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Calder clears his throat loudly and coughs into his fist, “Beware of Dakota.”
“Calder!” Cozy shoots a warning glare at my brother, who rolls his eyes and holds his hands up in defeat.
Trista looks puzzled, but the subject is dropped when Luke hands her a box. “This one is from me.”
With a bit more confidence, Trista rips open the paper to reveal a weird made-for-TV foot-warming-pillow thing. He nods excitedly as he says, “You put the beads in the microwave and then stick your feet in them.”
Trista’s lips turn down. “Wow, I didn’t know that was a thing.”
“I have one…it’s really nice, especially in the winter.”
She giggles softly and thanks Luke before opening my mom’s gift next. It’s two gift certificates for a full spa day at a place in downtown Denver. My mom smiles warmly. “You can use one now and one after the baby is born if you like.”
Trista blinks back her shock. “This is so generous.”
“And I’m working on a new quilt for you too, but that’ll be for delivery day,” my mom says, wiping a tear out of her eye.
She turns to gently rub my back, and I feel myself leaning into her. My family is way too fucking much most days, but some days, they’re just enough.
“Mine is sort of a future gift,” Max says, handing Trista an envelope.
She frowns as she pulls out a check with several zeros on it.
“I heard you were looking at properties for your rescue center, and I figured you might need a down payment sooner rather than later.” He shrugs and pushes his hands into his pockets. “I discussed it with Wyatt and my corporate accountant, and we all decided it would be fine to allocate a good chunk of our charitable budget your way. Just need the name of your 501(c)(3) once you have it, and we’ll make that donation official.”
“Are you kidding me?” Trista releases a garbled noise, then shakes her head back and forth. “I’m not even in business yet.”
Max shrugs. “I know a good bet when I see one.”
My face twists as emotion overcomes me, and I fight back the tears I feel burning my eyes.
“Mine last,” Everly says with a big smile as she hands Trista a large canvas with a bow on it. She turns it around to reveal a professional photo of Reginald. “I had a secret photo shoot with Reggie one day when you were at work and blew up my favorite one into a large canvas print. I took pictures of all the animals. Maybe they can be artwork for your future shelter or just hung up in your home? Or used for firewood if you hate them.” Everly laughs nervously and glances at me. “Wait until you see the photo of Millie, Uncle Wyatt. It’s so good it makes my stomach hurt.”
The lump in my throat feels permanent as I glance at all my familymembers, who went totally rogue on me today. But it’s clear as day they didn’t do this for me. They did this for Trista. And this is exactly what I want for her. A family who just…gets her.
Trista’s watery eyes move from Everly to my mom and everyone else before settling on me for a long moment. Her chin trembles, and before I have a chance to say anything, she sets the portrait down and gets up out of her chair, pushing past me to run down the mountain toward the barn.
“Fuck,” my brothers, Everly, and I all say in unison.
“Everly,” my mom chastises. “I expect it out of them but not you.”
“Sorry, Grandma.” Everly shoots me an apologetic look. “And I’m sorry, Uncle Wyatt. This was all my idea. I thought she’d love it.”
“It’s not your fault, kid,” I reply with a heavy sigh. “It’s mine.”
I head swiftly toward the barn, my heart thundering in my chest because this big gesture from my family could seriously screw things up for me. She needs time to wrap her brain around all this, not be force-fed love from my whole family.
I walk through the barn door and find Trista walking back and forth in front of Reginald’s pen, both hands resting firmly on her hips. I swallow thickly and plead my case. “Trista, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know they were going to do all that. I would have told them it was too much and you hate gifts.”
“I fucking love gifts,” she snaps, her voice manic and untethered as she continues pacing, barely sparing me a glance.
“You do?”
“Yes!” she exclaims and stomps her foot, turning her wide, red eyes on me. “I love every single one of those gifts. Especially the foot-warmer thing. Did you tell Luke my feet are always cold?”
“No. I never said a word.”
“That’s so weird he just knew that, right?”
