Page 46 of Already Callin’ You Mine

I wait for the teasing. The comments about being a thirty-five-year-old grown-ass woman and still having dolls. The reminder that I’m too old for such a thing—that they’re for little girls.

“I know those dolls,” Jace replies, the response catching me off guard. “Willa had one. It was blonde.”

“Long braids or bob?”

Jace shrugs. “Errr, short hair. I don’t remember braids.”

“That’s Kit. She came later, after Mattel bought the line. The four I have are original Pleasant Company dolls.”

“That makes them sound expensive.”

“Not for little kids,” Otis chimes in.

“Just big ones?” Jace asks, looking at him like this is the most serious conversation in the world. You’d think they were negotiating world peace based on their faces.

Otis nods. “Mama says I can’t touch. Not til I’m old.”

I chuckle. “Older.” I pause, thinking better of it, and then mutter, “Maybe.”

Thankfully, the conversation dies, the movie stealing the boys’ attention once again. We settle in, watching the action play out, my soul strangely at ease. I drift off at one point, waking up again at the sound of my name as credits roll on the screen.

“Mama, I be Buzz for Halloween?”

Errr…

“Sure?” I reply, still coming to. Halloween is in a couple of weeks and is always a big to-do in this town. Or it used to be. But I can’t imagine that Hickory Hills stopped doing Truck or Treat since I left. “I can see if I can find a costume.”

“And Jace can be Woody and⁠—”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I warn. Because I’m sure the last thing Jace Hayes wants to do is dress up as Woody the cowboy for Truck or Treat.

“Y’all hungry?” Jace asks, either completely oblivious to Otis’s ask or changing the subject as fast as he can. My bet is the latter.

I shrug, feeling like I could eat, but still nervous about how that will end.

“Little Man, wanna help me in the kitchen? We can make your mama some soup.”

“Okay!”

Otis is up and off the couch in a flash, my stomach lurching, full of worry that he’ll be sick again. Jace doesn’t look worried though.

Instead, he gives me a wink, turning to head to the kitchen.

“I got this. I got you.”