Page 43 of This Much Is True
“Kate lived close then, and I think she got something like tortilla chips and baked beans,” Luke says. “Mom and Dad got those little wieners in a can.” He looks at me and grins. “A lot of them.”
“I can see ways of whittling down the Pop-Tarts. Pineapple juice is good in mixed drinks. Tortilla chips and baked beans can be used. I mean, it might take a while, but you could use those in everyday life. It’s the wieners for me.”
“There’s a joke there, and I’m letting it go. I want you to know that.”
I shove him, making him laugh. “Is this story going anywhere? Or did you want me to walk into a wiener joke?”
“I was trying to get to the tomato soup.”
“Well, get there, then.”
He pushes the wheelbarrow back into the barn.
“That’s what I got from Gav—tomato soup. Twenty-however-many cans of it,” Luke says. “Definitely better than the wieners, but I would’ve loved those Pop-Tarts. I tried to barter with Chase, but he wasn’t having it. He said it was the only useful thing Gavin had ever done for him, and he and Kennedy were eating them. I’m stuck with the cans of soup that have probably expired.”
I laugh. Actually, it’s more like a cackle. The thought of all those wieners totally amuses me. And Luke still has the cans of soup.
But while I find amusement in the story, I’m also …sad. In leaving Luke, this is what I missed. I might have been here to use those cans of soup. I might have been the recipient of something equally bizarre.How fun would that have been.
“I wish I had siblings.”
“Uh, no, you don’t.”
“I do,” I say emphatically. “You have such a bond with your brothers and Kate. Heck, you and Gavin even seem to have a bond with Kennedy. I have a bond with no one. It’s just me out here.”
We stop by the next two stalls. Luke dusts his hands off and looks at me.
“What?” I ask.
“How would you feel about seeing my parents?”
This is not a question I was expecting.
“No pressure,” Luke says. “I know you’re skittish about seeing people right now, and I get it. I respect it. But they won’t tell anyone, and I know they’d love to see you. Mom is gonna be pissed that she didn’t know you were here. She’ll think we stole a reason from her to make a casserole.”
I laugh, the sentiment like a rush of sunshine on my soul.
To see Maggie and Lonnie again would be like curling up in my favorite blanket. I wish I would’ve kept in contact with them over the years. They were a piece of good in my life, and I’m certain they would’ve offered me advice when I needed it the most throughout the years. But it felt too odd,too sad, to stay in touch with them after Luke and I fell apart.
Lonnie wouldn’t have tolerated Tom Waverly, and he sure as hell wouldn’t have allowed me to get engaged to him without a long chat—with both of us. Even if I wasn’t dating Luke anymore, I know he would’ve said something. Maggie, too. It’s too bad that didn’t happen.
And it’s also too bad that I’ve missed so much since I left. Even if I gained a career and a whole life by leaving, I lost, too. Because in my heart, Peachwood Falls—the Marshalls—feels like home.
“You know what, Luke? I want to see them. It would be nice to say hello again.”
“Okay. But I’m not responsible if Mom gets too squirrely on you. You heard her last night. She’s getting uncontrollable in her old age.”
“Don’t you let her hear you say that.”
He hands me a shovel and picks up another one.
“I tell her shit like that sometimes just to wind her up. It’s a good cardio workout.” He winks at me. “Now, let’s get these last four cleaned, refill them with clean bedding, and get out of here.”
“Sounds like a plan to me.”
We trade a final smile and get busy.
Chapter Thirteen
