“Not right now. I was standing here waiting for you. The guys have this part under control, Desiree and Marybeth are inside prepping the hot chocolate for later, and Angie’s gathering old blankets from the house. We can help her spread them over the bales once she shows up.”
“Okay.” That might involve interacting with Rance, but she’d handle it. The ball was in his court so she’d fake polite disinterest until he was ready to talk.
Sara handed over some sheet music. “Faye and Gil printed these and I took an extra for you.”
“Thanks. I’m rusty on some of the lyrics. I was just gonna go la-la-la.”
“That works, too.”
“Where’s Kieran?”
“Over by the barn practicing the unfamiliar ones with Beau.”
“Why? You could teach him.”
“Rance and Clint grabbed hay bale duty and Beau was desperate for a job. Kieran mentioned he didn’t know all the tunes and Beau immediately offered to fix that problem.”
“I don’t see Jess and the kids. Or any kids.”
“Everybody decided they’re too young for something like this. But Jess insisted Beau should be part of it. Mav will love seeing him goof around, which guaranteed he will. But he feels a little lost without them here.”
“That’s sweet.” Thinking of Mav recalled last night’s adorable scene — Rance holding her while she waved her baby turtle in his face. Time to focus on something else. “The lights look good on the truck and the flatbed.”
“Andy and Sky are trying to connect more strands. Andy wants to make a bigger splash with the lights. Desiree loves ’em.”
“So I’ve gathered. Is that Irving Quick?” She pointed to a tall man wearing a topcoat and a Russian-style furry hat.
“That’s him. He keeps trying to strike up conversations with folks and they either ignore him or quickly find a way to escape.”
“You’d think he’d take the hint and drive back to town.”
“From what I hear, he’s on a mission to get Desiree and Rance to forgive him.”
“Good luck with that.”
“He’s also found out Rance has written something, although I don’t think he knows what.”
“How? I was sure nobody would?—”
“He made a good guess and Rance gave it away that he’s writing.”
“Oh, no.” She looked toward the flatbed as the man she adored put down another hay bale and hopped up on the low-slung trailer to shove it into place. “He must hate that.”
“I’m sure he does.”
“Nothing’s working out the way he wanted and now he has to put up with his deadbeat dad.”
Sara gave her a sideways hug. “Not your fault, sis.”
“I know, but?—”
“He had unrealistic expectations.”
“And I gave him false hope. Which reminds me. Is Granny here?” She had mixed feelings about seeing Granny. That lady might understand her position, but she also loved Rance and wouldn’t like to see him suffering.
“She didn’t come. Like Mom and Dad, she decided to stay put and be serenaded. Which is good. If everybody wanted in, we wouldn’t all fit on the trailer and we’d have nobody to sing to. Kieran’s looking forward to it. He—oh, damn. Here comes Irving.”
“Is there a way we can dodge him?”
