Page 58 of Steadfast

Making her way to the living room, she took a seat next to Mia and Oakleigh. She immediately noticed that the room fell quiet with her presence.

“So, what did your mom say, hun?” Maeve got right to the point.

“I don’t really want to read it,” she murmured. “I thought I blocked her on everything.”

“No boundary is firm enough to stop DeliaorHarper.” Paisley gave Oakleigh a knowing glance.

Mia gazed into the fireplace and went on to explain her heated exchange prior to leaving home. She had garnered every ounce of courage to stand up to her mom and boldly make the case that the Davenports were using them for their money. Delia firmly denied it and stood in unwavering solidarity with her best friend. After the stunt at the party, Mia’s accusations were the last straw.

“She chose Harper over me,” Mia said, her voice breaking.

Maeve ran her fingers across her lips, musing on how many decades she had avoided talking about Harper. Now, her sister seemed to be a regular topic of conversation.

They quieted as Crew came from the kitchen juggling four mugs of coffee. He set them down gently on the coffee table. “Maeve, black coffee, of course.”

“Thanks, hun,” she said, giving his forearm a squeeze. Maeve sipped her coffee, which was hot and brewed to perfection. When it came to making coffee, she had taught them well.

Crew went around the back of the sofa and wrapped his arms around Oakleigh.

“I’m off to bed,” he said.

She pulled his head down, brushed her lips gently across his, and whispered goodnight in his ear.

When Sawyer came from the kitchen, Mia took her opportunity. Rising from her seat, she met him at the foot of the stairs. She put her arms around him in a way that seemed to take the ordinarily stern cowboy by surprise.

“Well, okay?” he said, gladly returning her embrace.

Maeve would be shocked if anything significant developed between the two of them. However, she had been wrong before. Oakleigh and Crew were going strong, and the two seemed blissfully happy.

And whoever would have imagined me and Dallas?

She cleared her throat, quickly pushing Dallas and the complicated feelings surrounding him away from her mind.

Mia swept back into the living room, taking her seat on the sofa beside Oakleigh.

“And what was all that about?” Oakleigh asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

“If you get a cowboy, I’m getting a cowboy,” Mia demanded, not offering any room for argument or feedback of any kind. “It’s only fair, Oaks.”

“I can’t with you sometimes,” Oakleigh said, rubbing her temples as if she were getting a headache. If there was one thing Mia could be counted on for, it was her tenacity. “So what are you going to do about your mom?”

Mia sighed as though she were greatly inconvenienced. She pulled out her phone and tapped on the screen once again. Flipping through the apps with her thumb, she finally gathered the nerve to scan her mother’s email.

“Okay, so—she apologized for our fight, and she wants me to come home.” She perked up as she skimmed past a point that she seemed to like. “Oh! And my dad says he’ll buy me a new beach house if I really want one.” She began to rattle off excitedly, “I mean, I’m not sure I want to live at the beach anymore. It’s so dirty with all the sand and the sound of the waves. It never stops, you know?”

Maeve glanced at Oakleigh and saw her mouth fall agape. She knew full well that Mia had unwittingly triggered emotions that Oakleigh was still struggling to process.

“Well, poor you.” Oakleigh allowed the sarcastic words to tumble out with little restraint.

Maeve had little advice to offer that evening. She had been so absorbed in her own personal issues that it hadn’t even crossed her mind to ask Oakleigh what was wrong. If Oakleigh was feeling homesick, it wouldn’t have bothered her. She knew how it felt to miss aspects of home despite knowing full well that she’d never be welcomed back.

Maeve silently prayed for wisdom and made a mental note to check in with Oakleigh as soon as she had a free moment.

Just add it to the list.

When the house had finally quieted down, Maeve went to refill her empty coffee mug. The conversation had left her unsettled, as it often did whenever issues with Harper were brought up.

Stepping around the corner, she saw the glow from the kitchen and heard the sound of laughter. Oakleigh was holding her phone and live streaming while Mia and Paisley were huddled around her at the kitchen island.

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