Page 55 of Years in the Making

“Teddy?” Nellie practically chokes out.

“He can go with you and help with the book stuff and do some work with the Spencer Lake Rescue.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Nellie says slowly. “I mean, it’s a lot of driving and then just sitting around hoping people come to check out the books.”

A lot of time alone with Nellie is more of a selling feature than I think she realizes. A month to try and repair what I broke. Cass had said I needed to just start, and this seems like a very solid way to do that.

Straightening, I turn to Nellie. “I’ll go.” Her dark blue eyes widen in surprise.

“Yeah, you will.” Cass smiles over at me and winks.

Nellie’s gaze bounces off everyone else at the table before it lands back on me. “You don’t have to. I am absolutely fine with going alone.”

“What if you sprain your ankle in the middle of nowhere? Do you think a handsome man is just going to appear to rescue you?” Marley asks innocently. “It’s not exactly realistic, Nell.”

Izzy snorts from the end of the table, and we all turn to look at her in time to see the coffee she had just taken a sip of dribble out of her nose. “Oh my god, it burns!” she squeals, fanning her face while Tom scrambles for napkins.

Nellie stares at Izzy for a minute before looking over at Bennett. “But you have so much going on here. Surely you can’t spare him.”

“I have two students coming to work for the summer so between them, Cass, Marley, and me, I think we’ll be alright. Remember, I used to do this all by myself.”

Before she can come up with another excuse, I resort to begging. “Please let me come, Nellie.” And because I don’t want to make her uncomfortable, I add, “Bennett has been talking about connecting with Spencer Lake for a while, and it’s harder to do electronically. Showing up in person builds goodwill. And maybe we can bring a few dogs back if they need some relief.” I see the moment she decides. It has nothing to do with me, but the thought of the dogs that does it. It should hurt, but it doesn’t.

“I’d also suggest bringing one along with you,” Bennett adds.

I know exactly what dog we should bring along with us. “Kevin is the most social and calmest of the puppies. He’d be a good one to take.”

“You’d be doing us a huge favor, Nellie,” Marley says enthusiastically. “Plus, after traveling nonstop for years, I’m sure Teddy is ready for a bit of a trip, even if it’s just a few hours north.”

“I am actually,” I agree.

“I mean, I guess the solo travel thing sounds better than it would probably be,” she concedes.

“Awesome.” Marley punctuates her glee with a loud clap. “You should probably exchange numbers now so you can plan things without one of us.” She gestures between herself and Bennett.

We both take our phones out and pass them to each other. When I select add new contact, I immediately type in Enviro Guy only to be asked if I want to update an existing contact. I look up at Nellie quickly, but she’s busy inputting her details. I don’t know if I should update the contact or add it under myname. I opt to create a new contact, counting this as starting fresh with her.

I know everyone sitting at this table thinks they just got away with something diabolical because they are all giving one another mental fist bumps.

After breakfast, everyone spreads out around the house or yard. Tom and Izzy announce they’re going for a hike, something that seems to surprise both Nellie and Marley. “Like, in nature?” Marley asks, her eyes sliding to Nellie.

“Well, we aren’t going to do laps around the house,” Izzy scoffs. “We get so little time alone so we’re going to use it.”

“Okay, sure, this seems totally normal,” Nellie says slowly. “Make sure you bring your phones in case you get lost.”

“In our pockets.” Tom smiles back at us before guiding his wife out of the house.

“And remember poison ivy has three leaves, so if you’re gonna do stuff, don’t do stuff near leaves of three,” Marley hollers as the door shuts.

“One of them is going to come back itchy,” Nellie says.

Marley and Bennett suddenly have to go look at something in the Hores’ cow barn that can’t wait until later, and within five minutes of cleaning up breakfast, Nellie and I are standing in the kitchen alone.

“Do you want to go out and play with the dogs for a bit?” I ask, not knowing what the hell else to do.

“Sure,” she says, already getting her shoes on.

After a while, I find myself sitting on the bench in the pasture next to her while the dogs do their dog stuff. “Is it really okay if I come along, or were you just saying that for their benefit? Because you can say no, Nellie.” I’d have a hard time saying no to all those faces, and I’m not a people-pleaser like Nellie is. At least I get the impression she’s still one. Like she’d let everyone else on the train before she got on herself.

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