Thor started to speak, but Anne held up a hand.
“When I first met Vince, I thought he was a pompous jerk with an ego as big as the moon. Actually, his ego is as fragile as a breath of wind, all thanks to you. I suspect they are all fragile men, your sons, big as they are, but Vince has beaten you every step of the way. Wonder of wonders, he still loves you, but he’s sick of the way you treat the rest of the people he loves. To my consternation, I have managed to fall in love with him. I intend to fight for him, even if I’m fighting him most of all.”
She was afraid Thor would have a stroke. Instead, he seemed relaxed and cheerful. Back to charming. He’d enjoyed her tirade.
“Well, girl, that’s saying it flat-out. Maybe if I’d ever found a woman like you, I wouldn’t have had to marry four of them. They were all disappointments, just like the current one. The heck with my son. How about you marry me. I’m the one with the money. I can still sire another son to leave this place to.”
“You’re kidding, right? Why would I marry a man who tries to eat his own children?” She walked inside.
“Come back here,” he shouted. “I haven’t finished...”
“Yes, you have. I’m headed on home now and taking Tom with me. You better start making your peace with your kinfolk. Do yourself a favor, Mr. Peterson. Go find a good psychologist and try to become a mentally healthy man before it’s too late. Oh, and apologize to Mary Alice for all the grief you’ve caused her. She deserves diamonds and a cruise to the Bahamas.”
“Soon as I’m well, I’m divorcing her,” he grumbled.
“Then you are a bigger idiot than I thought you were.”
She turned away and stuck her hands in her pockets. For a woman who loathed confrontation, she’d managed to hold her own and even score some points. Not that he’d pay attention.
She jumped when she saw Vince standing in the shadows by the fireplace.
“When did you come back? I thought you’d gone to help dig the barbecue pit?”
“All done before I got there. I came the back way. Figured I’d save you from Daddy. Turns out he’s the one needed rescuing.”
“You heard all that?”
He nodded.
“I’m sorry if I offended you, but I’m not sorry about what I said to your father. Marry him? Not likely. He can’t have been serious.”
“He was serious right at that moment. Mary Alice would slice him into coleslaw if he so much as mentioned divorce to her. He’s not really crazy. He knows she loves him. Somewhere in that dried up heart of his, I think he loves her back. He’s be miserable without her.”
“Then tell him to tell her so. Come on. We need to get him in. He shouldn’t be outside in this heat.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
“YOU CAN’T LEAVE before the barbecue tomorrow,” Vince said as he drove down the farm road toward his brothers’ houses. “Tom is happy with Daddy’s mare to keep him company.”
“Your father will want to try to use him again.”
“I guarantee he won’t. You haven’t met the sane members of my family yet.”
“They’re getting ready for your party. They don’t need a stranger underfoot. I’ll make an excuse to leave early. Something Victoria needs me for in Williamston. Nobody needs to know things didn’t work out with Tom and your father.” She was glad now that she and Victoria had worked out an early exit strategy. All she had to do was text Victoria to send a message asking her to come home early. She didn’t want to deal with Thor again.
But Thor came along with Vince. She loved Vince.
“You think I care what people think?” Vince said. “Here’s Cody’s and Nicki’s place. Not as big as the main house, but not bad for a farmer.”
Party or no, Cody’s wife Nicki fed them lunch, then left Anne in their air-conditioned solarium while she met with the caterer in town. Vince walked over to the nearest pasture to check out the cows. He was obviously giving Anne a chance to get to know Cody.
Cody settled himself in a shabby leather recliner and offered Anne an equally shabby love seat. “Want me to make coffee?”
“I’m fine, thanks.”
“Want some advice?” he asked.
“Should I?” She’d already decided she liked Cody.
“I’ll give it to you anyway for free. Run, don’t walk, away from my brother.”
“Any special reason? Does he have six wives or a gambling habit?”
“Worse. He’s one of the Peterson boys. We are a bad risk marriage-wise.”
“Who said anything about marriage?” Anne asked.
Cody, who looked strong enough to practice cow-tipping without assistance, leaned back in his chair, kicked his boots off on the tile floor and yawned hugely. “Vince hasn’t showed much interest in a female down here since he broke up with his prom date in high school. Then here you show up complete with a little bitty horse, and he can’t keep his eyes off you. He’s crazy about you. I’m just afraid you’re crazy about him right back. Bad idea.”
“Everybody including Vince keeps telling me that.”
“We Petersons are genetically predisposed to divorce. It’s in the Peterson DNA. We don’t do marriage well as a general rule, not even long-term relationships. Every time we try one, we mess it up. Vince was smart enough to figure that out. The rest of us are trying to overcome our genetic disposition. Be grateful when he walks away.”
“Grateful? And you’re one of the sane ones?”
“Trust me, if he wasn’t crazy about you, he wouldn’t consider kicking you out of his life.”
“But you have a solid marriage, Cody. Two beautiful sons...”
“Yeah, but I keep waiting for the whole thing to implode, and it would be my fault. The only word for Nicki is dogged. She holds me together with spit and construction glue.
“I spent my last two years at the University of Alabama drunk, stoned out of my gourd and being a first-class tomcat,” Cody said. “Then I met Nicki. She forced me to stay in school and make passing grades. Not good passing grades, but good enough to earn my degree. Would you believe, I have a bachelor’s in botany. I hate plants, but I love cows, so I need to know about plants. I run the local agricultural extension agent so ragged he hates to see me coming. I know just enough to be dangerous.”
“Nicki got you sober and off the drugs?”
He snorted. “First, she held my head a lot when I tossed my cookies after a weekend binge. I have no idea why she hung in there. She says she loves me. What other people do is love. What Nicki does for me is a whole other thing.”
“Didn’t she ever get fed up?”
“Oh, yeah. She’s not Joan of Arc. No martyrdom for my Nicki. I finally pushed her too far. She was four months’ pregnant when she walked out. She said she was not about to raise a child with a drunken, drugged-out daddy. Heck of a way to tell me she was pregnant. Bam! I’d pushed and pushed to try to get her to leave me. Then when she did, all I could say was, ‘See, I said you’d leave me.’
“After Nicki left me I walked into my first AA meeting with a swollen jaw and two loose teeth. Hit a couple of rough spots, but I’ve been clean and sober since that night.
“But I know I could go out right this minute, walk into a bar, drive home knee-walking drunk and maybe kill somebody. Me, maybe. My kids need both parents. One of the reasons I stay sober is that my daddy would love it if I fell off the wagon and Nicki left me.”
“Why on earth would Thor want that?”
“He’d win. I’d failed at the same thing he’s never been able to do—love and be loved. He’s jealous of everyone he thinks is happier or richer than he thinks he should be. Now that his body’s not as strong as it was—and believe me, even after the accident he’s still strong—he’s mad at everybody.”
“Why do you stay here?”
“Daddy’d say I’m waiting for him
to die so I can inherit my part of the farm. I’m not. I love this place. Nicki loves it, my boys love it. I like having family around, knowing my people have been on this land since right after the Civil War. I think my daddy loves it, too. More’n he loves any human people, anyway. Besides, I like cows.”
“He’s afraid he’ll die alone.”
“More’n likely will if he keeps on like this. He’s lost Vince, and Joshua avoids him as much as he can. Josh is an accountant, not a farmer. He would do better in a big city, but Daddy keeps making him offers he can’t refuse.”
“You plan to stay.”
“I’d like this to be the place where the family comes for reunions like the one we’re about to have. Where the cousins fish and hunt together. Where they get married and christen their children in the garden. I’m good at what I do. I intend to make money for all of us.”
“You want to be the patriarch.”
“Yeah, I guess I do. Heck, I pretty much am already. Daddy tries to spoil things, but Nicki and I are bound and determined not to let him do it. I’m sad for him, really. Somewhere along the way when he was growing up or when my mother left him, he decided it was safer to hate. Been practicing on us ever since.”
Vince walked in from the pasture and nodded at Cody. “You on Daddy Duty the rest of the day?”
“For my sins.”
“Then Anne and I are driving down to see if Nell and Joshua would like us to pick up the boys after soccer practice.”
“Not necessary. They’re all four spending the night in town. The coach is having a sleepover for the team. Keeps them out of our hair.”
Vince shook his head. “That’s no coincidence.”
Cody came and slapped his brother on the back. “Nell and Nicki exerted a little pressure and furnished enough food for a whole soccer team. World would be a better place if we men turned it over to soccer moms.”
* * *
JOSHUA AND NELL’S miniature Parthenon sat in a grove of loblolly pines half a mile down the road from Cody and Nicki.
After introductions, Nell set out iced tea on the kitchen table. “Vince, go get Josh. He’s down by the pond attempting to fish. He never catches anything we can eat.”
After Vince left, Nell patted her tummy and said, “I’m still trying to lose my baby weight. Since Josh Jr. is seven, I guess I’m fooling myself.” She pulled a cookie sheet with chocolate chip cookies from the oven. “Only six more batches to make. Every year I bake more, and every year we run out.” She moved the sheet to a warming rack and pulled another from the oven. “Have one while it’s hot. I love hot cookies.” She wiped her hands on her apron, looked down at her stomach, and said, “Guess you can tell, huh? Anyway, it’s nice to finally meet you. Vince has been driving everybody nuts talking about you since he got here. Take my advice. Have an affair, but don’t marry him.”
“Cody said basically the same thing. I have seen no evidence that Vince is Bluebeard or Count Dracula. He has a temper he’s working to control with people. He’s fine with animals. He doesn’t plan to get married ever, and I don’t plan to get married for a while. We enjoy each other’s company when we’re not fighting over some sticky point of veterinary procedure.”
“You’re in love with him.”
“Why does everyone keep telling me that? Shouldn’t I be the first to know?”
“Honey, you do know. You’re afraid to tell him for fear he’ll run the other direction Probably will. Little boys don’t ever get over having their mothers abandon them. Who’s gonna trust a female again after that? If your mother can dump you, any woman can dump you. Obvious answer? Do not put yourself in the position where they can. I’m fond of Vince, but he is not good husband material. He’s always going to be looking for your packed suitcase under the bed. Right beside the one he’s planning to use to disappear on you.”
“You mean walk out on me.”
“Vince doesn’t handle confrontation well. At least not with women. I am friends with some of his ex-girlfriends. They start to get serious and suddenly Vince stops calling. No break-up phone call. Not even an email. All I’m saying is enjoy the party but don’t expect it to last.”
By the time Vince came back to pick Anne up and snitch a few cookies, Anne had decided to stay until after the barbecue.
Maybe she wanted to prove Nell wrong. With the exception of Thor, she liked Vince’s family and the way they accepted her not as a guest, but as another member of the barbecue helpers.
She could avoid Thor.
Cody’s work crew began to move tables and chairs onto the front lawn of the big house at about four and were done and lounging in the grass, drinking beer, by six. They had the easy familiarity of country men who had grown up together and spoke in casual insults.
Thor did not appear. The door to his bedroom was shut.
Anne thought, In his wheelchair he might have been the center of attention. Just the way he likes it.
The Fourth of July, the day of the Peterson reunion barbecue, was Mississippi hot and humid with a sun that demanded hats and sunscreen. The three brothers had been barbecuing several small hogs since midnight. The odor of ribs and pulled pork lay over the lawns and garden. Anne had been to a number of barbecues, but never one this size in a private home. Cars began to drive in around five in the afternoon, filled the parking lot and lined the long driveway.
Anne wished that Sonny Prather were here to see this. He’d be in his element. She finally gave up explaining that no, she wasn’t kin, and no, she couldn’t vote in Mississippi because she was registered in Tennessee.
She finally met all four of the new generation of Peterson males. She could see the Peterson gene pool in them even as young as they were. If Vince had sons they would most likely grow to look like them—tall for their ages, rangy and big-boned.
What would it be like to raise sons like these? Vince’s sons. To belong among these people? She watched Vince work the crowd. She considered herself more comfortable in small groups than large and had believed that Vince was as well. Now she wasn’t so certain.
Pleading his injuries, Thor sat inside the air-conditioned living room in his wheelchair and held court. It was like a Southern version of a mafia movie, until Mary Alice whisked him away for a nap. The minute he was gone, the whole atmosphere of the party lightened.
At eleven in the evening the fireworks began. In Tennessee private fireworks were illegal, so municipalities mounted their own display. In Mississippi fireworks were sold by the roadside.
The Petersons must have spent a fortune on theirs.
Remembering the thunderstorm at Martin’s, Anne slipped away just before the first rocket exploded. She carried a bag of horse treats for Tom and shared them with Thor’s mare. The mare never raised her head from her hay. She was used to fireworks.
Anne thought Tom would pitch a mini-size fit at the first boom. He was a long way from home and his herd. As soon as he saw Anne, however, he settled with his head over the stall gate where she could stroke him.
As Anne slipped back out of the barn, an absolutely stunning blonde woman came toward her, hand outstretched. “Hey. I’m Cheryl from across the road. I grew up with the boys—well, Vince, actually. I was just dyin’ to meet the girl who finally caught him.”
So this was the woman that Thor had chosen to marry his son. He might have done worse. She was tall, lanky and dressed in immaculate white linen slacks under a coral silk shirt.
“I certainly haven’t caught him.”
Cheryl gave out a tinkly laugh. “Everybody thought Vince and I’d get married sooner or later. Finally, I got good sense and moved on.” She held out her left hand and wriggled the fingers. Her diamond engagement ring must have weighed over four carats and was surrounded by smaller diamonds. “Time Vince found somebody and kept ahold of her. You treat him good, now.” She toddled off on high-heeled espadrilles.
/> Anne scurried out to watch the rest of the fireworks.
She had expected to meet Vince at the fireworks display, but she couldn’t spot him in the crowd.
Nell’s words came back to her. When Vince was facing an uncomfortable confrontation with one of his girlfriends. He disappeared.
Nonsense. She wasn’t just a girlfriend. He had told her he loved her. He had invited her and only her to be with him at this barbecue. Had he lost his nerve when people linked them together?
No, he must be inside with his father. The old man must need him for something. She stepped up onto the porch, expecting to find him in the living room. Thor was there in his wheelchair surrounded by acquaintances, but no Vince.
She was becoming anxious. Vince should be looking for her, too. Unless he was distancing himself, sending the guests a message that she wasn’t important. Just another guest.
Exactly what were they to one another? He had said he loved her, but he had never said he was changing his mind about marrying. As a matter of fact, he hadn’t mentioned love since she arrived in Mississippi. He certainly never introduced her to anyone as especially important to him.
She loved him. That meant admitting that you were committed to the other person. In her book it meant acknowledging you were a couple.
It meant marriage.
People who loved one another got married, had babies, took out mortgages. Were seen as a couple. Laughed together, cried together, worked toward the same goals. Out in public. If Vince was offering her anything, it wasn’t that.
Had he decided to walk away? Just like that?
She found a seat under an oak that must have been a hundred years old when the Petersons left Minnesota. Why had they never christened the farm with a fancy name? It was simply Peterson’s. It gave the whole place a feeling of impermanence, even after a hundred and fifty years.
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