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“Which is why Bank Ben is open. No marriage contingencies.” Ben holds his arms open, waving his hands to welcome me into a hug.
“Fuck off.” I stand and push the chair into the table, wood banging against wood.
I storm out of my dad’s house, the screen door hitting the frame with a bang.
“So, when are we leaving for Lincoln?” Emmett shouts, and Ben laughs.
I’m not a white knight kind of guy, but I also don’t like being told no. So I head to my house to think over my options of how to get Sadie what she needs. Damn it if only one solution comes to my mind. A solution I’m not sure I can give her.
Chapter Eight
Sadie
“Hi, Mom.”
She’s sitting in her chair, watching the latest popular game show. She’s always been a game show addict.
“Hi, Sadie,” she says and reaches for the remote, but I shoo her to stop.
I sit on the couch next to her recliner. The recliner that sits next to my dad’s now-empty one, both worn in from years of sitting here and watching game shows. They used to play this game as if they could select a team and compete against one another. Now it’s just Mom playing by herself, and that makes my chest ache.
“Want me to be Team Kevin?” I ask, ready to spend some time with her before I head over to Jude’s. I’m not sure I’ll be able to concentrate on the crime show we’ve been bingeing, but I would love to get out of my head if only for a few hours.
“No, sweetie, don’t worry about me.” She takes me in. “You look lovely this evening.”
She smiles, and I grab her hand. “I’m going to get us out of this.”
Her gaze runs over the room and the scattered pictures of the three of us throughout the years. “I think we should sell. Just let it go. I’ll find an apartment, and you start that life you should’ve been living after high school.” Her small frail hand squeezes mine with as much strength as she can muster.
I shake my head. “No. I’m going to figure it out.”
She gives me an expression as if to tell me to listen to her. “This land is important, but I’m convinced the stress of trying to make the payments caused your dad his heart attack. I don’t want you to have a life like he did, we did. You don’t need to be stressed every season about crop growth and whether the weather will cooperate and what the price of goods and fuel is. This is your chance to go live your own life, and I want you to take it.”
I shake my head, and she sighs. Her hair is pulled back, the few gray strands blending into her blonde hair that matches my own. She doesn’t look nearly as old as I think she feels some days.
“I have an idea. I just have to find the money to execute it and pay the mortgage.”
She tilts her head, questioning how that might even be possible.
“I will find it, Mom.” My voice is filled with determination.
“You don’t have to save this place. Your dad never wanted to burden you. He always blamed himself for you not getting out of Willowbrook like you wanted.” Her words are shaky, as if she might break down in tears. “I told him that’s my burden to bear.”
“No, Mom, I’m happy here. I’m not sure what I would’ve done had I left anyway.”
“You’re happily stuck in a town with no marriage prospects? If you’d left at eighteen, you’d be successful and probably married by now. Your dad would’ve been a grandpa, and now…” Tears slip down her cheeks.
“Mom. No. We can’t rewind time, and I’m happy to be in Willowbrook. I’ve made a life here.”
I’m not going to tell her how lost I felt after I finished community college and the two years of driving back and forth to Lincoln to get my bachelor’s degree in graphic design were done. Because I had to take my mom to all her doctor’s appointments, I couldn’t get a full-time job, so I’d take on freelance graphic design jobs and do designs for my dad that he never really used. It was difficult at first, but I made my peace and settled in. I like my life now.
“But your life could be more. Go move to a big city, use that degree of yours, and have some new experiences. Meet the man of your dreams.”
My mom has to know my feelings for Jude. Doesn’t the entire town know I want Jude Noughton to the point I can’t imagine myself with anyone else?
“I’m staying here and going to turn the land into a chicken farm.” My tone is firm.
She removes her hand from mine and raises it to my cheek, cradling it in her palm as if I’m five again. “That’s a lot of work, sweetie.”
