Page 55 of Raspberry Cake
“Don’t be. He’s excited to meet you.”
Taking her hand, he kissed the back of her fingers, one at a time. “Maybe it’s because I don’t get along well with my own father.”
“I thought as much after the comment you made on the drive to the rodeo.”
“He was a drunk. The older I got, the worse it became and the more responsibility I had for myself. I didn’t rely on him anymore, so he didn’t care as much.”
“I’m sorry.”
He shrugged and laced his fingers with hers, relaxing more into his seat. “I stopped trying and he never really reached out, not even when I went to jail.”
“But he knew?”
“Yeah, Shannon told him.”
Eveline hesitated, as if pondering whether or not to ask her next question. “Did it change you?”
“Jail? Yeah. I was young and thought I was untouchable. I got my ass handed to me and the second I stepped foot in there, Iknew I wouldn’t go back for shit. Getting out was a whole other story. If Shannon hadn’t picked me up, I wouldn’t have even known which way to turn out of the jail.”
“Because you didn’t have anywhere else to go?”
“Basically. He even kept my truck. Structuring my life felt so hard too. If I’m not at work or out with you, I get a bit lost sometimes.”
“There is no one to tell you what to do except yourself.”
“Exactly.”
Now it was her time to takehishand and kiss his knuckles. “If you ever need help, I’m here.”
“Thank you.”
When a car approached, the boys sprinted to the front yard. Renley shot out of his seat after them, yelling for them to slow down. The boys obeyed, but waited impatiently for the car to park and then ran to greet their parents.
“Did you have fun?” Laira asked, scooping Drew into her arms and smacking kisses all over his face.
“Mom!” he protested, squirming.
“We had lots of fun and Auntie Eve even jumped on the trampolines with us!” Mathew said in his father’s arms.
Laira’s brows shot up. “She did?”
“Uncle Renley carried her onto the net.”
“And she was okay with that?”
Renley shrugged and walked into the house behind them. “I didn’t give her a choice, couldn’t have her missing all the fun.”
Laira sat Drew back down. “She often doesn’t ask us to help her, but I have a feeling you don't wait for her to ask.”
“She likes her independence, and I like to challenge her,” he laughed.
“I like that about you. From what she’s told me you’ve never questioned her capabilities, which is probably why she lets you do it.”
After lunch, Eveline and Laira sat on the porch chatting while the boys dragged him away to show him every square inch of their land—at least that’s how it felt. He didn’t mind, loving the ease in which they’d accepted him into the family. When they reemerged from the forest behind the barn, the women were giggling, and Tod was rolling his eyes.
“Our women have decided we need to do some work for their entertainment.”
“We would love that very much,” Eveline confirmed, turning sparkling eyes on him.
