“You made your bed, girl. Now you get to lie in it. You’re no longer welcome here.”
Mama and I both gasped at the same time. Even Jack, who lingered near the door as if he couldn’t wait to leave, lifted his head with a whine.
“Wayne, no!” Mama cried.
But Daddy shook his head. “I won’t stop your mama from seein’ ya, but you don’t have a home here no more.”
“Wayne! She’s my daughter, too!” Mama stood up, butDaddy cast his angry eyes on her, and she practically shriveled beneath his arctic gaze, like a delicate flower that didn’t stand a chance against a cold snap.
I swallowed hard. “It’s okay, Mama,” I tried to soothe her, although my voice wavered. “I’ll be in town for a while.”
I glanced at my father. “I hope you change your mind sometime. Even if I’m not welcome to stay here right now, I hope you’ll come to understand in time that I love you and always have. I’m sorry that choosing my path hurt you. I really am. But you taught me long ago how to be independent and how to survive in a crazy world. I’m sorry you think I used that against you.”
I picked up my bag and smiled tremulously at my mother. “I hope I’ll see you soon, Mama.”
Her eyes glistened, but she didn’t make any move toward me as I walked away.
Outside, rain had started to fall. Frequent flashes of lightning lit my way to my car. Jack whined and clung to my side until I opened the door for him.
As much as I wanted to break down and cry, I wouldn’t give my father the satisfaction, so I started the car and made my way toward the main road. The meltdown I felt coming would have to wait until I found a place to stay and could figure out a new plan. I’d known my father wouldn’t make it easy, but I hadn’t expected him to reject me.
The weather already appeared to intensify, and the back roads were going to get dicier with muddy puddles and washed-out gravel patches.
A quick decision had me turning the opposite way I’d come in. It would take me past Silver Creek Farm, a place I knew would make my heart crack even further, but it was the fastest way to town. If I was lucky, maybe there wouldbe a place at The Dogtrot, the local bed-and-breakfast. But what would I do with Jack, unless they had a kennel to house him? Maybe I’d just find a quiet place down by the lake and sleep in the car until morning.
Jack barked at a loud crack of thunder, causing my heart to practically beat out of my chest.
“Jack! It’s okay, boy. Lay down.” I tried to soothe him, but my nerves were just as on edge as his.
I slowly made my way through the driving rain, doing my best to concentrate on the road so I didn’t drive off the gravel into the culverts that ran along both sides. Funny, I didn’t remember it being this dark when I lived here. I must have gotten used to the bright lights of the city.
“Just a few more miles,”I reminded myself.“Then you’ll find a nice, warm place, even if we have to go back down the mountain.”
All at once, the high beams of my headlights picked up a brown blur just yards in front of my car. A doe, her surprise and fear matched by my own, froze in the middle of the road. Instinctively, I yanked hard on the steering wheel, and for a second, I thought I had avoided an accident. But then my car lurched, and I felt my tires lose traction. The world felt like it was tilting, and then it came to a hard stop.
Chapter 2
Chase
“Uncle Chase!Why was Cinderella so bad at soccer?”
I pulled away from the window where I was lost in thought and grinned at Emalee’s son, Iain. This kid was a book of jokes. His mom, who was more like a sister to me than a cousin, had taught him to think of something positive whenever he was having an off day. Then she would share a joke with him to make him smile. Now he used jokes to brighten other people’s days. Not that I was having a bad day. It was just our thing.
“I have no idea. Why?”
“Because she kept running away from the ball!”
I chuckled as I high-fived him. “Good one, kid.”
Iain’s bright smile faded. “Do you really have to go home now? Can I come with you? I can help you feed the goats and everything.” He beamed again. “I’m a good worker, and they like me.”
I laughed to myself because I had acres upon acres of commercial shrubs and trees on my farm, but Iain never sawpast the goats, Dolly and Martha. Iain had named them after studying U.S. Presidents and their wives in school.
It was the same with Lexi, my younger sister Bristol’s stepdaughter. I’d gotten the goats a couple of years ago. They were cute, even if they were sometimes a pain in my ass. They earned their keep by eating the grass in the small meadow between my house and one of the tree lots, but to Iain, they were pets. The next time he came out, I had a big surprise for him. But it would need to wait for now.
“You are a big help for sure. But another time, maybe. I think a storm is coming, so I want to secure everything at home, including Dolly and Martha. Soon, though, okay?”
His shoulders dropped, but then he tilted his head and scrunched up his face, glancing between the window and me. “Okay. But the sun is still out. Why do you think a storm is coming?”
