“Nonsense,” she said, waving her hand at me. “It’s your birthday.” Looking up, she met my gaze. “A birthday you almost weren’t here to celebrate.”
I groaned. She’d been making comments like that nonstop since I got out of the hospital, and while I acknowledged the stress my almost dying had put on my family, the bit was wearing thin.
Not that I’d ever say that to her. This wasMamawe were talking about.
“Besides, you have so few left.”
When I cut Aria with a glare where she stood at the opposite end of the counter, putting the finishing touches on a cake, she merely giggled and stuck her tongue out at me.
Damn little sisters.
I’d been out of the hospital for nearly a week, and instead of going home to my own bed, it was…recommendedby my doctor that I not be alone right away. Thanks to the location of my gunshot wound, my left arm remained in a sling, and though my right was my dominant side, I was in a world of pain basically any time I moved.
The help was necessary, and even appreciated, but this wasn’t an ideal situation for any of us. Living with Mama was one thing, but adding Aria to the mix made it so I never experienced a moment of rest. I couldn’t wait for my next appointment when I’d hopefully be cleared to start getting my strength back.
God, the hospital. What a shit show that time had been once I’d woken up. Between the showdown with Addie and making a fool of myself in front of Sutton, I’d never be able to enter the building again without experiencing a wave of negative emotions.
Addie, I didn’t care about. I mean, Ididbecause she’d been my friend, but I wasn’t interested in being any more than that. If she couldn’t accept that, it was her problem, not mine.
Sutton, on the other hand…well, I wantedeverythingwith Sutton. But it had been so long since we were together. Nearly half of our lives. Making myself vulnerable to being hurt by putting myself out there with her had been a daunting task, but I’d swallowed that fear and gone for it.
Unfortunately, I didn’t think she felt the same way. Actually, I could almost guarantee it given the way she’d shut me down and rushed out of the room.
Maybe, unlike me,shehadn’t spent the last fifteen years wishing we’d handled our demise differently—wishing we hadn’t ended at all.
However, that was a problem for a different day. For now, I was trapped at the ranch, and thanks to the fact that it was mybirthday, all of my siblings would soon be descending on the house for family dinner.
Even Owen was still in town. He’d been here for almost three weeks now, since Crew’s wedding, helping where he could. Honestly, his presence had been a blessing as he was the only one big enough to maneuver me around when I struggled.
Tonight, we were also celebrating Aria, who was officially moving to Nashville in a few days. Trey and Owen would be driving her there and getting her settled. Trey would return here, and Owen would head back to Michigan and his own little family. I had to admit, I’d miss him. I hadn’t spent this much time with him in over twenty years, since he’d moved out and gone off to college, and while we’d long since gotten used to him living halfway across the country, I couldn’t deny things were…better with him around. The family was whole.
If only we could bring Dad back from the dead.
As if I’d conjured him, Owen walked into the house. He’d spent most of the day out on the ranch, helping West out at the dude ranch before joining Finn in the paddock where he was working with one of his rescue horses.
His hand came down on my shoulder as he passed, patting it a few times. “How’re you feeling?”
“I’d be a lot better if everyone stopped asking me that,” I grumbled.
“Just checking to make sure you’re not going to drop dead at any moment.”
Mama waved a serving spoon at him. “Don’t joke about that.”
Owen grimaced as he realized his mistake. Our dadhadjust dropped dead, fine one moment, gone the next.
“Sorry Mama,” he said.
“Make it up to me by bringing this stuff into the dining room.” Owen grabbed a couple bowls off the counter, headingfor the door at the back of the kitchen, but Mama tutted. “The formal one, Owen.”
“No,” Aria and I said in unison.
Mama’s brow creased. “Why not?”
“We don’t need to get fancy,” Aria said. “I don’t want to make a big deal out of leaving, and Lane doesn’t about his birthday.”
Owen stood there, eyes darting between the three of us, waiting for further instruction.
Mama looked as though she wanted to argue, but since this meal was supposed to be about me and Aria, she let it go and directed Owen into the informal dining room where we normally ate.
