“Sorry.” She smiled sheepishly, but then she sloshed them again as she turned to me. “Do you think Holden will let me drive the smart car around the ranch?” Clem squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and kept a hand on the casserole dish.
I laughed at her exuberance. “I wouldn’t get my hopes up. The ranch is probably not the best place for a smart car.”
Her shoulders slumped and her bottom lip poked out. I squeezed her neck and smiled. “But I think the two of us could gang up on him.”
I’m not sure Clem took a full breath until we parked in front of my parents’ house.
Holden and Ashton rushed out the door to meet us. Clem tensed back up like there was a tidal wave coming straight for her. I mean, there kind of was. Holden yanked her door open and Ashton ran around to my side.
Holden hugged her and pulled the salad from her lap. “I’ll take that.” He tucked it under his arm and wrapped the other arm around her as soon as she was out of the truck.
She almost reached for the salad but pulled her hand back, forcing a smile. She took the beans from Anna. She was taut and seemed like she was about to have a real-life nervous breakdown. I would have to stay on top of Mom the entire time to make sure she didn’t pressure Clem, especially about Anna. Human shield engaged.
I stepped out to be immediately tackled by my little brother. We pounded each other on the back. “Dude.” I laughed. “You’re almost as tall as me. How are you still growing?” He was twenty-three now.
“I’m not. You’re just so freaking old, you keep forgetting how tall I am.” His dark blonde hair flopped into his eyes and he shoved it back.
I put him in a head-lock and nougied him. “Mom give you crap about your hair yet?”
I let him go, and he stood up, running his hand through the tangles. “Pfft. You think Mom could not give me crap about my hair?” No doubt she’d already offered to pull out the clippers at least once.
He stood next to me, lifted his chin, and pushed up on his tiptoes. “You only got a half-inch on me. We should make everybody call us the Towering Twins.” The word twins croaked in his throat. I looked at the ground and back up, forcing a smile. His cheeks flushed. “I got a better one.” He snapped twice. “The Altitudinous Amigos.”
I laughed. “Altitudinous? Do we have your fancy master’s in English lit to thank for that?”
His eyebrows raised. “Obviously. Gotta give Pops his money’s worth.”
“Pshaw. That’s about the only thing that degree’s gonna be good for.”
“Ha. Ha.” He rolled his eyes. Ashton was the least cowboy of us Dupree boys. All guy, but he loved books as much as I loved Clementine. More than once, we’d joked that he’d been switched at birth. But he looked too much like Mom and Sophie, for there to be any doubt. Best thing about Ash was, he didn’t care what people thought of him. He was who he was, and I loved him for it.
I smiled. “It’ll really tick off Holdie and Ford. Let’s do it.”
As soon as I stepped away, Anna launched herself at him. He spun her around like he had when she was a toddler and she threw her head back, giggling.
I caught up to Holden and Clem right as they were going through the front door. Now Holden had her beans and hersalad. Clem’s empty fists balled, pinching the sides of her purple church dress. I slipped my right hand around her left and gave it a quick squeeze. Her wide green eyes held my gaze long enough to see me mouth,I got you.Then I pressed my hand against the back of her silky dress. She unexpectedly leaned into me, causing all kinds of chaos in my gut region. I wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her tighter. If that’s what she needed, then I would give it to her. Happily.
Mom walked out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her floral apron. Holden, still carrying Clem's salad, disappeared into the kitchen, probably to snitch some food. Holden consumed about six thousand calories a day because he was always training for some kind of obstacle race.
Mom saw my hand on Clem’s hip and frowned. Clem leaned away, looking embarrassed. I dropped my arm, heat rushing to my face—not because of my mom’s reaction. But because I’d tried to do something to make this better for Clem and I’d made it worse. Maybe it was a mistake to let Mom talk me into bringing her.
Dad walked in from the den. Mom had probably marched in there, shut off whatever football game he was watching when we pulled up, and demanded he come be social. Typical Sunday stuff.
“Glad you could finally make it.” Mom smiled in our general direction, but there was a bite to her voice.
Clem’s neck turned pink. “Um, sorry, I j-just…it’s been really busy at the studio.”
There was a beat of awkward silence while I stared my mother down. She refused to look directly at either Clem or me though, so she didn’t see it.
Dad strode over to Clem and wrapped her in a big hug. “Hey, shugga. You want a glass of lemonade? Just made it fresh.” He swept her away to the kitchen.
Mom stepped in front of me, waiting for a hug. I pulledher in close. “Be nice. Or we’re leaving,” I whispered. I didn’t want to hurt her, but I wasn’t going to let her hurt Clem. When I leaned back, Mom’s chin was quivering. I kissed her cheek. “She’s just really nervous to be here, okay?”
Mom shook her head, her teeth clamped. “She used to come here all the time. What’s different now?”
“Everything. And you know that.” I gave her shoulders a small shake. If I didn’t make this all about the fact that Sophie had left us Anna, hopefully Mom wouldn’t either. So I spun it in a different direction. "Sophie was her sidekick, her comfort zone, and she’s lost without her. She’s trying to sort it out, just like the rest of us. Throw a divorce in the mix and it’s a lot. It’s not personal. Just show her that you’re the same loving second mother you’ve always been and she’ll loosen up. You’ll see.”
Mom nodded, staring at my collar.
