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“He does like Cash,” I say, unsure how to broach this conversation. “You’re just very young and he wants you to be safe.”
“I know about being safe,” she says primly.
Sometimes, when I have to have difficult parenting conversations with my children, I swear I revert to my teenage self. I’m twisting up with embarrassment inside. But I have to seem confident and calm. So I take a beat and let out a short breath.
“I think he’s more concerned about your heart getting broken, honey,” I say.
She mutters something under her breath. I give her a look.
“Cash isn’t mean,” she says. “He’s nice.”
“I know, but people can still get hurt in relationships,” I say. “Even when both people are nice.”
She sniffs.
“And you’re not allowed to date anybody until you’re sixteen,” I say.
She sighs, nodding. “I know. We’re just talking.”
I wish I could tell her that I understand teenage crushes, but truthfully, I never experienced one. Westin is the first man I felt something for. And even though I was young, he definitely wasn’t. He walked in knowing what he wanted from day one. If I hadn’t married Thomas, I don’t doubt that Westin would have left the swimming hole with me that day and brought me to the courthouse the next morning.
I don’t talk to Allison much about how Westin and I met. I don’t want to give her license to date anyone as wild as her father.
Allison turns on the radio. We drive until the winding driveway to Sovereign Mountain ranch appears. I pull the truck up beside Sovereign’s, in front of the barn, and cut the engine.
“I’ll leave in an hour or two,” I say. “Just be back to the ranch house by noon. And no making out.”
Her face goes pink. “Mom, nobody’s doing that.”
I step out of the truck, circling it to get the box of dishes from the back. She fixes her hair in the mirror and gets out too. The front door of the ranch house opens and Ella, Cash’s sister, steps out. She’s a few years younger than River and she’s got more sass in her little finger than anybody I know.
“Hey,” she calls. “Did River come too?”
“No, he’s breaking his colt,” Allison yells.
“What’s that?”
I turn. “Maybe you should just walk up there instead of yelling at each other across the yard,” I sigh.
The door opens again and Cash appears. He’s a lanky boy, all stretched up, but not filled out. His hair is dark like his father’s, with the pale blue eyes to boot. When he sees Allison, he immediately tries to stand up taller. Pretending to casually lean in the doorway. I stifle a smile.
“Cash, you come get this box and bring it to your mother,” I say.
Right away, he does as he’s told. Allison joins him, and they disappear into the house. Ella follows me up to the porch.
“Do you want to see the baby chicks?” she asks.
“Sure,” I say, like I’ve never seen chicks before. “Where are they?”
“In the barn,” she says. “Dad says I have to ask permission to open the cage so we can’t do that.”
“That’s alright,” I say, opening the screen door. “Let’s say hello to your mother and then we’ll see the chicks.”
I step into the hall, my eyes adjusting slowly. The ranch is humming with daily life. Wranglers walking through the dining hall to grab the remnants of breakfast. Dogs laying in the hallway. A white cat that Ella convinced her father to give her for her birthday stretched out on the hearth.
We head to the kitchen. Maddie must be out for the day because the only trace of her is her radio playing softly. She’s still managing the house, but she’s slowing down some. Keira stands by the table, rolling out dough for biscuits. Her hair falls down her back in a messy braid and she’s in a blue dress that reaches the floor.
“Brought the bowls back,” I say. “I don’t know where your son put them.”
