Eli nods, smirking like he heard a joke I didn’t. Rick does the same, his dark eyes watchful. “Ma’am,” he says, his voice like charred oak. Caleb sweeps over the oversized shirt that he might recognize, and my loose breasts. Maybe it’s his shirt. The thought makes me flush.
I cross my arms again, but all it does is draw their attention to my chest.
“She’s here on a trial basis,” Wade adds, as if he hasn’t already made up his damn mind. “We’ll see if she can handle what’s required… if she fits.”
The way he saysfitsmakes my stomach twist. It carries different connotations now than when he first said it.
After Wade finishes the introductions, he wanders off with Eli and Rick, listing jobs that need to be tackled while Caleb lingers.
He was always the quieter twin. The one with a book in his hand or his eyes on the horizon. But he walks beside me as I drift toward the edge of the porch, our feet scuffing against the warped boards.
“You left right after Dad died,” he says without looking at me.
“I was a kid,” I say quietly. “And Mom… well, she didn’t want to stay where she wasn’t wanted.”
He gives a soft snort. “Shewasn’t.”
The silence stretches. The chickens cluck somewherebehind the barn, and a breeze rustles through the long grass, lifting the edge of the shirt I’m wearing. Is it Wade’s or Caleb’s? What must Caleb be thinking about me already wearing their clothes?
“Where did you go?” he asks.
“I finished high school. Got a job. Met a man who wasn’t worth the trouble. Got pregnant. Everything got real, fast.”
Caleb finally looks at me. His eyes are still that same calm gray, but the boy I remember is gone. The man who stands in his place is taller, still lean but broader across the shoulders. Strong in the same quiet way I remember.
“And your mom?”
“She got remarried. Wasn’t eager to help me with motherhood.”
“You look like you’ve been through hell,” he says gently.
“It’s not easy being a single parent,” I admit. “But I’m still standing.”
He nods, as if that tells him everything he needed to hear. “We all carry shit, Joelle. No one here’s gonna judge you for doing what it takes.”
I want to believe him. I want to believe I’m not just a burden with stretch marks and a sob story, and breasts that need draining. That this place could be more than a stopover.
“You think you’ll stay this time?” he asks.
I glance toward the barn where the others disappeared, back to the kitchen where Wade kneeled with milk on his lips like it was all in a day’s work.
“I don’t know yet,” I say honestly. “But I need stability for my son. It’s going to be up to you guys if we can make it work.”
Caleb tips his head in a slow, understanding nod. “Do what Wade asks, and you’ll be fine.”
I nod, wondering where Wade’s head is now that he’s suckled me and seen me come. It’s not exactly the ideal way to start a new job. I guess I’ll have to work three times as hard to make sure he sees my professional potential because I can’t stay here for anything else. I might be desperate but I’m not that kind of girl.
“It’s good to see you again, Joelle,” Caleb says, tipping his hat. I watch him walk away, already worrying how he’ll react when he finds out I named my son after him. Or worse, that his brother already had my nipples in his mouth and I’ve only been here thirty damned minutes.
Chapter 6
Wade
Joelle moves like she already belongs here.
She’s barefoot, her hair is messy, and she’s wearing one of my old shirts that hangs off her shoulders and falls to the tops of her thighs. It’s too big, but it looks like it was made for her, and hints enough to make me imagine what’s underneath.
It isn’t fair.
