by Kelly, Amber
“I’ll grab some glasses and tea and set you guys up on the front porch,” I offer as I head in the direction of the house.
A few minutes later, they join me and tear into the sandwiches I had Andy make them.
“I met our new vet today,” I inform them.
“Yeah? He’s early. We weren’t expecting him in town for months,” Daddy notes.
“Yep, he and his momma are here, house-hunting, and he’s going to help Doc during the brandings this year.”
“What was your impression of him?” Payne asks with his mouth full.
I shrug. “Hard to judge his medical skills from his breakfast order, but he seems nice enough, and he is a handsome devil.” I waggle my eyebrows at them.
“Great. The last thing I need is you dating and dumping the only vet in town,” Payne mumbles.
“Who said anything about dating him? I said he was attractive; that’s all. I like my men a little rougher around the edges,” I inform him, insulted by his assumption that I would throw myself at any new man who waltzed into town.
“Maybe that’s the problem, baby girl. Your track record hasn’t been stellar. Perhaps you should give a different kind of fella a chance,” Daddy chimes in from his perch on the porch swing.
“A chance to what exactly?” I ask him.
“A chance to heal that broken place inside you.”
Maybe I don’t want it to heal. Perhaps I want it to stay as raw as it has been the past six years as a reminder to never let myself be so blinded by love again that I can’t see what’s happening right under my nose. I have more than myself to consider now. Every choice I make affects Beau, and I will never let my bad decisions touch him.
Dallas
“Why do you get to drive?” I ask as I walk over to the four-wheeler.
“Because it’s my four-wheeler. Well, it’s Braxton’s, and what’s his is mine.” Sophie grins over her shoulder at me as I climb on the back and wrap my arms around her.
“I’m not sure I trust your skills out in the woods. I should have brought Beau’s helmet with me,” I mumble as she starts the machine.
“Oh, quit being a baby,” she says poking fun at me.
“A baby? You do realize you were the girl who didn’t know how to drive a freaking car six months ago, right?” I remind her.
“But I do now,” she yells as she presses the gas, and we shoot off into the trees.
“Jeez, I think you left my stomach back there. Slow down, speed racer,” I demand as we fly onto the path.
She ignores me and keeps the crazy speed as I watch my life flash before my eyes.
“I’ve created a monster,” I admit as I accept my fate and hold on tight.
We make it to our destination in one piece—thank you, Lord—and she parks in the pack of trucks.
I look up at the impressive progress that has been made on the house. The last time I was here, it was just a foundation, chimney, and framework. Now, the walls have been sheet-rocked, and there’s the beginning of a roof.
“Wow, Brax is not playing around,” I muse as we make our way to the ramp that serves as the makeshift entryway.
“I know. He’s working himself and the boys to death. He’s up at the crack of dawn, and then he works the ranch all day. Once he’s done, he heads straight here and works until there is no daylight left. Somehow, he talked Payne, Myer, Walker, and Silas into pitching in too,” she explains as we walk through hanging plastic, careful not to trip on any of the equipment lying around.
“It looks good though,” I praise as I check out the work they have done.
“It does. He wants to do as much as he can with his own hands before we have to get a crew in here to finish off the electrical and plumbing. Plus, I want to hire out the outside stone and shingle work and the floors and interior painting as well. He’s fighting me on it, but if we don’t, I fear I won’t have a groom in three months. He’ll have wasted away. I’ve had to force him to come home and eat and sleep at night,” she says as she shakes her head and calls out to them.
“In here, Princess,” Braxton answers, and we follow the sound of his voice.
We find them in what will be the living room. They are on scaffolding and adding rocks to what will be the face of a large fireplace that will cover one wall.
“Wow, that looks so good!” she squeals.
Braxton smiles a rare, pleased smile at her reaction. “It’s turning out better than I thought, and once we get the mantel stained, it’ll look even better.”
“I love it,” she proclaims, and it’s easy to see why she does. It’s gorgeous.
I walk over to what will be huge bay windows that overlook the gap and down onto the river. “This is a great view,” I tell her.
“Yeah, the deck will be built next week. It’ll be nice to be able to sit out there and sketch while he’s in here, working.”
Sophie owns a successful jewelry design business with her friend Charlotte in addition to running the office of Rustic Peak. If you can’t find her, she’s more than likely snuck off somewhere with a sketchpad.
“I’m so happy for you,” I say as I turn to face her. “Raising a family here is going to be a dream come true.”
“I know, right? If you had told me this time last year that I would be getting married and building a house in the woods on a mountain in Colorado today, I would have laughed in your face.”
“I reckon that’s what Momma means when she says, ‘If you want to hear God laugh, just tell him your plans,’ ” I muse.
“Isn’t that the truth?” she agrees.
We walk back over to the men.
“All right, fellas, it’s time to call it a day. Aunt Doreen sent us to gather you for supper, and she made us promise not to come back without the lot of you. So, wrap this up. And one of you is giving me a ride back to the house because I’m not getting back on that four-wheeler with Mario Andretti over here.” I sling my thumb over in Sophie’s direction.
Braxton raises his eyebrow to her in question.
“Tattletale,” she says as she sticks her tongue out at me.
“I got you, Dal,” Myer offers from the scaffolding platform.
I glance up to see him bent over, watching us with an amused look on his face.
“My hero,” I say, accepting his kindness.
“Oh, stop being so dramatic. I’m not that bad.” Sophie elbows me in the side.
“Woman, I saw my life flash before my eyes. My poor, short life. You could have made Beau an orphan. Do you want that on your conscience when you meet your maker?”
She rolls her eyes at me as we hear Braxton chime in, “I’m getting you a helmet for that thing. And if you don’t slow down, I’ll put a plate on it, so it’ll only go ten miles an hour.”
She gasps and turns to me. “See what you did? Snitch.”
When we all make it back to the house, Doreen and Ria have the table set and a feast waiting. Jefferson, Sophie’s dad, and his wife, Madeline, are seated at one end of the table with Pop, Sophie’s granddaddy. Elle, Braxton’s little sister, is sitting next to them.
We all file in, and Doreen starts making a fuss of getting everything out of the oven. Emmett, Jefferson’s best friend and Doreen’s sweetheart, comes in from the back porch, carrying a few extra chairs with Beau on his heels.
“Look, Mommy,” Beau says as he holds up a jar with a small green frog in it.
“What’s that?” I ask with a cringe.
“It’s Fritz, my new best friend,” he says proudly.
“Fritz the frog. Awesome,” I say as I look to Emmett, who grins at me.
“Why don’t we leave Fritz on the porch while we eat?” Aunt Doreen suggests.
“Can we put something in his jar to play with, so he won’t get bored and try to escape?” he asks her.
“Um, well, let’s see what we have.” She looks around the kitchen at a loss.
Emmett plucks a wine cork from the counter and hands it to Beau. “Here’s something h
e can climb on. I’ll take him outside. You go wash up for supper,” he says as he takes the jar from Beau’s hand, and Aunt Doreen leads him to the bathroom to wash his hands.
“What the hell do I feed a bullfrog?” I ask the table at large.
All of the guys have taken a seat and started to load their plates.
“Crickets or grasshoppers. Some will eat worms if they’re fresh,” Walker helpfully answers.
“Gross,” I say as I cover my eyes.
“What’s the matter, Dal? You aren’t afraid of worms or crickets. I’ve watched you bait a hook with both,” Myer taunts me.
“Yeah, but the fish don’t live in my house, and I don’t have to actually feed them and watch them eat,” I say, scrunching my nose. “I prefer my house animal-free.”
They all laugh.
“Get used to it. You have a boy. He is going to come home with all sorts of critters,” Jefferson pipes in.
I sit down and place my head in my hands.
“I’ll take him to get a tank and freeze-dried crickets tomorrow, and I’ll teach him how to feed and take care of Fritz himself,” Myer offers from beside me.
I look up at him. “Really? Thank you.”
I sigh in relief.
“You’re welcome,” he whispers.
Dallas
After dinner, I wrangle a sleepy Beau into the truck and head home.
I park in front of our house and move around the truck to carry him in. He fell fast asleep about ten minutes into our drive home.
I get Beau loose and grab Fritz’s jar from the backseat. I start for the porch when I notice my front door is ajar. I freeze in confusion for a moment, and then alarm hits me.
Beau rouses in my arms at the sudden stop. “What’s wrong, Mommy?” he asks, confused.
“Probably nothing, baby, but let’s hop back in the truck,” I whisper as I quickly walk back to the truck.
I set him on the passenger seat and close the door. Then, I run around to the driver’s side. I get in, lock the doors, and put the key in the ignition. Daddy and Momma are at a church choir meeting, so I fish my phone out of my purse and call Payne.
“Come on, Payne. Pick up,” I say to myself.
He answers on the third ring. “Hey, sis. What’s up?”
“Beau and I just got home, and my door is standing open,” I say with a little more panic in my voice than I intended.
I look over to Beau, who is closely watching me with his brow scrunched in concern.
“It’s okay, buddy,” I say to him as I run my fingers through his hair and try to soothe him.
“I’m on my way,” Payne says before the line clicks off.
“Mommy, are you okay?” Beau asks, fear lacing his voice.
“Yeah, baby. Mommy probably just forgot to shut the door this morning, but Uncle Payne is going to come and make sure before we go in,” I say to reassure him.
He looks back at the porch with trepidation. He’s a smart kiddo, and he knows the likelihood of me forgetting to shut and lock our door is slim to none.
A few minutes later, Myer’s truck pulls in behind us, and Payne and Myer jump out. Payne heads to the house as Myer walks to us, and I roll down my window.
“You guys all right?” he asks as he looks into the truck and does a once-over of both me and Beau.
“We’re fine. I’m probably just overreacting. I don’t know how the door got open,” I tell him, relieved and feeling a little silly now that they have arrived. “What are you doing here anyway?” I ask.
“I was at Payne’s, just dropping him off when you called.”
I look back at the door, waiting for my brother to emerge. He finally peeks his head out about five minutes later. He holds his hand up for us to stay put, and he walks around to the back of the house.
When he comes back around, he’s carrying a five-gallon green bucket, and he walks up beside Myer.
“Everything is clear inside. It doesn’t look like anything was taken, and it doesn’t appear your lock was jimmied or your door forced open, but the kitchen window was wide open, and this bucket was under it,” he says as he holds the bucket up.
“I had the window slightly open over the weekend, letting the fresh air in,” I tell him.
“Did you leave it open, even when you left?” he asks.
I don’t think much about leaving the kitchen window open because it’s pretty high up.
“I can’t remember. I do leave it cracked sometimes when the weather is nice,” I admit.
“Why would anyone go to the trouble of climbing in a window and not take anything?” Myer asks.
“Beats me. Unless it was some kids messing around or someone broke in, something spooked them, and they ran off before they could grab anything.” Payne shrugs.
I remember Beau having that bucket in the front yard yesterday.
“Beau, were you playing with that bucket?” I ask my son.
He leans over and looks out as Payne holds it up. “Yes, it was my barrel when I was playing rodeo,” he says.
I take a relieved breath.
“He probably dragged it back beside the house,” I tell them.
“Are you sure you shut and locked the door?” Myer asks me.
I think I did.
“I can’t be sure. We were running a little late this morning, and we were in a hurry. So, it’s possible I didn’t,” I say, still unsure how I could leave my door open and not notice. I have never done it before. “I’m sorry, guys. I guess I had you run out here for no reason,” I admit, embarrassed that I panicked over nothing and feeling pretty bad that I freaked Beau out.
“That’s okay. I’d rather you call me to make sure than walk in on an intruder,” Payne says as he opens my door for me.
I exit, and Beau scoots over the seat of the truck. Myer reaches in and plucks him out.
“What’s an intruder?” he asks.
“It’s an uninvited guest,” Myer answers.
“Are they bad guys?”
“Sometimes,” Myer says carefully.
Beau hugs his neck tighter, and Myer gives me an apologetic look over his shoulder.
I walk over and place my hand on Beau’s back. “It’s okay, baby. It wasn’t an intruder. Mommy just didn’t shut the door this morning; that’s all. There’s nothing to be scared of,” I say as he turns and leaps from Myer’s arms into mine.
“Can I sleep in your room tonight?” he asks as we walk inside.
“Sure, but just tonight, buddy,” I tell him as I set him on his feet. “Go brush your teeth and change into your pajamas, and then you can crawl into my bed.”
He takes off toward his room.
“I’m sorry,” Myer apologizes.
“For what?” I ask.
“For telling him intruders are bad guys, but he needs to know in case there ever is a break-in. I wasn’t trying to scare him,” he explains.
“It’s okay. I would’ve told him the truth too. I try not to lie to him about important stuff.”
I look over at the kitchen window above the sink, which is still wide open. I know I only opened it a couple of inches. Could the wind have blown it up? I walk over and firmly shut and lock it. A feeling of unease still clings to me.
“If you’re sure you guys are okay, we’ll take off,” Payne says on a yawn.
They worked hard today, and I know they are both exhausted.
“Yes, get out of here. We’re fine,” I say as I shoo them toward the door.
Payne kisses me on the cheek and walks out on the porch.
“I’ll be here around eight in the morning to pick Beau up,” Myer reminds me as he follows.
“I’ll have him ready when you get here. Thanks again, guys,” I call after them. Then, I shut the door and turn the dead bolt.
I turn back and look around the house. Nothing is out of place.
Beau comes out of his room in his PJs, pulling his blanket behind him. He climbs the stairs to my bed, and I turn the lights out and follow.
Myer
I knock on Dallas’s door and wait. I promised to pick Beau up first thing this morning and take him into town to get his frog supplies.
The door swings open, and there Beau stands, still in his pajamas.
“Good morning, little man,” I greet him as I walk in.
“Mommy didn’t wake me up!” he whisper-shouts.
“Where is she?” I ask as I look around the room.
“She’s still sleeping,” he says quietly as he points up toward the loft. “Let’s go wake her up,” he suggests as he giggles.
He takes my hand and pulls me toward the narrow steps that lead up to the open loft where she sleeps.
“I don’t want to scare her, buddy. Maybe you should go tell her I’m down here,” I say as I pull myself loose.
“Okay, be right back. Don’t leave,” he says as he trots up the steps.
I can hear him as he climbs up and starts rousing her.
“Mommy. Wake up, sleepyhead. It’s morning time,” he says sweetly.
She mumbles something incoherent.
“Mommy, wake up! Myer is here to get me, and I need to get dressed,” he informs her a little more loudly.
A few seconds later, her head pops over the railing. “Oh God, I’m so sorry, Myer. I overslept. We’ll be down in a minute,” she says as I look up and see her pull a pair of shorts up her legs and under her sleep shirt.
Damn, I’ll be thinking about those bare legs the rest of the day.
They both come racing down the stairs, and they’re a sight. Her red hair is a mess of unruly curls, and her face is makeup-free. Beau’s blond hair is sticking up in all directions, and his glasses are crooked on his nose. I swear I could wake up to this sight every morning.
“I can’t believe I didn’t hear my alarm go off. I meant to have him fed and ready when you got here. I’m supposed to be at Sophie’s in half an hour to head to Denver,” she says frantically.
“It’s all right. We’ll stop at Faye’s, and I’ll feed him breakfast,” I assure her.
“You’re the best. Are you sure you don’t mind keeping him today? Charlotte’s flight lands at eleven thirty, and then we’ll probably stop for lunch before we head back. It might be three o’clock or later before we make it back to Poplar Falls.”