Page 61 of Roads Behind Us
Everybody nodded, and Athena licked the marshmallow off her bottom lip. “I’m gonna ask her to teach me her recipe so I can make it for Logan. He loves apple pie.”
I had to try really hard not to groan out loud.
Athena’s light brown hair was a mix between Candy’s blond and my brown, but right now, she looked so much like her mama. Memories swirled in my head of Athena as a carefree four-year-old, running around this farm, chasing animals, getting dirty, and being happy. But my reality was that she was more like Candy had been in high school. God, that really smarted. Why couldn’t she stay my little girl forever?
Bea watched Athena, too, and I wondered what was going through her head.
“Best steak I’ve ever eaten too,” Bea said.
“Damn straight,” I replied, and I dropped my empty plate in my lap so I could flex my biceps. “Man make steak. Man eat steak.”
Devo laughed. “Man fall on his butt like a toddler.”
“Hey,” I said. “Man has a broken leg. He can’t help it.”
“Yeah,” Abey added with a chuckle, “because man tripped over his own foot.”
I laughed and relaxed back into my recliner. “Who wants to help me carry this chair back into the house?”
Athena had been watching me. All night, I’d felt her quizzical gaze. She had to be registering the difference in the energy between Bea and me. At the very least, she’d noticed how I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Bea most of the evening, but I’d just said the magic words, and at the same time, both girls yelped, “Not it!” They scrambled to their feet, grabbed the blanket they’d been sitting on and the empty baking tray, and took off toward the house, giggling the whole way.
“Lemme translate that,” Abey said. “What you meant was who wants to carry that old, heavy POS back into the house, ’cause you sure as hell ain’t gonna do it.” She rolled her eyes. “We’ll do it, and then we’ve gotta head out. I have to be at the station early tomorrow.”
“Really?” Devo whined. “Tomorrow’s Saturday.”
“Yep.” Abey stood and folded her lawn chair. “Frank’s coachin’ football practice, and Dan’s out sick with the flu. Roxi, Shelley, and I have our work cut out for us.”
“Dang it. I was hopin’ for some snuggle time with my woman.” A guilty grin grew on Devo’s lips. “Plus, you’re more susceptible to shoppin’ propaganda when you first wake up.”
Abey rolled her eyes again, but laughed. “Fine,” she said. “If it’s cool with Theo, buy the damn couch and have it delivered to the center.”
“Eeeee!” Devo jumped in place. “Thank you.”
Bea stood and folded her chair too.
“Help,” I said, holding my hands out to her. “I’m old and I can’t get up.”
She laughed. “C’mon, old timer.” She grabbed hold of my hands, planted her boots in the grass, and tugged.
God, her laugh.
The sound was gritty and sexy, and it made goosechills rise on the back of my neck. It felt like I knew her when she laughed like that. Like I’d heard it before and her happiness had been ingrained deep inside my soul.
Feeling the inexplicable connection we seemed to share when my skin touched Bea’s, a beat of anticipation shot through my body, and I stood and grabbed my crutches leaning against the side of the chair. My sister and Devo picked up my recliner and lumbered with it toward the house, grunting and arguing with each other about who was going to drop their side on whose foot.
Bea had been gracious about the sketchpad I’d been trying to hide from her all night. She hadn’t peeked once, but when they lifted the chair, it fell open on the grass by my feet.
She bent to pick it up, but when she saw the drawing of the house I’d sketched, she gasped. “Bax, you drew this?”
“Yeah,” I shrugged as best I could with the crutches. “It’s not a big deal. I’m not that good. It’s just somethin’ I do to pass the time.”
“‘Not that good’? This is beautiful. It’s so realistic.” She looked up at me, and the awe I saw in her eyes nearly knocked me back down on my ass.
“Thank you.”
“Seriously,” she said, trailing her finger over the roof of the house in the picture, “it’s like I could walk onto the page, open the door, and step right into your house. How did you learn how to do this?” She looked up at me, her green eyes almost gray in the growing dark.
“Dunno. I’ve just always scribbled, you know? I never really had time to focus on it. When I was younger, we had the sheep farm, and our dad never let us relax. There was always somethin’ that needed to be done. And then when he passed and I took over, it was worse ’cause it was all on my shoulders.
