by Hanna Hart
“Is family,” June finished. It was Mama Brooks’ oldest saying.
His mother looked elated. She gestured to Roger, who smiled, and exclaimed, “That’s exactly right! There is nothing more important in this life than your kids and the home you make. The boys grew up not knowing what kind of money we had, you know? I mean, we were okay.”
“We didn’t have to worry. We never went without, you know?” Roger clarified.
“Exactly,” Shannon added. “But the more successful the ranches got, the less control we had over her. I don’t know where we went wrong, but that girl wouldn’t work a day in her life if she didn’t have to. The boys, well,” she scoffed.
“They had the ranches to run. They didn’t get anything handed to them in life,” Roger said.
“Except for the ranches,” Jaxon laughed.
“Yeah, but that wasn’t a free ticket, was it?” Roger asked, nodding toward Bennett.
“Not a chance,” Bennett laughed.
“I’m worried about her,” his mother said, running a finger through one of her little gray pigtails.
“Well, it’s normal for girls in their early twenties to rebel,” June said before taking a heaping gulp of her creamy coffee.
“You didn’t,” Roger said.
“That’s because my mother would have killed me,” June said, and the table laughed.
“Oh, June, you bring such a life to this house. You and your precious little girl,” Shannon said, gesturing out in the living room at Ember, who had asked if she could go play when she had finished her French toast.
“She is just the sweetest little thing I ever did see,” his mother said, practically gushing. “I think, and I don’t say this about anyone, that she is one of the cutest little ones I have ever seen.”
“That’s true. She doesn’t say to flatter anyone. Unless they are her grandbabies, she won’t make a peep,” his father confirmed with amusement.
“Ember is the cutest little girl I have seen since Colt had his babies!”
“Colt has kids?” June asked, wide-eyed. “Oh, my goodness, now I definitely feel old!”
“Isaiah, Eleanor, and Wyatt. You’ve never seen them?” Roger asked.
June shook her head, and his father sprung to action. He took out his cellphone and pulled up his gallery. The man took his time finding the right picture of his grandkids to show her.
“They’re coming down next weekend,” Shannon said. “You should come by for dinner, let the kids play together. They’re probably about Ember’s age.”
“And there’s new baby Wyatt. He’s just a few months old,” Roger added.
“They are so cute!” June exclaimed. She turned the photo toward Bennett and leaned in to say, “Doesn’t Wyatt look exactly like Colt? He’s just a little boy Colt; it’s crazy!”
“He’s a clone for sure,” Bennett laughed. “Great kids, too. You really should come by and meet him and his wife.”
“We’re making a big dinner,” Shannon added.
“Don’t make the offer unless you mean it,” June said sweetly. “I will eat you out of house and home!”
“And what about you, sweet-pea?” Shannon called over to Ember in the living room. “What’s your favorite dish?”
“Peach pie!” Ember said as she rushed back into the kitchen.
“Oh, a peach pie! I love peach pie,” his mother said. “Do you want to help me make a big ole pie next week?”
“Yes! Oh yes! Mama, can I?”
June nodded. “Of course!”
“And what else is your favorite? I’ll fix you anything you like,” his mother offered, and her kindness made Bennett smiled.
Many of his siblings thought his mother was too much, and perhaps she could be at times, especially when her children were having problems, but she was one of the most genuinely thoughtful people Bennett had ever known.
“Green bean casserole,” Ember enunciated happily.
Shannon gave a charmed frown and put a hand over her heart. She turned to Bennett and said, “This is a little girl after my own heart.”
“She’s all about those textures,” Bennett teased.
“Yes,” June added. “She loves canned peaches over fresh, she loves broccoli, fresh pasta, mashed potatoes.”
“So basically, the opposite of Bennett growin’ up,” Roger said with a hearty laugh. “We couldn’t get him to eat fruits or vegetables for the life of us. I swear, he grew up on chocolate cereals and cookies.”
“And happily grew out of my sugar phase, thank you very much,” Bennett said.
“I noticed Jaxon doesn’t get a say in any awesome food we’ll be having next week,” his little brother piped up with amusement.
“Oh, Jax, you have the run of this house nearly every day,” his mother chided, and the rest of the table laughed.
It felt good to have June back at the Brooks house, though strangely, it made Bennett feel like he was a kid again.
After brunch, Bennett took Ember and June outside to the stable on his parent’s property to show the little girl their prized horses.
“Have you ever been on a horse before?” he asked as he put Ember up on his shoulders so she could get a better look at the black and brown mare out running in the field.
“No way!”
“No way?” he repeated. “Then you don’t know what you’re missin’!”
“Bennett, no,” June said, setting a chiding hand on his arm.
“Ah, it’s not gonna hurt her,” he said.
She blinked in surprise and turned him to face her. “Haven’t you seen what happens in Gone with the Wind?”
“Yes, I remember you making me watch it with you. Hours and hours of agonizing torture,” he said over-emphatically. “Vivian Leigh was a cutie, though, if I remember correctly,” he winked.
June rolled her eyes. “Well, that movie has basically scarred me for life about letting my little girl on the back of a horse, so you can forget it!”
“Well, how about if I let her pet one?” he tested.
“Yes!” Ember cheered.
Bennett let out a loud whistle and a gray spotted horse came galloping over to the fence. She whinnied and then seemed to settle as Ember’s hand came gently down on her nose.
“This one here, her name is Twinkles. She was named by my little nephew a few years back,” he explained. “Say, if you had a horse, what would you name it?”
“Mm. Bert!” Ember said with a giggle.
“Bert. Bert and Twinkles,” he said, testing the words out. “Sounds like a comedy duo.”
“Bert is the funny one,” Ember said.
“At my ranch, we have lots of horses,” he said, making careful eye contact with June as he did so. “We have little ponies, too.”
“Do you have any dogs there?” the little girl asked.
“We do! We have two German shepherds, and we even have one...” he said, taking a purposeful long pause.
“A Great Dane!” Ember shouted, practically jumping out of his arms with excitement.
“Nope,” he teased, tickling her sides. “A poodle! Her name is Apricot. She was a stray that kept coming around the ranch. I saw our German shepherds going after her and they, well, you know, they are there to make sure nothing happens to the rest of the animals.”
“Like a guard dog,” June simplified.
“Right,” he said. “So, I was worried maybe they were going to get protective and be mean to the poodle, but you know what?”
Ember’s eyes went wide, and she pressed her hands against her chubby, freckled cheeks in anticipation. “What?” she whispered. “What did they do?”
“They started playing together right away!”
“Really?” Ember asked, likely expecting the story to end in some kind of fight. “They knew they were supposed to be friends!”
“Yeah, I guess they did,” he grinned. “Now she thinks she’s one of the guard dogs.”
The threesome spent the day out with the horses, talking an
d laughing together until Ember was completely spent. She fell asleep in her mother’s arms and eventually, June brought her up to Bennett’s old bedroom to nap.
“Thanks for spending time with her today,” she said as she lay her daughter in the bed and pulled up the covers.
“Looks like I tuckered her out,” he whispered.
“Maybe a little bit. But you’ve been so sweet about her,” she said.
He looked over the slumbering princess and then back at June. “It’s kind of impossible not to. Have you met her?” he teased.
“Once or twice,” she smiled. “But seriously. Your family has been so kind to me, and I’ve…” she paused, looking down at Ember and then up at him with unexpected emotion in her eyes. “I’ve enjoyed being a part of the family again, even if only for a little while.”
Chapter Eight
June
“What do you mean you’re not coming?” June whispered into her phone as she walked into the kitchen.
Ember was set up on the living room couch watching a show about wildlife, facts from which she would likely recite for the rest of the weekend, and June was on the phone with Lincoln.
The arrangement was that every weekend, Lincoln would take Ember while June worked. This had worked perfectly for the first two months they were separated, but now at month three, things had started to disintegrate.
“You promised you would be here,” she said quietly.
“I have a lot going on right now,” Lincoln said. He sounded rushed, which immediately put June on edge. “I’m the one dealing with the house. I’m the one who is throwing money your way for Ember.”
“You’re the one dealing with the house because you kicked me out, remember?” she snapped.
“I have to work, June,” he said with the verbal equivalent of a shrug.
“I know that,” she said through clenched teeth. “But I thought we agreed that we were going to try to put Ember first in all of this. We didn’t want to be that couple, remember?”
“The pressure I’m under right now is unreal, okay?” he said, his words clipped.
“Uh-huh,” she said.
Lincoln pulled in a breath, and within an instant, she knew he was going to be mean. “Look, I get it. You’re mad,” he complained. “We’ll work out a schedule, all right? But it isn’t going to be tonight!”
“What?” she scoffed with humor. “Do you have a date or something?”
The line fell silent, and June suddenly felt sick to her stomach.
“I really can’t be doing this right now with you, June,” he said. “I seriously can’t handle another argument.”
“Oh my gosh,” she said as she exhaled. “You have a date.”
“It had to happen sometime.”
“How long has this been going on? Since we were together?” she asked in disbelief. “I am so stupid for believing you when you said there was nobody else! Why do I ever trust you? Who just breaks up because they don’t get along?”
“We did,” he said firmly.
“No!” she shouted. “People only break up when they have someone else lined up for their next relationship. I am such an idiot!”
“I just met her, June. I didn’t cheat on you. You know that!”
“I only know what you want me to know when you want me to know it. I was a stranger in our relationship! I didn’t even get a say in how it ended!
She could hear the frustration in Lincoln’s voice when he spoke, and it only infuriated her more.
“June, relax,” he snapped, but it was too late, she was already crying.
Three months and he was already seeing someone new. Their divorce wasn’t even finalized yet.
Lincoln waited for a break between her sobs to say, “We shouldn’t talk on the phone anymore. This is too fresh still. When it comes to Ember, we should just text. Otherwise, we’ll argue.”
“Sure. Whatever,” she cried. “That’s just code for you’re phasing us out. You’re going to go off and start this relationship, and in a couple of months, Ember will never see you because you’ll be too busy following your little fling around!”
“You’re jumping the gun,” he said. “I just met this girl, and so what if I like her? So what if I want to spend time with her? You’re not my wife anymore!”
She felt her face go hot as she spat, “You’re choosing to spend the night with some floozie you just met over spending time with your daughter!”
“She isn’t even my daughter!”
Even though they weren’t in the same room, June could feel the hateful sting of his words. They hung in the air like a poison that seeped into every inch of the atmosphere.
June pulled in an audible gasp, and Lincoln cursed under his breath.
“Ah,” he whispered. “You know I didn’t mean that.”
“You are the only father she has ever known,” she said, her voice shaking from fury and sadness as she pushed her words through her tears. “She loves you, and she misses you, and she doesn’t understand what’s going on. All she knows is that you aren’t here!”
“June, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
She cut him off and snapped, “Enjoy your date,” before ending the call.
June threw the phone down, and it clattered against the kitchen counter.
She stood by the sliding doors in the kitchen and tried to catch her reflection. She wiped the mascara from underneath her eyes and took a steadying breath.
Now came the hardest part: telling Ember.
June walked out into the living room of their small apartment and sat down next to her daughter on the couch. The two of them watched the animals on the screen in silence, and somehow, June got the feeling that Ember already knew he wasn’t coming.
June took her time letting the words come out. She knew how disappointed Ember had been the week before when Lincoln canceled their daddy-daughter weekend and wasn’t thrilled about delivering the news again.
She ran a hand through her daughter’s auburn hair, combing through it like the way she did when she was trying to get Ember to fall asleep.
“Honey,” she said softly, not making eye-contact with the girl. “Your daddy is...well, he has to work tonight.”
“Okay,” Ember said, not thinking twice. “When is he come over?”
“Well, that’s the thing. He can’t make it tonight.”
“Oh,” her daughter said, hanging her head.
“I’m sorry, sweetie.”
Ember stuck her bottom lip out and leaned her head back against the couch cushions. She looked up at June with big brown eyes and whined, “But I didn’t get to see him last time, either.”
“I know. Daddy’s just very busy with work.”
“Doesn’t he know it’s our day together?” she asked.
June’s heart sank. “Yes, and he feels very bad about it. But he’ll see you next Friday, okay?”
Ember looked at her for a long time, sizing her up, probably wondering if her words were true. Finally, her daughter said, “‘Kay,” she looked back at the television screen.
June hated herself for lying. This was the last time she was going to protect Lincoln. She didn’t want to make false promises to her daughter or pretend like Lincoln was working when he wasn’t. Ember deserved better than that.
“I’m sorry, baby. But you and Aunt Megan can play tonight, okay?”
“Where are you going?” Ember asked.
“I have to work, too.”
Ember brightened, looking back up at her mother as she asked, “Can I go play at Bennett’s house?”
“I don’t know...” she said with hesitation. “It’s Friday night. I think Bennett might have plans, sweetheart. But Aunt Megan has lots of games ready for you guys to play, okay? You’ll have fun, I promise. Then tomorrow we can make pancakes before mommy has to go back to work. Okay?”
“Okay,” Ember said, but she didn’t sound enthused.
Work dragged that night.
June and Danielle piled
up dirty dishes in the back room and began spraying them and loading them into the commercial dishwasher. They had just cleared the last of the plates from the wedding guests that night and had to get them cleaned and steamed before the morning.
While June and Danielle were primarily servers, they sometimes took on other jobs if they were short-staffed, such as plating or cleanup.
Unlike her co-worker, June didn’t mind being a jack of all trades at work. To her, it was great training to work her way up in the company. If she knew how to do each job, that meant she would know how to manage each job.
“I’m sorry,” Danielle said after hearing the quiet retelling of Lincoln’s disappointment. “I can’t believe he bailed.”
“Again,” June scoffed.
“Again!”
“Yeah, this repetition is becoming a little bit predictable,” June said.
“I just don’t get it,” Danielle said, jutting a hip out against the stainless-steel kitchen cabinet beside her. There is nothing about this that seems like Lincoln to me. He was the most attentive father ever. You guys were his entire world.”
“Yeah,” June tossed a wet rag onto the countertop in frustration and mumbled, “Until we weren’t.”
“I’m sorry,” her friend repeated. “Is there anything I can do?”
“No,” June said quietly.
Danielle had been an amazing friend during the breakup. She had known June for years and had been friends with Lincoln, too. She knew what a good dad he was—or used to be.
June wasn’t impressed with Lincoln’s behavior. He had been so loving and attentive to Ember her whole life. He was the only father she had ever known, and for him to say something so hurtful…
“She isn’t mine.”
He wasn’t wrong, nor was he ever under the impression that he had gotten June pregnant.
Ember was not Lincoln’s biological child.
Ember was Bennett’s—a fact that she had never told anyone, except for Lincoln.
When she first met Lincoln, she was already three months pregnant. She wasn’t showing yet, but she was upfront with him about her situation.
