Page 13 of Cozy Cabin for Two
Eli shifted from foot to foot. “You won’t be. Everyone in my class is super nice. And we’ll be in Mrs. Libby’s class together. She’s the best teacher in the whole school.”
“Well, Ro, won’t it be great that you’ll get to your new school and already have Eli for a friend?” Dusty smartly stated, patting his son’s shoulder. He must have good fatherly instincts, knowing when a child needed cheering up. How many years would it take a man like me to develop those?
“Yeah. And I know the other kids are gonna like you, too, because I like you already,” Eli chimed in. “Wanna play tag?”
Ro’s smile stretched wide, and off they went. Willow’s hand went to her heart watching them go.
Something shifted in my chest again, struck with the realization of how much of Ro’s life Scott would miss out on.
How much had I missed out on?
Daisy stepped forward before I could dwell on it, wiping her hands on a dish towel. “Hi, Willow. These are my sisters.” She gestured, but hardly needed to given they all shared her striking features.
The tallest of the three, with Daisy’s same auburn hair but bolder makeup, extended a hand. “I’m Ivy. You come see me when you’re in town. I run the boot shop. I’ll get you fitted with a pair that’ll show off those sexy legs of yours.” Her gaze swept over Willow as if deciding whether or not to approve of her outfit.
Daisy rolled her eyes, warning, “Ivy.”
“What? The woman has sexy legs. I tell it like it is. Or, better yet, ask any guy here. Ash, what do you think?”
I turned beet red. But yes, Willow’s legs were slender and long enough to probably wrap around my waist.
“Ignore Ivy. I’m Sage,” offered the second sister, waving with a few pie servers in her hand.
“And I’m Poppy,” said the youngest, with more freckles across her nose than the others, and not quite old enough to drink yet.
“Nice to meet you all. Thanks for having us at your church tonight,” Willow answered with ease and grace.
I avoided the awkwardness of introducing her as Scott’s wife again, since it lingered on my tongue like a bad taste. But what was the alternative? Introducing her as the woman I’d thought about for over a decade? The woman with whom I almost shared a kiss in my cabin this afternoon, and nearly shattered every wall I’d built?
Knox’s voice cut through my brooding. “Food’s ready!”
The announcement sent everyone into motion, gathering in a circle for grace, always given by Dusty. Then I held back and watched as Willow naturally fell into step beside the sisters. Ro had attached herself to Eli, grabbing hot dogs together like old pals.
They were here with me, in this space I’d created, surrounded by the people who’d become like family to me. My past collided with my present, and they fit together too well. Not like they were visiting my world, but like they belonged in it. While I’d been the fool keeping them away.
EIGHT
Danced
ASH
After dinner,I moved our chairs around the fire ring. Willow sat, taking in the pretty night. Ro and Eli roasted marshmallows on sticks nearby, giggling about something.
After seeing goosebumps along Willow’s skin, I grabbed my flannel out of the truck for her to wear. I handed it to her as I took the seat beside her and prepared to dive into my slice of pie.
“Thanks. Your church is definitely more accommodating than my father’s,” she chortled, putting on my shirt. She wrapped the long arms around her. I shouldn’t feel this way, but damn, I’d never been so envious of a shirt in my life.
“Is your dad still an ass—” I glanced toward Ro and lowered my voice. “I mean, a jerk?”
“Of course. We rarely spoke, only on Ro’s birthday and at Christmas. After the layoff and my injury, I asked if we could live with him for a few months until I got back on my feet. But his new wife and her three kids were there. He said he didn’t have any room for us. He might have been talking about the house, but I knew he meant in his life.”
With my hand in a tight fist around my fork, I felt so bad for the hand she’d been dealt. I wanted to call her father worse names, but not in front of the kids.
When she’d gotten pregnant with Scott’s baby out of wedlock, her father all but wrote her off, at least, from what I gathered over a few phone calls with Scott in the early years of my military deployment.
Jeez, she could just as easily callmenames for staying away. Hadn’t I all but written them off as well? I swallowed down the guilt with another swig of beer.
“And my dad wouldn’t help?” I dared ask, but already knew the answer. I hadn’t spoken to him since the morning I left for the army. Even then, all he did was salute me as I left, like he was honored to have a son following him into the military. While I’d hoped the military wouldn’t turn me into an angry son of a bitch like him.
