“And hides it from Jane, with every intention of keeping it a secret even as he’s standing at the altar.” Ash threw his handsup. “And this is the kind of man women everywhere dream of marrying? No wonder the divorce rate is as high as it is.” He shrugged, not caring in the least that Tally was leaning away like he’d just crawled out of a sewer. There was a dangerous light in his eyes that said,this is fun.“And Jane is annoyingly whiny. Like if I had to listen to her in real life, I’d shove a dirty sock in her mouth. It’s a terrible story and anyone who likes it is?—”
Lemon shot up, causing the table to screech an inch to the right. Water lopped over glasses, wetting the tablecloth. “Tally, could you help me cut the pies?”
Tally, mouth gaping from watching as Ashton tore her belovedJane Eyrelimb from limb, turned to look at her. She blinked.
Lemon nodded toward the refrigerator.
And then—and this is the best moment of the day—Tally pushed back, revealing her basketball-sized stomach, and stood.
Ashton’s face went slack as if he’d just been shot in the back.
Christy let out an adorable snort and covered her mouth and nose with her hand.
Once Tally was gone, I leaned over, lifted Ashton’s chin to shut his mouth before every bug in Virginia flew in, and hissed, “She’s fifteen, dong.” I nodded at our niece. “She’s Anna’s friend.”
Christy was silently laughing so hard that a tear leaked from her left eye. Her gaze flicked to me when she realized I was watching. My eyes dashed to my plate as I stabbed a mouthful of Mom’s mouthwatering roast.
Anna leaned across the table and whispered at Ashton, “She’s about to turn sixteen, though.” She shrugged. “If that helps.”
Ash’s jaw pulsed, his face beet red.
Christy snorted again, another tear escaping down her cheek.
But just then Tally whirled around. “Things were different back then. He wasn’t a predator. Men married younger women. If you were half as smart as you pretend to be, you would know that. You shouldn’t be teaching a class on aclassicif you can’t even understand the culture of the time period.” Then she rolled her eyes and sighed like Ashton’s outburst hadn’t intimidated her at all. “Also, I’ve met your mom.” She gestured at our wide-eyed mother who looked like she absolutely did not want to be brought into this. “And I’m pretty sure she taught you better than to mansplain your wrongheaded opinions to perfectly intelligent females.” She huffed a single laugh. “Completely unimpressive.”
Ashton’s mouth fell back open but for the first time today, no words came out.
Blue snickered. “Dude. She roasted you.” It burst the tension bubble and we all started laughing.
Ashton glared at him. “Who even are you?” His glower swung on Silas like how dare he let Anna bring this imbecile over here.
“This is my boyfriend, Blue,” Anna said, proudly.
“Blue?” Ashton guffawed. “You’re pulling my leg. Your parents named youBlue? Were they high?”
“Ashton!” Mom yelled.
Ashton got his revenge on Blue later when we castrated bulls old-school style down at the barn. Usually, we banded them and let nature take its course. But from the glares Silas kept giving the kid, I was pretty sure we were using a scalpel and our hands for a reason. Poor steers. Or should I say, poor Blue? Belying his name, he looked a little green.
So there Blue was on his knees, in between Dad and Uncle Troy, mid-initiation, hands all over a pair of bull testicles for the first time in his life, when Ashton winked at me and reachedinto the collection bucket. He pulled out some blood-covered leftovers and flung one onto Blue’s cheek. Silas hooted. Blue’s jaw pulsed and his nostrils flared but he calmly peeled the dangly bits off his skin and tossed them to the ground. Then he stood, rolled his beefy shoulders back, and just when I thought there might be a barfight in the barn, he picked up the bucket with a sly smile. Before Ashton could take a full get-away stride, Blue hurled the entire contents at Ashton’s chest.
Ashton screamed like a little girl and for the first time ever, Silas beamed at Anna’s boyfriend. Tally, watching from the railing behind us, cheered her approval. It looked like Blue passed the test. But Ashton had not. Covered in nut juice, he stole a glance at the girl he should not be glancing at.
I cleared my throat and he glanced at me. I shivered and mouthed,No, man. Stop.His face went red and he turned away, wiping bloody bits off of his shirt. Bro was having a super off day.
“Si, Holt,” Dad nodded toward the field. “Need you and the girls to round up the one that got away. Ropes are on the wall.” I didn’t miss the wink he gave Silas right before we walked off. What was that about?
Silas grabbed a pair of ropes and we hopped on Fred and Judith, the only two horses still available. Christy, Anna, and Lemon were already in the saddle, chatting as their horses chomped the grass on the other side of the fence.
When we were through the gate, Silas rode up and kissed Lemon on the lips. It was a scene from a wedding invitation both of them wearing their cowboy hats. But he had a worried look in his eye. I was ten feet back but I thought I heard him say, “Please be careful.”
Not sure what that was about. Lemon rode on her daddy’s lap before she ever learned to walk. But it had taken Silastwenty-eight years to finally win the woman over. It would kill him if anything happened to her.
I glanced at Christy, sitting tall in her saddle like it was second nature, braid trailing down her back, cowgirl hat blocking her face from the afternoon sun. She was a sight to behold. She may have had more hours on a horse than me. The way she held herself, straight-backed, posture long and relaxed, I’d never seen anyone more elegant.
Silas rode around and tossed a rope to Christy. Not me. “Let’s round ’em up,” he said.
She dug in her heels and rode away.
