Page 26 of What We Keep
“She’s done a great job with the painting. The rooms look good. On the outside, where the old sign was, she could paint the name, that kind of thing. She seems all worried about making sure she earns her ‘keep,’” he added with air quotes and a chuckle. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Why do you ask?” I countered quickly, not about to admit that the mere mention of Elsa’s name set fire to burning on my lips again.
It was just a kiss. Just a friendly, congratulatory kind of thing, or so my brain tried to convince me. If it could speak, my body had nothing more than a sly laugh in response to that.
“Mom’s going crazy in the kitchen, by the way,” Cole added. “She said something about Elsa getting her dream job, and we’re doing a buffet celebration.”
I grinned. “I texted Mom. I ran into Elsa after her job interview, and she was all excited because she got the job.”
Cole nodded, his gaze sobering. “Nice! I’m guessing it was hard when they moved away. I’m glad she came home. She might as well make Alaska hers again, you know?”
I scuffed my boot on the floor under my heel. “Yeah.”
“Mom’s beside herself,” he added. “Gives her somebody to fuss over.” Cole let out a little sigh. “We all miss Bree. And there is kind of a shortage of women around here. I mean, hell, there’s?—”
He was cut off abruptly when Tommy came barreling into the barn, letting out a whoop with two goats chasing him. Cole and I chuckled together.
Tommy was a boy through and through, wild and full of energy. Thank God we lived out here, where he had plenty of ways to burn off his energy. If we didn’t, I think he’d drive us all batshit crazy.
As it was, we still had to keep him on point. “Hey, bud,” I said when he stopped beside me after looping around us in a circle. I ruffled his hair. “How’d school go today?”
“Good. The teacher says she’s gonna call you.”
“How come?”
“I guess I have trouble sitting still.”
“You guess?” Cole snorted.
I eyed the purple fading in Tommy’s hair, which was growing out. “Sitting still is definitely not your strength.”
Tommy let out a dramatic sigh. “I know.”
“But you gotta figure it out, dude. We all do,” Cole added.
“Fine,” Tommy replied enthusiastically.
“You taking care of your chores? The stuff over the rescue program?” I asked as the three of us began walking together from the barn over to the main house.
“Of course. The bus drops me off there, and I do that first.”
“I know, just double-checking,” I said.
“What’s for dinner?” Tommy asked. That was always an important question for him.
Cole teased, “Your grandma is making a buffet because Elsa got her job.”
“Ooh, a buffet?” At that, Tommy started running.
I laughed, shaking my head. “Not even that old and I can’t keep up with him,” I said as I glanced toward Cole.
“You’re an oldie, dude.” He quipped, nudging me with his shoulder as we walked.
Our mom was not shy about celebrating anything, and she’d gone all out for Elsa. There was the gooiest mac and cheese ever, according to my mom, along with braised caribou, one of her Brussels sprout casseroles, mashed potatoes, and a generous charcuterie board.
Elsa looked abashed when she sat at the table a little later. “I can’t believe you did all this for me, Maggie.”
“Honey, you got a job, and Haven said that you said it was your dream job. I’m thrilled for you,” my mom replied.
