“I’m surprised to hear you say that,” he said. “I figured Gale Ridgeway would dig in the trenches for everything now.”
She wanted to. It was damn near close for her to get his phone and listen herself.
But neither of them needed it tonight.
There wasn’t much that could be done with the information and Rory needed his rest more than she needed to be a savior.
“I’ll get my time there,” she said. “No reason to get dirty tonight. Why don’t we finish and then I’ll clean up and you can rest and watch some TV.”
“I don’t watch too much. Or what I do is true crime.”
She smiled and stood up with her plate to clean it off and put in the sink. He was slowing down eating now too and pushed back so she grabbed his also.
“To get inspiration?”
“Sometimes,” he said. “Other times it’s seeing how sick people really are.”
“You know that firsthand. Go look for something if you want, or we can talk. I just figured you’d like some quiet from your thoughts. I can’t really talk without thinking.”
“Thanks, Gale. For cleaning up.”
“No matter how much cleaning I do in this place it will never feel clean to me, even though I know it is.”
Her mother would have come over earlier to clean out the dust and make the bed. Or Reenie would have. She’d thank them later for it.
“I can see this not being your style.”
“Not even close.”
“I enjoy listening to your voice. Talk to me about your childhood here. It will distract me.”
“Sure,” she said. “None of us wanted to take over the farm. Least of all Clay, but I think we always knew he’d step up when the time came. He’s just doing it his way.”
“Was that hard on your father to let go of it?”
“Very. But he couldn’t physically do much and my mother was still running the cafe and caring for my family. I mean, four of us were still in the area and here all the time helping with my father’s care.”
“I’m sure you were. Probably Blaze the most.”
“He was checking in on his free time. I stayed in the house with my mom for the first week. Ash was here too when he wasn’t at the firehouse. We got through it.”
“Seems as if your family gets through a lot.”
“We do. Growing up here wasn’t easy. We all had to work. Or I had to do more than I wanted, but thankfully my parents understood I wasn’t too keen on getting dirty once I hit twelve.”
“So you worked in the cafe?”
“I couldn’t really as I was too young. Or at least to do much more than clean up tables. I picked apples, cared for the goats and horses. Mucking stalls is not fun.”
“I can’t see you doing that.”
“And I never will again. My friends used to love coming here. Meredith and I were best friends until she moved in the ninth grade. She spent a lot of time here and loved it though all she did was trip and fall half the time.”
“And now she’s marrying your brother. How does that make you feel?”
She cleared the table off and wrapped up the rest of the food and then ran water in the sink to soak the pans and dishes. “I’m happy for them. I don’t think I would have ever guessed it. Clay is just...darker than he used to be, though he’s much better than he was when he first came home. And Meredith has always been this bubbly light that saw rainbows, puppies, kittens, and chocolate bars in everything.”
“Sounds a little like Rene.”
