Page 33 of Crossroads
“Jasper, sweetie. I have to tell you something, okay?”
Worry races through me, and I’m not even sure why. I don’t know what his family dynamic is—but the fact that his mom had to grab that extra shift and looked so tired doesn’t really screamstability. I think maybe it could be something to do with Logan, and I watch him carefully, his whole body going rigid as he looks to my aunt for answers. “My dad?”
“Oh, no, sweetie.” She moves closer to him and puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Not your dad. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s just Millie the cow.”
I frown at that. “You named a cow after your daughter?” I ask, even though this conversation is clearly not for me.
“I did,” Jasper says sharply, apparently annoyed that I’m still here. He addresses Kelly. “What’s wrong with her?”
He looks almost as worried as if the news would have been about his father, his face ashen with worry. “She cut her foot on something. I’m not sure what. But don’t worry. We called the vet, and she came out here to clean it and give her stitches. She’s fine, but she’s in the barn.”
Jasper nods his head, his head swiveling to the barn. Kelly pats him one more time, and then Jasper is off, heading into the barn, I guess to whisper sweet nothings into his cow’s ears.
“He knows it’s just a cow, right?” I ask coldly.
Kelly’s eyes meet mine as she raises one perfectly shaped brow at me. “It’s his favorite one. And he has a connection with all the animals out here.”
I snort, mocking him, and it’s clear Kelly doesn’t like it at all from the stern look she gives me. “Sorry,” I quickly apologize.
“It’s why I hired him,” she says, walking around to the back of the trailer, and I follow her. “He loves animals. That much was very clear from the second he first came here. And the animals trusted him. I knew then I could too.”
“And here I got bit by a tiny kitten,” I try to joke but look down at my feet, feeling uneasy about that fact. She seems so proud of Jasper and his love for animals.
“Well, maybe Jasper can help you connect a little more with the animals around here.”
“Yeah, I can’t even imagine connecting with humans, let alone animals,” I say honestly, my voice raw.
I feel her soft hand grip my chin and gently lift it up, so I’m looking into her eyes. “Oh, my dear nephew, animals are far superior to humans. Connect with them, and you’re golden.”
That makes me smile, though I’m not really even sure why. There’s something about my aunt—something that settles me like never before. I’ve never had that presence in my life. It’s hard for me to imagine her being related to my mother.
My mother, who really couldn’t care less about me.
“Has your mom called you recently?” Damn mind reader.
I carefully pull out of her hold and shake my head. “Nah. That would require effort on her part.” Her lips are pursed in a tight line now, clearly not pleased with that. I have to ask her, “Was she always like that? Cold?”
I feel stupid asking it—like a sad kid or something, but I want to know. Kelly seems to think about it for a solid moment and then sighs softly. “We didn’t have the easiest start in life. Our parents... they were um...” I wait for her to go on. I don’t know anything about my grandparents. My mother has never brought them up, and the few times I did, I was silenced harshly and quickly. “They were very religious. Heavily involved in the church here. We were even homeschooled for most of our lives because they didn’t want us around the townspeople.”
“Yikes,” I say, horrified.
“Yeah. But your mother, she was different.”
“Different how?”
“Rebellious,” my aunt says with a smile on her face, like she’s almost proud of her sister for that. “She used to dream so big. She’d make me dream with her. We’d talk about getting out of Kensley and going to college for hours.”
I swallow hard because obviously, that’s not what happened. At least not for Kelly.
“But when I was a teenager, I met John and fell in love. We got married and started having babies right away.” She looks proud of that fact too. Not one regret showing on her face about the way her life worked out. But her smile fades as her eyes find mine. “Your mother was so disappointed in me.”
“It was your life,” I say.
She nods, sniffing a little. “It was, and it was what I wanted. I think I always wanted that life. The big-city life your mom wanted was her dream. But I was always happy to listen to it.”
“What happened?” I ask, having a pretty good idea.
“She graduated from high school. And she wanted to go to college, but our parents refused to pay for college for a daughter.”
