Page 8 of Fragile Heart

“Water flowers, Nana?” he asks as Mom closes the door and moves around me, heading toward the kitchen.

Mom and Dad’s house is the definition of sprawling. The main area is large and open, the living room on the left with the dining room on the right and the kitchen in the far back, anchoring the space. A hallway exits both sides of the kitchen. The one to the left leads to the main bedroom as well as an office and bonus space they’ve recently converted to a home library. The other leads to where my sister and I slept as well as an extra couple bedrooms that our friends would use when we were teens. It’s all done in the light whites and beiges and tans of modern farmhouses.

I head straight for the coffee pot that’s still half-full, grabbing one of Mom’s travel mugs and filling it to the brim, not bothering with creamer or milk.

As I pour the coffee, she says, “You ready to water the flowers, Cam?”

“Can we watch the bees?” he asks.

She laughs. “Yes, we can watch the bees, too. Let’s get out there before it gets too much hotter.”

The bees were three hives that sat nestled in Mom’s large cut flower garden. They started as a single hive as an extra credit project of Emily’s in highschool. But when she went to college, Mom took it over. And then promptly added two more hives when she discovered how much she enjoyed the hobby, too. Now her honey sells in a small Artisan market in downtown Jackson—and she can never manage to keep it in stock.

Mom and Cam leave out the front, Cam running over for another hug.

I lean over him and kiss the crown of his head.

“Love you,” he says into my legs.

“Love you, too, kid,” I say. “Have a good time with Nana, all right?”

He looks up at me, his grin so wide it lights up his entire face. It’s another small thing of Kayla’s that he has, too. A hard, twisting stab of grief steals my breath. Nearly four goddamn years without her. Without my bonded Omega. Would we have more kids now? Or would she have decided Camden was enough on his own? Would Caleb still be working fires? Or would he have decided to opt for a business that kept him closer for more of the summer?

The questions come too fast, drowning me between one heartbeat and the next. I force a swallow, wetting my dry mouth.

“I think the bees are already awake,” Mom says. Camden drops his arms from around my legs. I kiss his head one more time, and then he sprints out the front door, letting the screen door slam behind him.

Mom focuses on me. “You be safe out there.”

I nod. “I always am, Mom.”

She purses her lips, and I can practically hear her thoughts across the room. Brandon had promised to be safe, too. That didn’t stop the bull from goring him, though. Today, though, she decides to leave it alone. She closes the front door behind her, the clicking of the doorknob quiet.

Not that it would matter because Emily walks out from the right hallway, her hair pulled back and tucked under a University of Wyoming ball cap. She has a pair of her old riding boots, the toes worn and the tread practically nonexistent, tucked under her arm.

I cock an eyebrow as she focuses on me, her lips pursing in a dead-ringer for our mother.

“What do you need?” I ask. Does she want to move cattle today? I figured she’d be hanging out with Melissa and her friend. Didn’t she just move in yesterday?

“You all right if I saddle up Phoebe today?” she asks. Straight to the point, that’s Emily. It’s something we both inherited fromour father. “I know you always take Cottonwood out when you’re moving cattle, so I thought I’d get her out for a bit today.”

I frown. Emilyneverrides Phoebe. She’s too… tame for my sister. She prefers the easy pastures and simple trails rather than the hard rides through the forest that Emily loves most. And she’s absolutely shit with the cattle unless they’re in an arena. She’d been Brandon’s roping horse, and she’d won him enough money to get him through college in Laramie when he had no other way to make ends meet.

Emily arches one eyebrow when I don’t offer an immediate answer.

“You have a sudden desire to learn roping?” I ask.

She smirks. “Not that kind, no.”

I groan and tilt my head back. “Too much, Emily. Too fucking much.” She cackles, and I sigh. “Fine. I have no problem with it. She could use the work, to be honest. I’m sure she’ll be easy for you.”

She smiles. “Thanks!”

And then she’s disappearing out the front door, too, her hair swinging with her bounding steps. I push off the counter and follow her, heading toward the barns. Beau already has Casper saddled beside him.

“Let’s get this over with,” I mutter.

He laughs. “Happy Saturday to you, too, Ethan.”

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