Page 31 of A Twist of Faith
“He’s beautiful,” Dee whispered and touched a soft tendril of gold curl on his head. She blinked back to attention and dropped her hand, but not before she caught Reese watching her. His intense gaze sent those tingles stuttering throughout her body with renewed strength.Nine weeks. Only nine.
“Supper’s ready. Everybody to the table,” Mrs. Mitchell called from the dining room.
Dee waited for directions, but the crowd swarmed in a chaos of chatter following the scent or tradition. No order or plan, but mass exodus from one room to the next. She slid into the chair between Rainey and Mrs. Mitchell, still watching in awe as the big family unfolded to their spots. Grace Mitchell orchestrated it all without drawing any attention to the process or the preparation, almost as if everything magically appeared on the table.
As Mrs. Mitchell led the group in prayer, Dee’s assumptions about Appalachia and her mother’s generation of women shifted a little more. Absentee alcoholic and comforting servant? Somehow, she had to rectify the picture of her mother with Grace Mitchell … and maybe she needed to refigure her definitions and expectations too.
Reese’s assumptionshad been dead-on. Dee barely spoke during the whole meal, andaintsflew around like gnats at a picnic. She didn’t correct one’ingand the only people using those were Meg, Rainey, and himself. Truth be told, she lived only to makehis life miserable, not anyone else with mile-long vowels.
Though, he couldn’t complain too much. Sitting across from her, he got a chance to see her smile a whole lot more too. Brandon took a shine to her, and for someone who wasn’t too fond of kids, she grinned and cooed over him like he was the prettiest thing she’d ever seen.
Her posture stayed fence-post-straight and she didn’t break out into laughter, but her quiet countenance and occasional smiles confirmed something. She kept a firm hold on her feelings, which suited him fine because weeping women made him nervous, but she couldn’t hide the longing in her eyes for what his family shared around that table.
Reese tucked Brandon close, as he sat out on the front porch watching Lou and Sarah play in the yard. He looked down at his son sleeping against his chest, golden hair haloing his face and pink cheeks, and he agreed with Dee’s earlier statement. Too pretty for a boy, but Reese didn’t have the heart to cut off all those curls. It kept him looking like a baby,hissweet, little baby boy.
He readjusted Brandon in his arms and looked out over the valley before focusing his attention back on Dee, who was in a deep conversation with his little girl. Dee’s hair fell long and dark down her back today. Silky. Like chocolate pie. Suited his tastes just fine.
With a pair of jeans curved to her petite body and an oversized, button-up blouse, he almost forgot the high-class PhD who wanted to beat the wrong vowels out of him. Jeans looked good on her. Real good.
He jerked his mind out of the ditch and back to her face, which was no hardship. She had a pretty face too, prettier by the day in fact.
Man, he needed help for his runaway thoughts, and that was the truth.
She walked over and sat beside him, leaning back with her palms to the porch, not helping his thoughts one bit. “I don’t think I’ve eaten so well in a long time.”
“If there’s one thing my mama enjoys, it’s entertainin’ folks.”
Dee quirked a brow. “Entertainin’?”
Enter the professor. “Entertaining. But I don’t see why my ’ings are so important if you understood me just fine.”
“It’s the difference between sounding professional and not.” She shook her head and the scent of apples came with the breeze. Chocolate and apples? Just like Mama’s chocolate chip apple pie? No complaint about that combination either.
The front door slammed and Trigg walked down the steps. He carved his usual path across the front yard trail toward his house, giving Lou a toss over his shoulder for a second and tugging one of Sarah’s braids before continuing his trek. The light bounce in his step gave Reese a jolt of hope. Trigg’s house sat on the back part of the family land, about a half mile’s walk, down the hill and by the pond that had some pretty good bass fishing.
Reese snuck a peek at Dee. Had she ever been fishing?
“Your brother seemed in good spirits.”
“He’s a whole lot better than he was a few months ago. The surgery, then medication wore him out. The doctor says it’ll take a while to get back to normal.”
Or a new kind of normal without kids in the future.
Reese instinctively pulled Brandon a little tighter. Well, not every young’un had to be blood-related to be your child. Lou and Sarah ran passed them up the porch steps and into the house, laughing all the way.
Dee hugged her shoulders and tilted her head to look at him. “You have a great family.”
The setting sun bathed her hair and face with golden light, bringing out the earthy greens of her eyes. His pulse jumped into a stampede. “They are crazy in their own way, but I wouldn’t take any other.”
Dee looked back at the horizon, her smile fading. “Some kinds of crazy are much better than others.”
“You have a brother, right?”
“Jason. He’s a writer who also happens to farm.” Dee’s smile twitched wider. “And one of those brooding reclusive types.”
“Sounds like Trigg, except the writing part.”
Dee nodded. “I can see that. Jay has a good heart, but isn’t around people to show it. His imaginary world and friends seem good enough for him.”
