Page 102 of A Twist of Faith
Rainey smacked her forehead. “Let’s be subtle, shall we? Men and subtlety works about as well as rain boots on a dog.” She focused those sneaky blue eyes on him. “Reese, you have family near Charlottesville who’ve been begging for company. It wouldn’t be too farfetched to think of moving in that direction.”
He stared at his mama and sisters like they’d been into Lizzie’s mama’s homemade wine. Move? To Charlottesville? Even if he thought the best of Libby and Ralph, moving seemed a big jump in decisions. “What?”
“Uncle Ralph and Aunt Libby are family—and theyhaveasked for us to move closer,” Rainey shrugged. “It makes a lot of sense.”
Not in his brain.
“And the schools are great,” Emma’s smile never wavered. Imp.
“Are you listening to your own craziness? Move away?” He looked over at Lou. “What about the young’uns?”
That should pull at the womenfolk’s heartstrings.
“Three hours away isn’t forever, Reese.” Rainey cut a slice of cake too as if her statement was the most common sense thing in the world.
Evidently the notion of the kids leaving didn’t pull quite hard enough. Reese gave the cake a suspicious look. Maybe it was the cause of all the craziness.
Emma nodded, reaching for the culprit-cake. “Wouldn’t Ralph and Libby just love some quality time with Lou and Brandon? Plus, they have horses.”
“Horses!” The crazy bug bit his little girl. She stared up at him, bright eyes pleading. “Horses, Daddy? I love Aunt Libby’s horses.”
He hated horses.
“And they live right next to a lake.” Lou clapped her hands together. Brandon must have thought it was a good idea, because he followed suit—mashed potatoes splashing over his tray.
“Trigg, set them straight.” Reese was drownin’ in a sea of women-sense.
His brother looked up from his plate, as if he just entered the conversation. “Charlottesville would be a more central location for your new job, wouldn’t it?” Trigg’s question shot through the silence. “It’s right near all those highways that run north and south. Good location for somebody who is going to be traveling up and down the east coast.”
He stared at his quiet, unassuming big brother as if seeing him for the first time.
“And with Trigg’s recovery, you could get back to what you love best. Training other farmers.” Rainey lifted her fork to her sneaky lips. “Maybe even teach as an adjunct at UVA, with another instructor we know.”
“You’ve always been a good teacher,” Trigg added, then took a bite of the cake.
His entire family tripped right off the deep end. His gaze searched out his mother’s. “Come on, Mama. Aren’t you going to say anything to help me out here?”
She perked a weathered brow and hesitated, taking her time to sweep the table with a glance. “Well, now, Reese, what is it that you want?”
“I don’t think it has a lot to do with what I want. What about Trigg? What about the farm?”
“We have until summer, Reese.” His mama took another bite of cake. “A long time for healing and change. Besides, if you still want to help out financially, you can do that from wherever you are, right?”
“Trigg don’t mind sharing you with Ralph and Libby,” Emma added with a wicked grin. If pixies were real, she’d be one.
“Are you afraid your young’uns will have bad influences in Charlottesville?”
He frowned at Rainey’s stupid question. “No, of course not.”
“Are you afraid of the change?”
He stuffed down any hint of fear of uprooting his family. “That ain’t it.”
“Is it because Dee can’t cook?”
All eyes went to Emma, who shrugged. “Just wonderin’. A man’s happy stomach is real important in these parts.”
“Her cookin’ doesn’t have nothing to do with it. I just … I don’t …” He slammed his palms against the table. “She’s getting her dream job, okay. I’m not a part of that dream.”
