2.

E LIZABETH

“How are you settling in?” Charlotte, my neighbor, asked as she lifted her coffee mug for a sip. We’d become instant friends when I happened upon her while out walking Charlie when I’d come to look at the property that was soon to become my new home. She looked around the kitchen and said, “It looks like you’ve gotten unpacked. Do you have everything you need?”

“More than enough, which is crazy considering how much I purged while I was packing,” I admitted.

“I keep telling Si that I’m going to hire one of those people to come declutter and organize our house, but just like everything else, that task falls to the wayside because I’m too busy.”

I glanced into the living room where Charlotte’s four-year-old twin boys were snuggled up on the couch with Charlie while they watched a cartoon, and then I pointedly looked at Charlotte’s pregnant belly.

“I don’t think a little clutter is all that important considering what all you have going on. Besides, I’ve been to your house and thought it was amazing that you’re so organized, considering how many people you’ve got under one roof.”

“I do have quite a brood, don’t I? If you’re in the market for some kids, I’ve got a couple I’d be willing to hand over,” Charlotte joked. Not for the first time, I felt a pang of longing, one that had been getting significantly stronger over the last few years. I tried to tamp it down before Charlotte noticed. Unfortunately, she could read it on my face and hurried to say, “I’m sorry. That was insensitive of me.”

“It wasn’t. You’re fine. I’m just a little maudlin about things sometimes.”

“I know we don’t know each other that well, so I’m not sure it’s my place to ask, but do you want children of your own? If you can have them, I mean.” Charlotte winced before she said, “I’m sorry. Apparently, my foot has decided to make its permanent home in my mouth.”

I took a deep breath before I said, “I can have children. At least, I think I can. It’s not a physical thing as much as mental. For a long time, I didn’t have the best luck in relationships because I had some . . . issues . . . with intimacy.”

Charlotte looked confused for a second but then smiled and said, “You don’t have to be in a relationship to have children. There are so many children who need a good, loving home. Obviously, I’m a big proponent of adoption.”

I laughed and agreed, “So am I.”

“It’s never too late to start a family. Or in my case, a second family. I had my oldest three when I was very young. I married Si when they were five, seven, and eight. After we’d been married for a few years, we decided to let nature take the wheel and I stopped using birth control. Nothing happened until our kids were fifteen, seventeen, and eighteen. That’s when I had the boys.”

“Talk about a surprise!”

“Not just one, but two.”

“Are you positive there’s just one in there now?” I joked as I motioned toward her bump.

“Every time I have a sonogram, I ask the tech to double-check. So far, we’re all clear,” Charlotte said with a laugh. “If I give birth and two come out, we’ll be able to crown one of them this year’s hide-and-seek champion!”

“Mama?” I heard one of the boys call out from the living room. “Can we go home now?”

“It is that time,” Charlotte said with a glance at the clock on the stove. “The kids will be getting off the bus soon, and I’ll need to wrangle them and get dinner started.”

“I’m so glad you came over, but I need to go too!” I said when I realized what time it was. “I’m going to be late!”

“I’m sorry! I didn’t realize you had an appointment.”

“I don’t really. I’ve been giving a neighbor a ride into town. I meant to ask you about . . .”

“Mama, I’m hungry!”

“Ugh. Duty calls. Will you come to dinner tomorrow?”

“What can I bring?”

“Enough dessert for an army of boys.”

“I should probably start cooking now then,” I retorted. When Charlotte laughed, I said, “I’ll figure something out and wow them with my culinary genius.”

“Don’t put yourself out. They think licking a spoon and dipping it into the Kool-Aid powder is delicious.”

“It is! I had totally forgotten about that!”

Charlotte was still laughing as I helped her gather up the toys her sons’ had brought with them. I took note of their interests so I could pick up a few things to keep here for them to play with when they visited and then followed Charlotte outside so I could go pick up Aleta. Charlotte turned in at her drive, and I kept driving toward town. As I passed Aleta’s house on the other side of Charlotte’s, I saw a man getting out of a truck near the barn and scowled in anger.

That must be her son, the man who was willing to let his mother walk along a deserted country road in the dark rather than take the time to pick her up, or better yet, help her find her own vehicle. Not for the first time, I wondered what it was like inside the modest home she shared with her children and pondered the dynamics of a family that sounded so dysfunctional.

This was the third day in a row that I’d picked Aleta up at the end of her driveway to take her to work and then gone back into town to drive her home after her shift. I’d never seen anyone else on the property besides the man, even though she said her young daughters lived there with her. I couldn’t imagine how such a sweet woman could raise such selfish children, but that’s what it seemed to me. She had mentioned that both of her daughters would be married soon and she’d be moving away. I thought that was probably for the best if it helped her situation at all.

It made me angry to think there were people out there that took a sweet and loving mother like Aleta for granted. What I wouldn’t do to have a mom like that.

Assholes.

◆◆◆

“What time do I need to pick you up tomorrow?” I asked.

“I don’t have to be back at work until Friday,” Aleta said cheerfully.

“I bet it will be nice to have a few days to relax. I’m looking forward to a little of that myself,” I admitted. “What do you have planned for your time off?”

“I don’t relax very often.”

“Why not? It’s a good way to let your body reset.”

“There are too many things to do, and I don’t want to fall behind.”

I wondered if this poor woman was expected to cook and clean the house for the entire ungrateful clan of assholes she’d given birth to and got irritated all over again.

“You should make time for yourself, Aleta. You work hard and deserve it.”

“Where are you going?” Aleta asked frantically when I turned down the gravel drive toward her house. “You can just drop me off here.”

“There’s no reason for me to drop you off at the road, Aleta. It won’t take me but a second to . . .”

“No! I don’t want William to know that I’ve been getting a ride to work!”

I kept driving as I glanced over at Aleta and asked, “You can tell the truth, Aleta. Are you safe at home?”

“I don’t want to anger him. He’s just so unpredictable.” I had just looked ahead again when Aleta gasped and said, “Oh no!”

I saw that the front door was open and a man was walking out onto the porch. I didn’t know whether to stop and let her out or keep going, but I realized that it was too late when he looked up from the phone in his hand and frowned before he crossed his arms over his chest. The man seemed familiar for some reason. I assumed I’d seen him in town before, but I couldn’t dwell on that now because the woman in the seat next to me was almost frantic with fear.

“Just don’t talk to him,” Aleta ordered. “There’s no telling what he’ll say or do.”

I pulled to a stop behind the truck I’d noticed earlier and was surprised when Aleta threw the door open and jumped out.

“How can I get in touch with you to make sure you’re okay?” I let my voice trail off when Aleta slammed the door and watched as she rushed past the man into the house. When he narrowed his eyes at her as she walked past, I was so angry that, without thinking, I put the car in Park and took off my seatbelt to confront him, which was not like me at all.

The man’s gaze had come back to me, and when he saw me begin to get out, he started walking toward my car. I hit the button to make sure the doors were locked and then rolled my window down just enough to hear what he was saying.

“Are you friends with Aleta?”

“She’s your mom. Shouldn’t you know these things?”

The man chuckled and said, “Not really, no.”

His nonchalant attitude struck a chord with me, and I snapped, “Obviously, you’re not busy, so why can’t you drive your mother back and forth to work?”

One eyebrow raised before he said, “Why should I?”

“Because it’s just wrong to make her walk alone for miles and miles, sometimes in the dark, when you’re just sitting here on your ass doing nothing!”

“Nothing? Really?” The man laughed and said, “Sweetheart, you don’t know shit about me, so put that judgemental tone back in your pocket and try again.”

“Talking to you is even more frustrating than Aleta said it would be.”

“Oh, I bet she said a lot of things.”

“You’d better not hurt her!” The man burst out laughing and then turned around to walk away without another word. “I mean it!” I yelled at his back.

When he spun around and glared at me, I jerked back, my anger forgotten after seeing the fire in his eyes. As he stomped back toward me, I put the car in Reverse just in case I needed to make a quick getaway but kept my foot on the brake.

“The only people who get hurt are the ones that Aleta sucks into her web of bullshit,” the man fumed. “Don’t judge what you don’t know anything about, Karen. Have the day you fucking deserve.”

“What a dick!” I yelled as the man spun around and walked away. Since my window was still open, he heard me, and instead of turning around and giving me a verbal response, he lifted his arm and gave me a thumbs up. I heard a growl and realized it didn’t come from Charlie - it was coming from me! As I pulled out onto the road to go home, I looked over my shoulder at my companion and asked, “Why do you give the nice lady the side-eye like she’s a serial killer but don’t even blink when the asshole comes close?”

Charlie huffed in response, and that just made me angrier.

◆◆◆

DUB

“Did you hear that girl ask me about showering the horses?” Andrew asked. I shook my head as I rubbed down Hercules after our long trail ride. He’d been tense this evening, and I knew that had more to do with my mood than his, so I was giving him a little extra attention to make it up to him. “She asked me where the showers were, and when I told her we don’t have lodging here, she said she was talking about showers for the horses.”

David, my other nephew, laughed and asked, “Why would she think they took showers?”

“That’s not even the funniest part! She gave me suggestions on hair products to make Sunshine’s mane more manageable and less coarse. When she started talking about hair masks and deep conditioning treatments, I think I lost consciousness for a minute.”

“I don’t think the brunette in the pink top saw a damn thing the entire ride. She was too busy taking selfies and texting to pay attention.”

“We should make a rule that there are no phones on the trail,” Andrew suggested.

“Makes sense, but there are a few of them that might freak out without their phone in their hand.”

“Your brother’s right,” I told Andrew. “Some of them would probably have a meltdown.”

I listened as David and Andrew started talking like grumpy old men, saying things like “kids these days” and “when I was younger,” which cracked me up since they were only twenty-two and nineteen years old. I tuned them out after a few minutes, and my thoughts drifted back to the scene in my driveway yesterday evening.

I didn’t even bother asking Aleta who her new friend was since I knew she’d just lie to me anyway, but I had a feeling I’d seen her before - probably in town somewhere. She was definitely memorable with her dark eyes and thick black hair falling over her face. Even with the anger I was feeling toward my mother and the mutinous expression the woman was wearing, I wanted to reach out and tuck it behind her ear so I could get a better view of her face.

When I heard her click the locks on her SUV, I thought she’d be timid, but the second she opened her mouth, the woman was breathing fire as her eyes shot daggers at me. For some reason, I thought that was sexy as hell. Several times in the last day, I’d found myself wondering if she would assert that same passion and fire naked beneath me.

I shook my head and tried to clear my thoughts just as Andrew asked, “Is everything okay, Uncle Dub? You’ve been awfully quiet this afternoon.”

“I had a run in with one of Aleta’s friends yesterday, and it did not go well.”

“Uh oh,” David said before he blew out a long breath. “Wait a second. She has friends?”

“I guess so.”

“It’s so hard to believe that any of y’all came from that woman.”

“Technically, we’ve got double her DNA, don’t we?” Andrew asked with a confused expression.

“Ugh! Gross. Just no, man. Don’t go there.”

I laughed at the expressions of disgust on my nephews’ faces but couldn’t help but tease them a little. “What’s wrong cousin-nephew? Are you ashamed of your family tree?”

“I wouldn’t be if it branched! ” Andrew retorted.

I chuckled when David said, “I’m surprised we don’t have an extra arm or something.”

I laughed even harder when Andrew retorted, “Well, I do, but it doesn’t have any fingers.”

David looked at him in disgust and then threw the brush he’d been using at his brother’s head. Andrew caught it and grinned, which irritated his brother even more. I knew that if I didn’t step in soon, there'd be a scuffle.

“What’s your mom cooking tonight? Do you know?” I asked after I let Hercules, my dappled gray Shire, out to roam in the small pasture until I left for dinner. He whinnied and then bumped me with his big head, so I scratched between his eyes for a few seconds until he jerked his head away and took off.

We watched as Andrew and David’s horses joined Hercules and laughed when the horses started playing tag with each other as if they hadn’t just gone on a long ride.

As we turned to walk up the lane to my sister’s house, David said, “My guess is Dad’s gonna grill. We do most of the cooking now that Mom’s getting further along. It bothers all of us to think of her being on her feet in her condition.”

I smiled at David when he said, “We’re not that great in the kitchen, so we take turns grilling and do everything we can to get her to sit down, but you know how she is.”

“Stubborn as a mule,” I said knowingly.

“Margaret cooks most of the side dishes because she’s a much better cook than we are,” Andrew admitted. “Some of the others are learning, but they’re not much better at it than us, so let’s hope Dad and Margaret have things covered tonight.”

“I asked your mom if she wanted me to bring anything, and she said beer.”

“She’s obsessed with the smell of it and will snatch ours away and just sniff it until we take it back,” Andrew said with a grin. “It’s crazy because she’s never liked beer before.”

“Dad keeps teasing her that they should name the new kid Guinness or Shiner because those are the ones she says smell the best.”

“Kid’s gonna come out smelling like Monty if Mom's not careful.”

“That was low,” I said with a grin as the boys started laughing. “You should show some respect for your cousin-uncle, boys.”

“You’ve gotta stop calling him that,” Andrew said with a groan. “It’s just not right.”

We were almost to the porch when I stopped and said, “Just a sec, guys. I need to talk to you about something.”

The young men stopped and turned toward me with serious expressions. Apparently, my tone alerted them that something was wrong because Andrew asked, “What did Aleta do now?”

“I’ll talk to the other boys after dinner, but I wanted to let you know that Laura let it slip that Aleta told her that she and Mary, along with Aleta herself, are promised to someone back at the compound, and the ceremony is going to happen next year.”

“The fuck it is!” David said angrily.

“Oh, hell no,” Andrew barked at the same time.

“I’m right there with you on that, but I wanted you to know that Aleta’s planning something, and we need to keep a close eye on her and the girls. I made a call to a good friend of mine, and he’s working on finding a tracking device we can put on the girls just in case Aleta takes off with them. That way, we’ll be able to find them no matter where they are.”

“Well, that’s one option,” David mumbled.

“What’s the other one?” I asked.

“If we go ahead and kill her, she can’t take them anywhere.”

I burst out laughing as I put my arms over my nephews’ shoulders and pulled them along beside me as I started walking. “You two remind me of me, boys, and I just want you to know you’re my favorite cousin-nephews.”

Their grumbling made me laugh even harder, but as we filed into the back door and I saw who was sitting at the table, it stopped the second her glare landed on me.

For some reason, even though I could look at her for hours, the thought of having to sit at the dinner table with that woman erased my appetite and good humor.