Addie and Evie were on either side of her as she wrapped them both in a tight squeeze.
“It’s been so long,” she nearly whimpered with mist in her eyes.
Both girls squealed in delight and finally let go.
“Daddy, she’s here!” Adelaide called from the porch.
Chris walked out mid-call. His solid shirt and light wash blue Wranglers were covered in dust from whatever he’d been doing that day. His arms were covered in tattoos. They weren’t full sleeves, but there were enough to say he’d lived a life and documented it. He was over six feet tall, and his brown hair was still full on his head. Though, the sides above his ears and his beard were a little more salt and pepper than she remembered. His light brown eyes still had that sparkle she’d known since childhood. But she could see now, there was a deep sadness hiding behind them, and she knew his pain might never fully heal.
“I see that…” He motioned with his chin and a smile as he wrapped his niece in a warm embrace. “I’m so glad you’re here, Lythie. These girls have been running me ragged since school got out. You’d think I had two boys instead of two little princesses.”
“Grrrrrrr…” Evolette flexed her bicep and stomped her foot as she stood in the afterglow of her daddy’s declaration.
Since Claire Cole had gone to heaven two years earlier, Chris and his girls had been three peas in a pod. When Addie and Evie weren’t at school, they were cleaning out horse stalls and riding in the tractor with their dad.
Cancer was the devil, and if there was a soul on earth who should’ve been spared, it was Claire. The sorrow of her absence left a gaping hole in every heart that had known her, especially Chris. She was the love of his life.
Blythe looked at the man she revered and silently hoped that someday she’d find a man of her own who loved her the way her uncle had, and still did, love his wife.
Chris chuckled and poked his youngest daughter on her nose. “Without your mom around, and you little ladies getting older, I thought Lythie could help give you a woman’s touch this summer while we can have her.”
“Aw, man…” Evie whined.
“Don’t worry.” Blythe tossed a hand in front of her face, then stomped her foot and flexed her own bicep—the same way she’d just seen Evolette do. “I came here to catch lizards and toads, roll in the mud, and maybe even ride a buckin’ bronco!” She threw her arms in the air and twirled.
Chris gave her a side eye and lifted a brow.
“I mean, after we do all that important womanly stuff your daddy wants us to do, of course…haha.” Her cheeks turned pink, and she smiled sheepishly at her uncle.
That man knew full well he was the one who took her out to catch those amphibians as a little girl. They’d gone out in the pouring rain and got covered head to toe in mud jumping after bullfrogs. There was an audible giggle leaping from her throat as she remembered theuniquemooingsound the critters always made.
He winked and waved for them to come inside. “Alright, troops. I’ve got dinner ready, hot off the grill.”
The smell that hit Blythe as she walked through the door knocked her back ten years. Chris was a master grill man, and she knew, without a doubt, the meat she was about to devour was expertly seasoned and tendered to perfection.
“It smells like my childhood in here, Uncle.” She stood still and took a deep sniff.
As the family ate and caught each other up on life, she realized just how truly happy she was to be home. Happy to be with the ones she loved most—the ones who cared about her as much as she cared about them. She never wanted to leave ever again.
“I’m still sorry I couldn’t be here for the funeral. You know how bad I wanted to come. As per their mode of operation, my parents hadthingsgoing on. If I’d been on my own then, there’s no way I would’ve missed it.”
“I know, Lythie. It’s ok. Claire would’ve understood, too.”
When dinner was over, Chris stood and gathered the plates—attempting to clean up. Blythe beat him to it, though, and called Addie and Evie to start filling the large farm-style sink with warm, soapy water.
“We’ve got this. You’ve had the weight of the world on your shoulders for a long time. Go kick your feet up and turn on whatever John Wayne classic floats your boat.”
Her eyes locked with her uncle’s wide ones. He’d probably gotten so used to taking care of everything on his own that he didn’t know how to walk away and just sit down.
Chris gave a nod, and with a smile and a finger pointed at his daughters, said, “Don’t just play in the damn bubbles, ok?”
After his back was turned, a sly grin spread over Evie’s face—telling the room that she would most definitely be playing inallof the damn bubbles.
Blythe got settled in her room once the girls were in bed. It was the same one she used to sleep in every summer. The walls were tan with a ribbon of wall paper running across the middle of each one. The paper had wild horses running straight for her as she looked at it head on. The bedspread was quilted with wildflowers, and there was the same chest of drawers that had been there for as long as she could remember—toward the back of the room.
In her opinion, the best view in Montana was out that bedroom window. You could see all the way to the treeline, with silhouetted mountains behind it. She pulled the iron latches to open the pane just a crack and took a deep inhale…
The smell of night air at Silo Springs was the best kind of drug, and she wanted to take in as much as she could while she stayed there.
