Page 35 of Let Me Be the One
They’d talked so much about Tanner, and some about Kam, but Addie hadn’t really said much about herself. Callie moved closer to her. “When did you lose your husband?”
“Years and years ago. We were young. John started out as a salesman and sometimes had to travel. Then he bought us a house and we started a tree farm.”
These memories were happy ones; Callie could see it in her eyes and the slight curl of her mouth.
“My John was such a guy’s guy, you know? Rough around the edges, sometimes crass, but as a salesman he could smooth-talk anyone. He sure did love me.”
“He sounds wonderful.”
“My John was a funny guy, always making me laugh, always talking about our future. I believed in him, in us. I thought we’d have a happy-ever-after…until he died and then I didn’t know how to live without him.”
“You’re strong,” Callie said, knowing it and needing Addie to know it, too.
“Maybe now, but then? I let the business go under, got a job bartending so I could pay the bills. I lived pretty much day to day, just trudging through without feeling, without happiness. Nothing much mattered. Until Tanner.”
Until Tanner. Did he know how much he’d helped Addie, too? It sounded like they were two lost souls who’d needed each other.
“For him, I’d have moved heaven and earth.” She gave a short chuckle. “Getting the tree farm going again was a huge undertaking, but I needed to be home more, not out late serving drinks, and Tanner needed someone wholesome, someone he could believe in. We’d work together selling hardwood, and then Christmas trees in winter and saplings in the spring. I cleaned for people while he was in school, and he took odd jobs.”
“Sounds like you both pitched in.”
“You could say he grew up with the business, took what my husband left me and got it thriving, and he wasn’t much more than a boy when he did it. When Tanner wants something, get out of his way. I learned that while I learned about parenting.” Another grin, this one self-directed. “Sometimes the heart tells you what’s right, and you just gotta listen. That’s what I did. Some were saying a gal like me, who’d never birthed kids of her own, didn’t know squat about taking on a troubled boy, especially one that was already thirteen and thinking he was a man grown.”
“You proved them wrong.”
“In part anyway. He really did think he was grown. I can’t tell you how many times I tried to guide him and he’d just go about making up his own mind anyway.” She gave a soft laugh. “Usually he was right, too, and when he wasn’t, he’d own it and try to do better.”
“I guess Tanner had to think that way. It sounds like he could only rely on himself—until you.”
“That’s about it. He came to me with an independent soul, ready to forge a path of his own making.” When her eyes clouded with tears, she shook her head. “This is what I used to do to poor Reggie. Carry on and on. But I’ve never had anyone I could brag to.”
“I’m one hundred percent positive that Reggie loved your visits, and I hope you brag to me whenever you want, as much as you want. I think it’s beautiful.”
“Reggie said the same. He let me share all that motherly pride, and he chimed in. He and Tanner went way back, you know. Almost from the day Tanner came to live with me, Reggie was around, teaching him things, giving him advice, hiring him for odd jobs so he’d have money to get gifts on holidays and stuff like that. Reggie was a good one.”
Holding back the emotional excess was getting harder. Callie drew a slow breath. “Please feel free to talk to me anytime. I’ve never had a heart-to-heart like this. I’m enjoying it, too.”
“Not with your own ma? Or even your dad?”
In a roundabout answer, she said, “I guess Glory comes close.” But even then, Glory didn’t always understand her. Sometimes it felt like she was talking to hear herself, and Glory was busy trying to figure out what it was Callie’s parents would want. In so many ways, Glory was far more worried about pleasing them than Callie would ever be.
Fortunately, a goat wandered over to butt Callie’s hip, almost knocking her over. It gave her a good excuse to change the topic. “Are they friendly?”
Addie patted the goat. “They sure are, and they’re smarter than you’d think, too. Start petting one and the others will get jealous. Gotta spread the love around with them.”
She no sooner said it than the other goats showed up. All four of them making noise and wanting attention. Tickled by their antics, Callie used both hands to dole out affection. “They sound like they’re crying.”
“That’s called bleating, and they do it for attention, or to communicate with each other. Goats like companionship.”
Appalled, Callie’s eyes rounded. “You meanme?”
That had Addie laughing again. “I meant other goats, but sure, they’ll enjoy seeing you now and then.”
There were so many things she didn’t know. Maybe she could hire a local high school kid to help her out and teach her more in the process. It was a thought worth considering.
As Callie did her best to keep the goats appeased, she worried. “Do they get along with the chickens?”
“Mostly ignore each other.” Addie stretched. “If something spooks the chickens, the goats will run off, too. Luckily, part of your acreage is fenced. You’ll just need to check it routinely for holes.”
