“But other people know your character.” She shook her head. “Anyway. I want to do better.”
“If Desire had gotten mad at me, she’d have been mad at me for at least a week and wouldn’t have talked to me for three or four days, just to punish me, until I came to her, begging for forgiveness and half of the time not even knowing what it was I had done wrong.”
She lifted her shoulder, as though unimpressed. Like being better than Desire wasn’t exactly her goal.
He supposed that Desire didn’t set a high bar, and Summer cleared it easily.
Regardless, he felt like he and Summer were doing things right.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“And then I just put them in the crockpot and turn it on low, and sometimes if I think about it, I might shuffle them around so they don’t get too brown on one side, but if not, they’ll be fine by the time it’s time to eat.”
Amy spoke to Summer and saw her listening attentively. She smiled. It was obvious that Summer wanted to learn how to make the filling balls so that she could fit into the family. Amy wasn’t completely oblivious to the shy smile that moved between Summer and her brother Gilbert.
“I really appreciate you coming. You and Jones didn’t have to spend your first Thanksgiving together here at our place, but it’s definitely nicer to see someone make them than to just be handed a recipe.”
“It’s my pleasure. We usually hang out at Mom’s house before the meal, so it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the entire family is here by ten o’clock. I hope you’re ready,” Amy said with a laugh.
“Gilbert told me not to get excited about it. He said the family was very low-key, and you definitely made me feel at home.”
“I’m glad about that,” Amy said. “And Gilbert’s right. We’ve hadpeople coming in and out of our house for years. Ever since I can remember. Mom never told anyone no, and we were as likely as not to have someone new sitting at our table for any holiday or Sunday meal. Even a regular evening meal after school, we might have people there.”
“Your mom is quite a lady,” Summer said as she wiped off the table and threw the empty bread bags away.
“She sure is. I know I went through the typical teenage stage where I wanted to do everything the opposite of what Mom did, but that was short-lived. Nowadays, my main goal in life is to be half as good as what she is.”
“That’s a pretty high goal,” Summer said, and they laughed together.
Larissa, who had been listening to them, said, “Can I call Grandma and see when she’s coming?”
“You sure can, honey,” Summer said.
Larissa left the room with Summer’s phone.
“It’s almost like they’re yours,” Amy said thoughtfully after she watched Summer hand Larissa her phone, not even needing to say her password, which Larissa already knew.
“Well, don’t forget I had therapy with them once a week for a while, then went down to twice a month, but I still saw them an awful lot.”
“And you always spent more time with them than you needed to,” Amy said. “I’m not forgetting that.”
She had admired Summer back then when Summer had been working with Gilbert’s children, but she hadn’t really put the two of them together. However, seeing them together in the house before Gilbert and Jones had taken the boys on out to the barn really made her think that perhaps Gilbert had finally found someone who appreciated the man he was. Amy had never really thought that he and Desire were the best couple, although she certainly would never tell her brother that he couldn’t marry someone that he claimed to love.
“Hey, girlfriend,” Jones said, sticking his head in.
“Hey yourself, husband,” Amy said, wiggling her brows at him.
A look passed between them that felt as old as time but also new and different from the friendly looks that had passed between them all their lives.
“Gilbert wants to know if Summer will go down and help the boys ride horses before dinner. I told him that I’d send her down and stick around here and keep you company, even though it’s a hardship,” Jones teased.
Amy stuck her tongue out at him and said in a loud voice to Summer, “That man is incorrigible.”
“That woman is gorgeous,” Jones said, coming in and wrapping his arms around her.
Summer left without Amy even noticing as she twisted in Jones’s arms until she had her arms around him and lifted his face so he could kiss her.
“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” Jones said as he lifted his head.
