But it was no use. My stomach cramped so hard it stole my breath.
I slammed the brake and put the truck in park. The seat belt cut into my stomach. That did it. I barely had the door open before I projectile vomited out into the grass.
“Aunt Lemon?” Anna rubbed my back.
Her touch felt like an oven on broil. I stepped out of the truck and stood, fanning my shirt in and out. The cool morning air rolled over me. Maybe if I stood really still. Nope. I bent over and wretched again. And again—until there was nothing left.
Anna got out and walked around the truck. “Do you want me to call Uncle Si?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I’m better. Let’s get you to school.” It had eased up a bit.
Anna didn’t move, her eyebrows drawn together. “You’re really pale. Are you sure you don’t want me to get him to take me to school?”
I shook my head, adamant. “No. I’m ok. Let’s go.” I slipped back inside and shut the door, ending the discussion.
Once we were on the road again, I rummaged through my bag.
“What’re you looking for?” Anna took it from me so I could focus on the road.
“A stick of gum.” Growing up, Momma always made me peppermint tea when I had a touchy stomach. Spearmint gum was the best I could do at the moment.
Anna quickly found a piece and unwrapped it for me. I popped it in my mouth and chewed.
“You don't look so good,” Anna said, her brows furrowed. She pulled out her phone.
“Who are you texting?”
“Uncle Si.”
I put my hand on her phone. “Please, don’t. I think it was the sandwich, and I don’t want to hurt his feelings.”
Understanding washed over her face. “Ah, got it.” She nodded. “It’ll be our secret.”
ten
SILAS
“You’ve agreed to the job and signed the contract and now you’re telling me you can’t be here the entire summer to help get ready for the school year?” Mrs. Serafin, the principal I’d be working under, sounded like she might head straight to the school board office and petition for them to fire me as soon as we hung up.
I pulled onto the paved driveway of my family’s ranch. “Look, I understand your frustration?—”
“I don’t actually think you do.”
I may have been twenty years her junior, but I did understand the ethics of hard work. I’d grown up on a ranch, for crying out loud. I wasn’t trying to get out of doing the work. From the beginning, I’d gotten the impression that either she resented that I’d gotten the position as young as I was, or she didn’t believe I was capable of doing it.
I sighed and didn’t care if she heard it. “If I don’t stay here, the court will decide what to do with my niece and it might not turn out well.” I repeated for the third time.
“So you’ve said.”
I’d tried not to go the manipulation route but she left meno choice. “Do you have kids, Mrs. Serafin?” I knew she did. A son in college and a daughter who was a sophomore in high school. Mrs. Serafin was beloved by all the people in Laramie and I was not ignorant to the amount of pull she had with the school board. I needed her on my side.
She said nothing.
I pushed on. “What if something happened to you? Wouldn’t you want them to be taken care of? Sophie was mytwin. I’m responsible for Anna now. I just have to fulfill the stipulations in the will and then I’ll be back. And I’ll be the hardest-working assistant principal you’ve ever had.” The truck rolled over the asphalt easily, reminding me how bad Clem’s driveway was.
Mrs. Serafin exhaled so hard it hurt my ear. “I have heard that you’re a hard worker.” She conceded thankfully.
“I admit, this is not the summer I had planned, either. But there’s got to be a way we can make this work.” I pulled up in front of the stock office and stepped out of the truck. The air was way too sticky for early May. I fanned the collar of my shirt. Man, I missed Wyoming. No humidity and hardly any bugs.
