Page 10 of Forever Enough

Me: Merry Christmas. What are you doing up so late?

Emily: Doug and I just got home. Besides, New York City never shuts down. Doug says hi and Merry Christmas too.

Me: Tell him Merry Christmas. Have you decided on when you can come visit?

Emily: YES! We were thinking of coming December 30th! Stay for New Year’s Eve and maybe a couple more days. Doug doesn’t have that much time off, but we REALLY want to see Montana. Did you have plans for New Year’s Eve?

I nearly let out a scream.

Me: Em, are you serious? I’m completely open!

Emily: Yes! Mom and Fuckhead wanted me to come to Atlanta, but I told them Doug and I were going to the beach to ring in the new year.

I chewed nervously on my lower lip. My mother and stepfather had no idea where I was currently living, and I wanted it to stay that way.

Me: I’m sorry you have to lie to them. But thank you. I know it’s hard to pretend you aren’t in contact with me.

Emily: We both know it’s for the best.

I stared at my phone and exhaled. After I’d left home, Mom hadn’t really tried to have a normal relationship with my sister. Emily was, of course, gone most of the time, staying with friends or coming to stay with me—just like I’d told her to do—so I’m sure that played a part. Honestly, it didn’t matter. Dickhead never once laid a finger on Emily, and for that I would be forever thankful. He did however start to verbally abuse her after I had moved out. Another reason Emily was gone as much as possible.

Me: Does she contact you a lot?

I saw the three dots appear, then disappear. Then start up again.

Emily: To be honest with you, Kenzie, I don’t talk to her much. The last time we spoke, she was talking nonsense about how you stole money from her, and that the money Daddy left us should have been hers. I told her I didn’t want to speak to her if she was going to say things like that. I think she’s drinking again.

Frowning, I exhaled.

Me: Stay vigilant when it comes to those two, Em.

Emily: I know, and Doug tells me all the time I need to break ties with her completely. I hate that she basically stopped caring about us after Dad died.

My heart broke in two. I hated that our mother had chosen that lunatic over her own kids. A part of me wondered if it was because we reminded her of our father. George—or Fuckhead, as Em called him—had tried to put poison in our heads about our dad, just like he did our mother. Even convincing her that Dad had cheated on her. He was literally the worst human being and had been gaslighting our mother for as long as I could remember.

Emily: Stop feeling guilty, Kenzie. I know you. It’s like you said, Mom chose to stay with him. Okay…I’m about to pass out, it’s way past my bedtime. I love you and I hope you weren’t too lonely today.

Me: Not at all. I love you. Kiss Doug for me, and send me all the details about when you’re coming in. Remember, you have to fly into Missoula. I can pick you up if you don’t want to rent a car.

Emily. Got it. Will do. I remember. Night! Love you too.

I plugged my phone in and set it on the nightstand and headed to the bathroom with a smile on my face. My sister was coming for a visit. Merry Christmas to me, after all.

After brushing my teeth and climbing into bed with Mr. Whiskers, I drifted off to sleep with that same smile plastered on my face. But I didn’t drift off to thoughts of my sister and Doug coming for a visit; instead, I dreamed of a cowboy with dark eyes, kissing me like I’d never been kissed before.

“Good morning, Mackenzie!”

I closed the door to the greenhouse and shook the snow off my boots. “Morning, Lou. How was your Christmas?”

Lou Decker was an older woman, maybe in her earlier sixties. She knew everything and anything about gardening. Flowers, fruits, vegetables…if it grew in the dirt, she knew everything about it. She had been the manager of the farm for the last ten years, and was also in charge of the marketing for the pick-your-own side of the farm. Her daughter, Lori, was dating Michael Eden, the co-owner of the farm and Merit’s brother. From what I gathered from hearing Lou and Merit talk, Lori and Michael have dated for some time. They were both pretty sure he’d swept Lori away on a cruise to ask her to marry him.

“It was great. I sure wish you would have taken me up on my offer to come have dinner and spend Christmas with us. I hated the thought of you being all alone.”

Giving her my warmest smile, I replied, “I appreciate your offering, but I’m used to spending the holidays alone. Besides, I was able to catch up on some reading and me time.”

With a small smile of her own, she turned and got back to work pruning a plant. That’s what I loved about Lou. She never asked questions even though I knew she wanted to. The same with Merit and Michael. They respected my privacy and never asked too many questions.

It wasn’t like I had some terrible secret to hide. Well…I guess I did, but I moved to Montana to put my past behind me, and that was what I was going to do.

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