Page 61 of Something Like Sunflowers

“If you’ll give me a sec, I’m gonna look at the video. I’ve had three phone calls about the damn thing this morning, and it isn’t even nine o’ clock.” I turn to Katie, the judgmental twist of her lips and one raised eyebrow telling me she knows something I don’t.

“I’ll spoil it for you to save everyone some time. You’re married,” she deadpans. “But you remember that much, don’t you?”

I nod, letting a slow smile break across my face as I thumb my ring finger. “Yeah, but it shouldn’t change anything, right? Whatever we posted online seemed to cause a stir, but why does any of that concern Ellie’s placement? It’s just a drunken TikTok and a fake marriage.”

“Not exactly,” she says, smoothing out her pants. “Lemon is a certified wedding officiant. She took a test online last summer for our cousin’s wedding.”

My eyes widen. “You’re cousins?” How the hell did I not know that?

“What? Yeah, I always thought everyone knew that. But that’s beside the point.” She squares her shoulders and puts her hands on either side of mine. “Your wedding may have been fake, but your marriage—it’s the real deal, Hunter.”

“You’re telling me Devyn and I are legally married?”

She nods. “It needs to be filed at the courthouse, still, but yes.”

“You’re fucking with me,” I growl, daring her to prove me wrong, but praying to God she can’t.

I stare ahead, the muscles in my face unable to move in any arrangement except for one that probably leaves me looking like a damn codfish, my mind returning to the first part of her statement.

“Lemon’s a minister?”

“Officiant. But aside from that, the video is rather harmless, so you can calm down where that’s concerned. It is a bit,” she pauses, wrinkling her nose in disgust, “sickeningly sweet. Promises of lifelong bonds and sacrifice.” She waves her hand. “Honestly, it was gross. However, the fact is you are now a married man, and that does affect custody matters.”

I freeze, my neck stiffening as tension rolls over me. Custody.

I hate that word where Ellie is involved.

“Why does anything need to change? She’s always lived with me as a permanent foster. Nobody has ever cared before now.”

“Because now that Aunt Sarah is dead, Eleanor’s mother has applied for custody review.” She lets out a frustrated sigh. “For once.”

Anger and something akin to desperation take hold of me, and it’s all I can do not to kick the stable door. “Why does that woman get any review at all? She’s a horrible human being, Katie. She doesn’t care about Ellie. The only reason she would ever care is for her inheritance from Aunt Sarah. Why do you think she’s never tried for a review before now?”

Katie shakes her head, resigned, like she agrees with me, but she’s spent the last of her resources tryin’ to fix it. And the look in her eyes tells me there’s not much more she can do. Her hands are tied.

“Look, Hunter.” She lowers her voice and chooses her words carefully, like she thinks I’ll break if she says something wrong.

I might.

“You’ve been a father to Ellie since the moment you knew she existed. I’m not giving up on this yet. Why do you think I send her off to all those meet and greets loaded up with pranks and smoke bombs in her pockets? Do you both seriously think you’ve been putting one over on me all this time? I don’t want her adopted out of this family and away from this farm any more than you do. I care about these kids, you know?”

I do know. Ellie isn’t the only kid on the farm, in this community, on Katie’s roster. She fights for our kids like she was one of them. Because she was one of us. It’s the same reason I run my farm. To be there and make this town everything it wasn’t for our generation.

“This is why I became a social worker. But the truth is, the system is shit for cases like yours and Ellie’s, and with Sam’s prison sentence extended to life,” she pauses, offering me an apologetic smile as I wince at the sharp, factual, way she presents that information to me. I know my brother will be in prison for life, but hearing it never gets easier. It makes me sad for Ellie, but she’s better off without him.

And she’s definitely better off without that woman called her mother.

I tense, raking my hands through my hair and tugging in frustration at the precarious situation we’re in. Katie goes on.

“The courts will try to place her with the closest biological parent of sound of mind and clear of issues. Right now, the courts are favoring parental rehab so children can be placed back with bio parents long term.” She frowns, shaking her head. “Even years after the child has been removed from care of that parent.”

I can’t listen to this.

My heart is so loud, I think it’s possible I’m outside of my body entirely. Floating around in another time and space where down is up and wrong is right. And only then would it make sense that the courts would think sending Ellie to live away from me is even within the realm of possibility.

Katie grabs my hand and squeezes. It’s not normal for her to offer anyone comfort, but she does. Because she knows how horrible that possibility would be, and I start to falter. A tear runs from the corner of my eye, rolling down my skin, and that’s when I let the dam break. The water rushes in. Floods over me. I lay my head down on Katie’s shoulder, slumping over her tiny, five-foot-four frame, and cry.

“I can’t lose her.”

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