A Family for a Week

by Melissa Senate

  “Sadie will tell her family that I ended the engagement, that I couldn’t commit after all,” Axel explained. “Everyone stays happy this week and once home, Sadie can save face.”

  “Oh, propose to her for real already,” Daisy said. “Then you’ll be happy, too.”

  Axel’s eyes almost popped. “Excuse me? What?”

  “I see how you look at Sadie,” Daisy explained. “How you treat Danny. That’s not pretend, Axel.”

  Noah looked at his sister, then at Axel. “You know, last night Sara asked me if you and Sadie were the real thing now, Ax. She said the two of you seemed truly in love.”

  Axel frowned. “It’s called acting.”

  “You were never in a school play for a reason,” Daisy pointed out. “And you’re the worst liar.”

  “Then how do I have y’all fooled?” he asked, wanting this conversation over.

  Daisy chuckled—dryly. “Maybe you don’t. Maybe you really have fallen for Sadie Winston.”

  Axel shook his head. “I’m not looking for a real relationship, Daize. I know you want me settled down with a family, but that’s not me. I’m on my own and fine that way.”

  He knew Daisy’s master plan when he’d first come back to the ranch three months ago had been to get him settled here. She’d been trying to fix him up so he’d fall in love and stay put, build a cabin on the property. Well, she’d gotten part of her grand plan—he’d built the home on the ranch—but he hadn’t fallen in love. He wouldn’t let himself. Because he knew what happened the last time he’d let his heart be the boss. He’d gotten run over by a tractor, twice. Once for the woman who’d left him. Once for her baby girl whom he’d never seen again. You don’t love, you don’t lose. It was that simple and really, someone should embroider that on a pillow.

  “Gotta take him at his word,” Noah said, shrugging at Daisy. But Axel caught the little smile passed between the two. Harrumph.

  “Anyhoo,” he said, using his faux mother-in-law-to-be’s favorite way to change subjects. “Guess where I’m headed this afternoon.”

  “Did you just say anyhoo?” Noah asked, peering at him. He put his hand to Axel’s forehead as if to feel for fever.

  Daisy laughed. “Fine. We can change the subject, Avoider Axel. Where ya headed?”

  Axel took the folded letter from his pocket. “This is the letter Dad left for me.” He handed the piece of paper with the four addresses to Noah. He’d already spoken to Daisy about the list.

  “What’s the one on Main Street?” Noah asked, narrowing his eyes as if trying to place it around his favorite places in town—the coffee shop, a fish and chips place he and Sara frequented.

  “Manuela’s Mexican Café,” he said. “Turns out that’s where Dad met my mom.”

  Noah nodded. “He’s definitely trying to tell you a story with these addresses. I wonder what the other places are. You recognize any, Daisy?”

  She looked over his shoulder. “Hey, 22 Colby Way—I know what that is. It’s Gram and Gramps’s old house. Before they bought this land and built the ranch. Dad grew up there till he was five or six, I think.”

  “Yeah?” Axel asked, eyeing the address. “Maybe I’ll check that out first.”

  Noah looked at the list again. “I don’t recognize the others. Hurley Lane is a private road with one big ranch on it. An older couple lives there, I think. Not sure what Dad’s connection to the Hurleys was.”

  Well, that was helpful, actually. Axel didn’t like the unknown, and now three of the four addresses were accounted for and one could be crossed off—Manuela’s. He reclaimed the list and returned it to the envelope and his pocket.

  “Why would he send me to Gram and Gramps’s old house?” Axel asked. “They moved out of there over fifty years ago.”

  “He must have had a good reason,” Daisy said. “Want company there?”

  Axel swallowed. He was going to get it for this. “I appreciate that, but, uh, Sadie’s coming with me. We’re leaving at four. I think I’ll start with the old Dawson place and see what I can find out.”

  “Interesting,” Daisy said, a twinkle in her blue eyes. “Sadie, your fake fiancée, is going with you on this personal mission. Away from the ranch and her relatives, the ones you need to play house for.”

  “We’re...” Axel began, then clamped his mouth shut. They were what? Friends? He supposed he’d been about to say that but he and Sadie were more than friends. Friends didn’t kiss the way they had—two times. Friends didn’t have the intensity of attraction that they had.

  “Let us know what you find out, will you?” Noah asked. “I’m curious why he’s sending you to these places. Must be some things he wants you to find out.”

  Axel nodded. “Will do.”

  Noah and Daisy finally left, again giving each other a knowing look that had him inwardly groaning.

  Axel stared at the hay bales, trying to get his brain back on the ranch, on his day. He had a busy one, leading two wilderness tours, patrolling a beginner’s horseback riding program and helping the hands mend a section of fence. Then at four, he’d meet Sadie and go into the great unknown, where he kind of felt he was already.

  * * *

  “So what’s your dream wedding?” Evie asked as she and Sadie both flopped on their beds in the cabin. Today had been a long but fun day of tastings, choosing flowers and buying centerpieces. Evie had already booked friends of Marshall’s as the band: the Hell Yeahs. They were alternative country-rock who did amazing covers of all of Evie’s and Marshall’s favorite songs. “Ugh, that was a dumb question, sorry,” she added with a grimace, turning on her side to face Sadie. “You probably made your dream wedding when you got married the first time.”

  Sadie smiled. “Are you kidding? That was more Mom’s dream wedding.”

  Evie laughed. “Yeah, I do remember her saying to you, ‘You want a poufy princess dress, right? You want filet mignon in béarnaise sauce, right? Your bridesmaids are all wearing the same dress, right?’”

  “I wasn’t into wedding planning and Mom was, so I just said ‘right’ to everything unless it was truly awful. À la, ‘You will aim your bouquet only for Evie or Tabby, who I will strategically place together. Strongest catcher wins, right?’”

  “Ugh, thanks for saving me from that.” Evie giggled. “I’ll never forget Izzy catching the bouquet on her lap in her wheelchair and saying, ‘Well, I am single.’” Evie cracked up.

  Sadie laughed. “If I’d been into planning, I would have created a wedding like yours. Elegant yet simple. Pink and white flowers. White lights. A great band and great food.”

  “Simple works especially when you’ve got the highlight in the groom,” Evie said. “I can’t wait to say I do and kiss my husband and be a team. A whole new life is awaiting me—that’s how it feels. I’d love to get pregnant right away. I hope I do.”

  Sadie smiled and turned on her side. “You’re so lucky,” she said and the wistfulness in her voice made her remember she was supposedly just as lucky.

  “Maybe you and Axel can get married in the lodge, too,” Evie said.

  Sadie was lucky, too, because just then, their mom poked her head in their room and this stab-in-the-heart conversation was cut short. Danny was in her arms, a piece of what looked like a cider doughnut, his favorite, in his hand. The big smile on his face said Mommy was right about that. “Guess what Tabby’s date for tonight had a ranch hand send over to our cabin?” Viv asked. “Oh, just a big box of two dozen freshly baked doughnuts of every kind imaginable. Come and get ’em before I eat all the cream-filled ones. You know you love those, Sadie. Hurry before Axey gets here. It’s almost four.”

  Axey. Now he had a nickname? Sadie sighed and pulled herself up by the bedpost.

  “Tell Izzy to leave me a powdered jelly!” Evie said.

  “Oops!” Izzy called out. “How about half of one?” Sadi
e could hear Izzy chuckling from the living room.

  She smiled. Saved by doughnuts. And Aunt Tabby’s new romance. She was glad some people were having real affairs of the heart even if hers was fakety-fake.

  * * *

  Their destination, 22 Colby Way, was a tiny yellow house down a dirt road. A white farmhouse was about a quarter mile beyond and Axel figured the yellow house had been the hands’ quarters at one time.

  “I guess this was their starter home when my grandmother and grandfather were newlyweds,” Axel said. “Doesn’t look like it could fit more than two people.”

  Sadie stared up at the lemon yellow house with white trim. “It looks sweet and cozy. So what’s the plan? Knock?”

  “I guess.”

  They got out and walked up the two steps to the stoop. He’d been right to invite Sadie to join him. He wouldn’t want to be here alone. Axel pressed the doorbell and a young woman came to the door.

  “Hi,” Axel said. “I recently found out that my grandparents used to own this house and I thought I’d come take a look if that’s all right. I understand if it’s intrusive.”

  The woman peered at him. “Are you a Dawson?”

  Axel nodded. “How’d you know?” Maybe she’d known his father.

  “Well, my grandparents owned this house for like the last fifty years. They retired and sold it to my husband and me. I know they bought it from the Dawsons, who ran the dude ranch before it went south.”

  Axel smiled. “It’s north again. It’s completely rebuilt and reopened.”

  “Oh, that’s good to know. Well, come in. I’ll show you around. The house is tiny so there’s not much to see.”

  There was a little kitchen with barely room for a two-person round table. Square living room. A very small dining room. A bathroom. The woman led them upstairs. “Two bedrooms up here. And the attic. But that’s full of old furniture and my family’s keepsakes, like old report cards.”

  Axel glanced around. Not much to see. He followed the woman downstairs, Sadie trailing. He wondered why his dad had bothered putting this place on the list. Fifty years was a long time. Maybe because Bo Dawson had lived here as a kid and he remembered it?

  “Could we look out back?” Axel asked, peering out the window at the long but narrow backyard. There was a line of trees at the edge of the yard and a rickety tree house of sorts.

  “Sure,” she said. “Take your time. Oh—definitely go up in the tree house. The walls are covered in framed kitschy photos of who knows what. I think some of it might have been there when my grandparents bought the house. They loved the tree house and kept adding to what was already on the walls.”

  Axel and Sadie went outside and walked to the edge of the yard. Nothing to see here either. He shrugged. “Not much of a story.”

  “How old was your dad when your grandparents sold the house?” Sadie asked.

  “Ten, I think.”

  “Well, maybe this counted as home to him and he wanted you to see it for yourself.”

  “I guess. Let’s check out the tree house.”

  There were seven steps up and Axel tested the bottom rung—very sturdy. The tree house was built rock-solid—more like a cabin than the usual kiddie play structure. He wondered if his grandparents had built the tree house or if the other owners had. He climbed up, and since it was sturdy he went to the top and motioned Sadie up. There was a door that swung in, two windows and a braided rug in the middle of the dusty floor. No one had been up here in a while, it seemed. The walls were indeed covered, practically every available spot, with framed pictures of all kinds. One was an old rodeo advertisement from the ’50s. Another was a Wyoming Wildcats team photo from the ’90s. There were lots of framed local ads of livestock auctions and bull riders.

  Axel drew closer to another one, a handwritten list, it looked like, in a gold frame.

  My rules for life.

  By Bo Dawson, age 10 and a half.

  Axel sucked in a breath. “Sadie, come look at this.”

  She gasped. “They kept this up here for fifty years?”

  “Well, the tree house is full of memorabilia, either theirs or my grandparents’ or a mix. Like the woman said, I guess her grandparents liked it as it was and kept it.”

  “Well, now we know why this place was on the list. Because it was home and maybe he knew the tree house was left alone. Maybe he’d stopped by as an adult.”

  Axel stepped close and read the list his father had made.

  My rules for life.

  by Bo Dawson, age 10 and a half.

  Try to do the right thing even if you don’t want to. I only want to half the time.

  Say sorry only if you mean it.

  Your parents think they know everything but they probably do.

  I wish we had money.

  Someday I’m gonna have everything I want. I might even be president.

  Birthdays are big deals and you should get everything on your list.

  Everyone should have a dog. It’s not fair I don’t have one.

  I’m good at math but not good at spelling or reading fast and I don’t care.

  There’s no such thing as ghosts.

  I wish I had a brother. If I ever have a family, I’m gonna have ten kids.

  Axel stood there, speechless, oddly moved by the eclectic list. He loved having a piece of his father as a ten-year-old, so sure of himself.

  “Six kids probably felt like ten,” Sadie said with a smile.

  Axel turned to her. “No doubt.” He turned back to the list. “He loved Dude. Any time I’d bring the dog by, my dad would make such a fuss over him, get right on the ground and scratch him all over. One time he told me to wait a second, then came from the house with a chew toy he said he’d bought for the next time he saw Dude.”

  “Your dad definitely had his good side, Axel.”

  He nodded. “People are complicated. As I said before, it’s so much easier if things are black-and-white. Either-or. Good and bad.”

  She reached for his hand and held it, and he squeezed it, then let go. This was too...personal, intimate, close, and the air started slowly disappearing from his lungs.

  “Do you want to ask if you can have this?” Sadie suggested.

  He took out his phone and stood back and snapped a photo of it. “I think it belongs here. Fifty years and counting.”

  “I’m surprised your grandparents didn’t take it to the new house and hang it in his room or something.”

  He looked at the list again, his dad’s handwriting as a ten-year-old not too far off from his adult handwriting. “Maybe they thought it belonged here with this chapter of their life. You know what I mean? Like, this is who Bo was when he lived in this house.”

  She smiled. “I can see that. And maybe the tree house walls were full of photos when your grandparents bought it and they kept the tradition by adding to it and leaving it. The new owners certainly didn’t remove anything in fifty years.”

  He slowly turned, taking in all the stuff, imagining his dad here as a kid, lying on the rug, staring at the pictures, dreaming of the future. The thought made him smile. “I’m ready to go,” he said.

  Sadie climbed down first and he followed. The owner of the house happened to be watering flowers in the backyard, so Axel waved and called out thanks as they headed to the street where his car was parked.

  He opened Sadie’s door for her, then got in himself, his chest seizing on him. His father was once a kid making lists about his rules for life. How had that firecracker of a boy let his life unravel, especially when he had so much? The ranch, wives who loved him, six children who needed him.

  “You okay?” Sadie asked once they were buckled up.

  “I don’t know why hearing about his life hits me so hard,” Axel said, staring out the windshield. “He was an addict—to gambl
ing and alcohol—and couldn’t help himself. I know that—intellectually. But here—” he slapped a hand on the left side of his chest “—I’m just so...” He let it go. What was the point?

  “Angry. Hurt,” Sadie finished for him.

  He turned to her. “Yeah, those.”

  “Want to visit another address or was this enough for one day?” she asked.

  “This was more than enough.” He shook his head. “Done in by a silly list written by my dad as a kid. What the hell is wrong with me?”

  “You’re human. And it’s incredibly painful all you’re dealing with, Axel. You once said you felt like his death was your fault.”

  He sucked in a breath. “I should have dragged him to rehab. They would have done a physical and found that he was dying.”

  “You didn’t know. That doesn’t make losing him your fault,” she said gently. “How’d you get the news?”

  He turned to her, surprised she’d asked. Most people would want to change the heavy subject. Not Sadie. “I was far out on a cliff on a search and rescue job and a chopper picked me up to take me to the hospital. Noah had found him barely conscious on the couch. He realized Bo was truly in trouble and called 911. I made it to his bedside five minutes before he passed away.”

  “Oh, Axel.”

  “All six of us got there in time. One of the last things my father said was, You’re all here. And he said it with tears in his eyes and such surprise on his face. He left this world knowing that no matter what, we cared, we were there for him.”

  “I’m so glad for that. For him and for all of you.”

  “Me, too,” Axel whispered.