“Mom,” his voice was small. “Did our family get bigger today?”
I smoothed his hair back and thought about the best way to answer that question. Cal was an addition to our family. He’d never replace the father and grandfather Henry had lost, but another person to love was a good thing. Even if I had been sparking mad at Cal that afternoon.
“I guess you could say that,” I answered. “What do you think about Cal?”
He shrugged and his face was getting flushed. “He was nice to me. And he didn’t talk to me like a little kid. He treated me like a grown up.”
“Did he?”
“Uh-huh.”
Suddenly, Henry sat up and wrapped his arms around my neck, burying his face against my shoulder. And I heard a little sniffle come from him, which was unexpected. Henry had declared on his last birthday that six-year-olds didn’t cry. True to his word, he hadn’t shed a tear when he broke his leg or when he was told he’d spend the late winter in a cast. What was upsetting him so much now?
“Momma, I lied to Cal.” Henry’s voice was muffled against my shoulder, but I hadn’t missed that he’d reverted toMomma. He only did that when he was truly upset.
“Tell me how you lied to him,” I said.
“I told him it was okay with you that I rode King,” he sniffled, “even though I knew I wasn’t supposed to.”
“Is that what happened?” I had been too upset to interrogate him earlier. I’d taken a long walk instead to cool off and regain my equilibrium. Most of my anger had been focused on Cal and the way he’d dismissed my worry about putting my child back in the saddle. I’d assumed riding had been Cal’s idea, which was probably not a very rational thought.
“Uh-huh.” Henry drew back a little and wiped a hand across his face. “Do you think Uncle Cal’s mad at me for getting him in trouble?” His lips were trembling.
My heart broke when I realized what my sweet little boy was worrying about. “I’m sure he’s not.” I tried to sound reassuring. WhileI didn’t know Cal Pierce very well, he didn’t strike me as the type of person to hold a grudge against anyone, let alone a child.
“But he didn’t say goodbye to me when he left.” Henry’s voice hitched as he spoke.
That was more my fault than it was Cal’s since I’d pretty much kicked him off the ranch.
“Oh, Henry.” I took a deep breath and tried to figure out how to explain this to a child. “Cal’s not the kind of man who gets mad at children. I was upset, and that made him leave in a bigger hurry than he meant to. That’s all. It wasn’t your fault.”
“What if he doesn’t come back because of me?” Little people could carry such big burdens around with them. I had to dispel that right away.
“He’ll be back,” I said. “Grandma invited him to have dinner here in a few days. You’ll see him then.”
Henry’s eyes widened and a smile appeared on his face. “Really?”
“Yes, but we need to talk about this lying business, young man.” I didn’t want to go into punishment mode since we were both tired, but I couldn’t let it slide either. “You know that’s wrong.”
“I won’t do it again.” He looked so solemn when he made his promise.
“I hope not, but just to drive that lesson home, no screen time tomorrow. Understood?” I asked and got a nod. It was a small punishment for a kid who spent most of his time outside, but it was a reminder of what not to do.
Henry settled back onto his pillow. “I’m tired now,” he said, and I was happy to see that the anxiety was gone.
“Sleep tight, and I’ll see you in the morning.” I gave him another kiss, left his room, and crossed the hall to mine, where I closed the door and flopped down on the bed.
I stared at the ceiling, wondering for the millionth time if I’d made the right decision introducing Cal to the Thorne family. Laura seemed pleased, Henry was ecstatic to have another uncle, and Brian and Jake hadn’t objected, but the problem was that Cal wasn’t staying. He’d made it clear that his visit to Poplar Springs was just a stopping-off place on his highway of life. Cal had other plans for his future—and they certainly didn’t include sticking around in a small town. Not that I could blame if he wanted to get far away from here after the way I’d treated him.
I sighed. Cal was leaving after the rodeo. He’d said as much. I already knew that was going to be tough on Henry and I’d yet to talk to Laura about her feelings or check in with the twins.
As for me… I’d miss him, too, but for different reasons. Inappropriate reasons. Reasons I wasn’t ready to delve into yet.
I rolled off the bed and went to the window, opening it wide to hear the night sounds. Two Western screech owls were calling back and forth to each other, and then I heard a Northern mockingbird, which sounded a whole lot like Laura’s alarm clock. Growing up in Virginia, and then living in California, I wasn’t into bird watching or any sort of identification. Marshall had been the one to introduce me to it when I was pregnant with Henry.
I’d had such a tough time with the all-day sickness that I had been constantly seeking out ways to distract myself from the ever-present nausea. Marshall would often find me on the back porch, listening to the birds. So, he’d taught me how to identify them—both visually and based on their song. The night birds were soothing and familiar, and on nights when I couldn’t sleep, I’d key in on their calls. It was a lot like counting sheep.
Inhaling deeply, I let out a long, slow breath, trying to push away the thoughts I knew would follow. I didn’t succeed. It had been a night much like this one when the accident that changed everything occurred.
