Page 67 of A Reckless Memory

Just like Aggie. She was at her house hosting Cody and his kids and Sutton. She’d invited me, and I’d love to watch her with her niece and nephew and see her enjoy their visit, but I didn’t want to add any awkwardness to a milestone day for her.

“It says good for kids up to six,” I said as Emmaline crawled onto the horse to show Vaden how it was done. He stamped his little legs and screamed at her.

“I might have to drop it to five and under.” Laney grinned and beckoned Emmaline toward her. “Come on, Em. Let Vaden enjoy his present. You have yours.”

She had barely let go of the three-foot cowgirl doll almost as tall as her.

“Besides,” Archer added, “you have a real pony you can ride. Vaden doesn’t.”

Emmaline didn’t look convinced, but she dropped to her butt and fiddled with her doll’s hat.

“Did you go to the mall and ask for the biggest presents to get a kid?” Archer asked, his mouth in a wry twist.

“You said nothing noisy. I didn’t hear a thing about big as hell.”

My niece threw a censuring look my way. “Mo-om.”

“Those are words adults can say,” Laney replied. She curled her feet beside her and snuggled into Archer’s side. They were going to another cousin’s later today, and I’d been invited, but I hadn’t decided. The longer I waited, the weirder it got. How many relatives had I come across in my months here and didn’t know? But staying by myself in the trailer didn’t seem like a valid option. It wasn’t progress.

After I’d first arrived, I’d been ashamed to show my face. Since Dad’s visit and being with Aggie, I wanted to see my brother more. According to Archer, the Barrons were all decent people, and after the Gustafsons, I needed more of that in my life.

“I’ll go,” I announced. “Tonight. I’ll go.”

Archer didn’t break out in a grin like he knew what a shift in my life this would be. “You sure? Once others hear you’re there, they’ll come running.”

“No, I’m sure. Aggie likes Reservoir Barrel, and so far, we’ve stayed away when we’ve gone out. It’s not fair to her and... I need to get over myself.”

“I don’t think that’s possible.” Archer’s quick smile would’ve made me flip him the finger if kids weren’t present. “Wanna help me in the kitchen? Delaney wouldn’t play fair when it came to deciding whose job it was.”

“It was a coin flip,” Laney interjected. “Strip potatoes isn’t a thing.”

Emmaline’s head popped up. “What’s strip—”

“Something adults do,” Laney said.

Archer snapped his fingers. “Hah—so it is a thing.”

Laney rolled her eyes but giggled.

I trailed Archer into the kitchen. He dug out a pot and two peelers, then pointed to a ten-pound bag of Yukon gold spuds. I took the bag and followed him to the dining room table on the opposite side of the kitchen as the living room.

When we sat, he tipped his head to speak quietly. “Have you talked to Dad recently?”

I shook my head. “We sent some messages back and forth.” Mostly about how everything was going and if all was well. I initiated the messages like I was making up for lost time.

“We had a video call last night, and he was really tired.”

“They’ve been getting ice and shit down there.”

He shook his head, his eyes pinched at the corners. His worry went further than skin deep. “This is different, and he insists everything’s fine.”

“He wouldn’t say otherwise.”

“I just...” Peelings flew as he attacked his potato. “We’re all finally talking again.”

Losing Dad would be the worst sort of irony. He’d been there, waiting for me for years. He couldn’t be fading now. Maybe it was the time of year. Maybe he was taking extra hours so others could have time off. “He’s healthy, right? I mean, he’s lived a mostly healthy life.”

“Yeah...mostly,” Archer said in a way that told me he was remembering the stress of Mama being sick, morphing into losing our home, then making a living on barely anything in the same place he’d lost, and then years with two sons who hardly talked to him.

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