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Mimi shot him a glance from under the wide brim of her hat. “I doubt that. You seem pretty capable, Cory. And it wasn’t Sunny who told me. It was Hank.”
Again, he felt annoyed. He’d done nothing to endear himself to the Holidays. In fact, he’d done just the opposite. So why were they being so nice to him? No doubt, they were only sucking up so he’d allow them to stay longer. Well, it wasn’t happening. When the month was up, they were gone. So they didn’t need to waste their hospitality on him.
Especially when there was someone in their family who needed it more.
“Belle is pretty upset about Jesse and Liberty getting married,” he said.
Mimi didn’t look surprised by the sudden change of subject. She tugged on her glove and went back to pulling weeds. “I think that was pretty apparent the other night when they made the announcement. And it makes sense. Belle and Liberty aren’t just sisters. They’re twins. They’ve spent their entire lives sharing everything. Marriage is something they can’t share. It has to be hard for Belle.”
“I think that’s putting it mildly. I guess you’ve heard about her taking time off from her business.”
“I heard.” She chuckled. “Liberty is fit to be tied.”
Her amusement surprised him. “You think it’s funny? Because the emotional state your granddaughter was in the other night wasn’t funny.”
Mimi stopped weeding and looked at him. “I heard about you helping out Belle by offering her your trailer to stay in. Seems you keep coming to her rescue. Are you interested in my granddaughter, Cory?”
His annoyance shot to anger. “Not hardly. At least not in the way you’re intimating. But I’m not going to ignore someone who is going through a tough time like you and your family seem to be doing. Belle obviously needs your support right now and you’re here weeding your garden, Miss Darla is inside baking cookies, Hank is doing Lord knows what, and Liberty’s off in Houston. No one seems to give a damn about Belle being alone in some seedy hotel.”
He thought Mimi would be offended by his outburst, but if her smile was any indication, she was delighted. “It certainly seems like you give a damn. And you’re wrong. I do care about Belle being upset and so does the rest of the family.”
“Then why haven’t you talked her into staying with one of her sisters . . . or here?”
Her eyes widened. “You’d allow her to stay here?”
“Since the place is already overrun with Holidays, one more wouldn’t make a difference.” He pointed a finger at her. “But only until the end of June. No Holiday is staying longer than that.”
She smiled. “Of course not. Unfortunately, I don’t think Belle would agree to that. Nor does she want to stay with her sisters. And I get it. She needs time to figure out who she is and what she wants. She needs to learn how to stand on her own two feet.”
“I don’t doubt Belle needs some space to figure out who she is, but she also needs support.” He knew from experience that life lessons were brutal and if you didn’t have someone to love and support you, it was hard to get through the bad times. He didn’t know what he would have done without Sunny.
“I agree. But there’s a difference between support and smothering.” She nodded at Tay, who was lying on her back batting at a drooping flower. “Take that kitten for example. If you don’t let her get used to the ranch and figure out how to avoid the dangers, she’ll never learn. There will come a point when she doesn’t want to. She’ll just sit in her cat contraption all day staring out the window and not realizing how much fun she could be having.” She hesitated. “The same goes for Sunny.”
“Believe me, Sunny will never miss out on having fun.”
Mimi laughed. “True, but she relies on you more than you think. And while it’s good to have a safety net to fall back on, you also need to learn how to rely on yourself. That’s what Belle is learning now. She’s learning to trust herself and her decisions. The last thing she needs is another family member coming to her rescue and making decisions for her.” She sent him a pointed look. “But a friend’s support wouldn’t be a bad thing.”
It took him a moment to figure out what she was saying. He held up his hands. “Oh, no. Belle and I aren’t friends. Far from it.”
“Really? Because you being worried about her says differently.” Before he could continue to argue the point, she glanced at her flowers. “Would you look at my poor babies?” She lifted the bloom Tay had been swatting at and shook her head. “They’re getting all wilted in this heat.” She glanced at Corbin. “Could you do me a big favor? I’m all out of fertilizer. Could you pick some up for me at the hardware store? It doesn’t have to be right now. Just whenever you go to town.” She sent him a pleading look. “Although the sooner the better.”
Corbin hadn’t planned on going into town. He had work to do. He glanced at the sun edging lower in the sky. Although it looked like he’d already wasted most of the day. He might as well start fresh tomorrow morning.
“Fine. I’ll go into town.” He got to his feet and went to pick up Tay, but then he remembered Mimi’s words and stopped. “I guess Tay can stay here—but if anything happens to her, it’s on you.”
Mimi smiled. “I’ll guard her with my life.” She went back to weeding. “And while you’re in town, you might want to stop by your trailer. Belle is a sweetheart, but she’s always been a little absentminded. I wouldn’t be surprised if she forgot to lock up.”
Belle had never acted absentminded to him, but Corbin figured Mimi knew her granddaughter better than he did. Besides, he had left one of his favorite western shirts at the trailer and needed to pick it up.
But before he stopped off at the hardware store and his trailer, he drove an extra twenty minutes out of town to the closest hotel. He knew he had no business doing it, but damned if he could stop himself. Nor could he stop himself from being worried when the front desk guy informed him that Belle wasn’t registered there.
He called three other hotels in the vicinity and she wasn’t at any of them. Which made him wonder if maybe she’d decided to stay with one of her sisters, after all. Since he certainly wasn’t about to call every Holiday sister to find out, he decided to let it go.
Belle Holiday wasn’t his concern.
At least that’s what he tried to tell himself. But if that were the case, then why was he flooded with relief when he got to his trailer and discovered her car sitting in front?
He got out of his truck and headed inside expecting to find Belle looking as sad and lost as she had the other night. But that wasn’t what he found. Instead, he found her sprawled out on the couch wearing his favorite western shirt surrounded by a pile of snacks and looking as happy as a pig in mud. Her smile brightened when she saw him and she held up the bag in her hand.
