Page 27 of Turning Tides
“Vanessa and I are making chili. I see you brought french bread for us, so we’ll make that into garlic bread later. How are things at the bar?”
“You’ll have to come by one night and I’ll buy you dinner.”
“Maybe one day soon. I’ve got a few irons in the fire just now. Vanessa, dear, can you add the mushrooms now and then I’ll get you to open those jars of tomato sauce.”
I loved watching my mom in the kitchen. She’d always been cooking and wanting to take care of people. It wasn’t hard to figure out where I got my urge to fix things for people from. Mom had always been the first one to her feet when someone was in need. Even when we didn’t have anything, Mom would find ways to help if she could.
Seeing her in her own little house, along with her brood of daughters that came and went, made me glad that I was able to give this to her. A lot of the women who left here went on to rebuild their lives and they often came back to see Mom and have coffee with some of the new residents and give them hope.
Mom set a cup of coffee in front of me. “Kieran tells me you have a new tenant.”
“I’m sure that’s all he told you.” I rolled my eyes. Even as an adult, I felt like Kieran was still tattling on me.
Mom patted my shoulder. “He worries about us bleeding hearts.”
“Better to have a bleeding heart than no heart at all.”
Mom’s mouth twitched as she suppressed a smile. “Be nice to Kieran. He puts up with a lot between the both of us.”
Mom took a seat next to me and Vanessa kept the counter between us as she puttered around making the chili according to Mom’s specifications.
Some of the women who came here didn’t have many skills beyond surviving. Mom always did her best to teach them as much as they wanted to learn. For some women, that was nothing. They wanted a safe place to plan their next move and then they were gone. At one point, I asked Mom if that bothered her, but she shook her head and explained that everyone healed in their own way on their own time.
“Cyrus’s younger brother ran into trouble a while back and he’s been staying with Cyrus and Marshall.”
“Didn’t they buy that adorable house? I don’t seem to remember it being very large.”
“Archer was sleeping on the couch. He used to own a tattoo shop and wants to get it going again, so I’ve leased him the space above the bar.”
“Kieran made it sound like you’d given him the building.”
“Kieran wants me to rent the space for more than Archer can currently afford. If it wasn’t for the fact that I know I can trust him more than I could ever trust anyone else, I’d hire someone different to look after my finances.”
“Oh, don’t talk that way. You know he just wants you to be looked after.”
I was a grown man who was capable of looking after himself, but I didn’t say that.
“Have you heard from Brodie recently?”
“He emailed about a week ago and moaned about missing my cooking, among a few other things, so I told him if he was so miserable that he should come home for a while. Then at least he could be miserable here and complain to my face.”
“Did it work?” Mom was often trying different ways to get the baby of the family to come home for a while.
“He hasn’t responded yet, but that’s not unusual for him.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I ignored it. Mom hated cell phones at the table and I wasn’t going to stay long anyway. Whatever it was could wait.
“He’s about due for a visit, though. He usually blows in like a tornado once every six months or so and it’s been longer than that now. I’m sure he’ll be home soon.”
Even before I had money to funnel to his account, my little brother had been a resourceful person. There were programs that let you volunteer in a country for a short amount of time in exchange for room and board. You weren’t allowed to earn money, but it offered people a way to see the world. Brodie had done that a few times and had no trouble using the opportunities to his advantage.
Now with money trickling into his account, he didn’t have to depend on the kindness of strangers. It made traveling easier and safer for him, and it lifted a load off our mom’s shoulders, which was the only reason he took the money.
Vanessa excused herself and skittered out of the kitchen, taking the long way around so she didn’t have to pass by too close to me. I never took offense to the way some of the women gave me a wide berth. I used to argue about the sense of coming here at all, but Mom had simply stated that sometimes it did the girls good to see a man who wasn’t a villain.
“She’s come a long way in a short time. A week ago, she might have stuck you with that knife.”
I drank my coffee and didn’t comment on the mental image she’d given me.
