember.”
Trent sits back on his feet. “I can’t give you that, Gracie. I’m not your father and you’re not your mother, but we are who we are. I can give you me. I won’t be perfect. I’ll make mistakes, but I won’t make the same ones again. What your parents have together is theirs. I want to make something that’s ours. The story we tell our kids won’t be as sweet as what your dad told us, but it’ll still be beautiful.”
Kids.
The thought steals my breath and answers the question I never asked him.
I climb to my knees and press my lips against his. He’s had times in our years where he said the most beautiful things, but this will forever be my top spot. He’s right. I’ve been trying to have something like his parents or mine, instead of seeing what we share as being good enough.
Trent grips my shoulders, pulling be back before cupping my face. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
&nb
sp; “Good. Now, come here.”
We both get comfortable again and a few minutes later, the fireworks begin. The bright colors paint the sky with light and warmth.
“I love the fireworks.” I remark as the lights flash. “They’re so beautiful.”
Trent holds me close and he lifts my head to him. “You’re what’s beautiful, Grace. You make the sky bright. This,” he looks back up, “this is nothing compared to you.”
“Keep sayin’ these sweet things, and I’m gonna keep you.”
He smiles and leans in for a kiss. “I’m plannin’ on it, sweetheart.”
Chapter 17
Trent
“T hree weeks he’s been suffering!” Mama yells at the doctor. “And now we’re back in the hospital again?”
“Mrs. Hennington, I warned y’all this would be possible. His immune system is weak and the leukemia has spread. I’m sorry, but at this point, we need to do another blood transfusion. We have to treat the symptoms as they arise.”
My mother falls in the chair and begins to cry. Instantly, my brothers and I move to her side.
Her red-rimmed eyes look at each of us, and my heart breaks. It’s happening so fast. Maybe my father was right to deny treatment. He’s barely able to stay awake or eat, and it’s been wearing on my mother.
We’re back in the hospital after his blood work came back with his red blood cell count lower than when he collapsed. It feels like the chemo accelerated his body’s breakdown.
“Do whatever you can. Just give us more time with him.” Defeat is clear in Mama’s voice. Something I don’t think I’ve ever heard from her. She’s a fighter, but she’s trying to fight a battle she never had a chance of winning. Cancer is robbing her of everything she loves.
Dr. Halpern clears his throat. “Our blood banks are a little low.”
Wyatt steps next to me and huffs. “What do you need?”
Dr. Halpern writes something on the chart he’s holding. “We’d like to have a good match donate blood since your father will be needing more frequent blood transfusions. Are you all willing to be tested? Most of the time we can find a match in the family.”
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