16. Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Oliver

Weeks later, Oliver was fiddling with the key while he tried to unlock their new farmhouse, his excitement morphing into frustration when minutes had passed and yet he still hadn't heard a click. He tried to yank the key back out so that he could try one more time, but now he couldn't do that either.

"Just my luck," Oliver muttered. He looked over his shoulder to see Effie, Floyd, and Jo staring at him expectantly. "I think we might need to break into our own house."

"Let me try," Floyd said, coming forward.

Oliver scoffed, feigning upset. "As though it's my fault that this lock is shi—" He caught himself. "—immy proof," he said instead.

Floyd snorted. "Shimmy proof?"

"Yup. Shimmy proof."

With a laugh, Floyd wiggled the key, and then Oliver heard a click. Damn.

Oliver threw up his hands. "Ugh. Of course."

"Well, come on, you two," Floyd said to Effie and Jo as he and Oliver stepped inside. "Ollie and me been itching to show you the house."

Right away, Josephine ran in past them.

"Mama! It's stupendous!"

Which made Oliver feel like his heart might burst clean out of his chest.

Effie smirked at him. "Is that one of the many words you been teaching her?"

"I may have peppered in the word stupendous in the middle of our checkers matches from time to time," Oliver said with a smirk of his own. "It's so fun to hear her pick these up."

Floyd said, "Like when she called supper absolutely delectable ."

"Yeah, I liked that," Effie said. "Now enough playing with words, I want a tour."

As soon as the three of them were inside, Josephine ran over to Floyd, who scooped her up into the air, making her laugh.

"Ain't she a little heavy for you now, Floyd? She's eight," Effie said.

Floyd looked over at Oliver. "Nah, I lift heavier things."

Oliver whispered to Effie, "He means people."

Effie chuckled.

"Hush up, Ollie!" Floyd chastised.

But Josephine was tickled by this. "Daddy, you can lift Mister Oliver?! I want to see!"

"No," Floyd said. "Mister Oliver was being silly, is all."

"Oh, yes, you know me," Oliver said through a laugh.

"Can I see our bedroom now?" Josephine asked Floyd.

He set her down. " Your bedroom, Jo. I told you, this place is big enough for you to have your own room."

Josephine squealed and ran to the stairs. Floyd followed, leaving Oliver and Effie by themselves. Hooking his hands behind his back, Oliver watched Effie survey the room. From the way her eyes were sparkling, Oliver could tell that she liked it, maybe especially the pink and yellow flower wallpaper.

"Would you like to see the kitchen?" he asked after a while.

"Sure."

Oliver held out his arm and Effie linked hers with it.

"It's so nice having such a refined man around," Effie said, a little playfulness in her voice.

But Oliver's stomach fluttered unpleasantly. Sometimes, he still worried that he was ruining everything, especially when it came to Effie.

"Are you sure?" Oliver asked as they walked to the kitchen. "We still have some time to back out of the purchase. I mean, everything has been moving so quickly the last couple of weeks. I can only imagine how hard it is for you to have your entire world turned on its head like this. If you'd like, I could try to purchase a small home in the city so that I won't be in the way. I'll still help on the farm, of course, but, Effie, your family—"

"Our family," Effie corrected. "You're part of the family now, Oliver."

"Oh, but I'm not, really. I'm Floyd's..." Oliver could feel the heat rushing to his cheeks. "God, I'm like... I'm like a piece of slate mixed in with the coal."

"You're not."

"I'm so worried that me being here is hurting you."

Effie shook her head. "We couldn't have bought this farm without you."

"You wouldn't have had to. You'd have been happy—"

"Floyd was never happy. Not like he is now."

"And what about you? And Jo?"

"Jo loves you," Effie said. "When we told her that you and Floyd were together, she was smiling from ear to ear. Now, I never told Floyd this, but I been putting it in Josephine's head ever since she was little that love can look all sorts of ways. I thought that... well... that if she ever found out about Matt, she shouldn't be surprised. I never wanted her to be confused or mad or to think it was wrong. I never wanted her to look at Floyd with nothing but love."

"Oh, Effie, that's so kind of you. Floyd's so lucky to have you. I'm so lucky to have you." Biting his bottom lip, Oliver studied her face for a moment. "Are you sure you're happy, too?"

"I'm very happy. And if you think Floyd hasn't asked me that one thousand times himself, you're crazy. Me and him have talked about this 'til we were both blue in the face."

"Just tell me if you're ever unhappy and I promise I will try to fix it. Even if that means I have to leave. I swear I will move mountains to make sure you're happy again."

"I can't see that happening. I love our family."

Oliver's throat tightened, every positive emotion in existence seemingly bubbling to the surface at once. Our family . He could scarcely believe it. He had a family. One that was so much better than the Astors had ever been.

"Me, too," he said softly.

Once Oliver composed himself, he showed Effie the kitchen, which was much larger than the one she'd had back in the company town. While Effie was busy exploring the cabinets, Floyd and Josephine returned from upstairs.

Oliver knelt down. "So, what did you think of your new room, Jo?"

"It's big!"

"Yeah? What else?"

"It's real nice."

"Nice? Is that the best word you can come up with?"

Josephine pursed her lips for a moment, thinking.

"Phenomenal?"

"I like that better. Sounds much more exciting that way."

Josephine grinned—a big, toothy smile; one that was made even better by the fact that she was missing one of her front two teeth—and then proceeded to run over to Effie so that she could beg her mama to come see it, too. When Oliver stood back up, Floyd put his hands on Oliver's waist, pulling him close.

"Are you preparing Jo for college or something?"

Oliver shrugged. "Not intentionally, though I'd certainly pay for her tuition."

"Ain't that a little strange considering the fact that you never even finished college yourself?"

"Oh, Josephine's more focused than I ever was."

Floyd clicked his tongue. "Yeah, she's something special."

"Agreed."

Whistling, Floyd looked around the kitchen. "Can you believe we own this? It's even bigger than the farmhouse my parents had."

"And we'll fill it with books and music and—"

"Music? What, my banjo?"

"Sweetheart, I'm buying us a phonograph. And I'm buying myself a piano because I refuse to let you be the only musician in this house. Don't try to argue with me about it."

"I won't. I want to hear you play," Floyd said. "Heck, I'm excited for it."

"Soon the two of us will be playing music together," Oliver said before leaning forward for a soft kiss. As soon as they parted, Oliver reached into his pocket. He had thought he'd hold the surprise until later that evening, but he now realized he couldn't hold off that long. Hell, he couldn't even stand to wait one more minute. "I have something for you. Close your eyes." Floyd only sort of closed them. "Sweetheart, I can see you peeking through those pretty lashes of yours. Close them properly, please."

Floyd snickered. "Dang."

One moment later, Oliver held out his hand.

"Ready."

As soon as Floyd opened his eyes and saw the coin in Oliver's hand, his face fell, which was pretty much the exact opposite of the reaction Oliver was trying for. Oliver started to pull his hand away, but Floyd reached out and caught his wrist.

"Is that . . ."

"It is." Oliver nodded, still unsure whether or not Floyd was happy about the present.

As Floyd took the coin out of Oliver's palm, his expression stayed unreadable—his eyes wide with surprise, but his lips a hard line.

"Ollie..." he whispered, studying the coin. When Floyd looked up to meet Oliver's eyes, his baby blues were shimmering with tears, but Oliver couldn't yet tell whether they were happy tears or sad ones. "Why?"

"I couldn't let you have the Ollie coin without the Matt coin. You need both."

When Floyd looked back at the coin, still not yet smiling or otherwise looking pleased, Oliver's stomach twisted and tightened, making him wonder whether Matt might be upset with him. Perhaps it hadn't been his place to retrieve the coin. Swallowing his shame, Oliver opened his mouth to apologize, but then, before he could, Floyd hooked a hand behind his head and pulled him in for a kiss, one so passionate and fierce that Oliver could barely breathe.

When Floyd broke away, he said, "Sorry I keep nearly kissing you to death."

"Does this mean you like the present?"

Floyd tipped their foreheads together. "I love it."

"Really?"

"Of course," Floyd said, now smiling madly.

"Are you sure? You barely looked happy before."

"I was too touched, is all. I can't believe you found this."

"It was nothing. Just had to ask Aunt Betty who had purchased it."

"I hope it wasn't too expensive to retrieve it."

"Don't worry, the collector was reasonable."

"Gosh, I love it so much," Floyd said, sniffling while he studied the coin some more, rotating it in his hand.

Oliver leaned in to nuzzle Floyd's nose. "Oh, sweetheart, I'm so happy you like it. I was worried. You know, I think I understand what you mean about the copperhead now."

"What?"

"Well, when I was waiting for your reaction, it felt like my insides were twisting together, and I had the thought that maybe Matt was upset with me."

"Oh, Matt's probably mad because he never bought me nothing this thoughtful," Floyd said, and Oliver was so happy to see how Floyd could talk about Matt so easily now. "Or maybe he was mad that I wasn't reacting the right way." Floyd kissed him once more. "Don't worry about Matt, you hear?"

"Yeah."

"Don't worry that I won't like whatever else you ever buy for me neither."

"Even if it's the latest and best phonograph? One that costs a whole bundle of money?"

"Even then."

"Even if it's—"

"Sweet, silly Ollie," Floyd said, interrupting. "Yes. Even then."

"But you have no idea what I was fixing to say."

"I know, but I promised myself I wouldn't argue with you about money no more. I think buying this house—this home —helped me with that. I reckon we love each other too much to keep squabbling over money." Floyd reached up to caress Oliver's cheek with the back of his fingers, still clutching the Flying Eagle in his palm. "You and me are forever. We're family."

Oliver snatched Floyd's hand and kissed it.

Family.