“Well, that is true,” I said as I shouldered my purse. Matthew had become a strong father figure, Emma had really taken to him. “I will see you in the morning.”
Mom stared at me with those penetrating eyes. The ones that interpreted more than they should. Mom could always tell what I was thinking.
“Are you doing all right, Winter?”
“I am fine,” I replied, smiling.
And I was.
As much as possible, anyway.
* * *
The wind slappedme hard when I climbed out of my car. Blistery and cold, the kind of chill that I felt all the way to my bones.
Being named after the season has not endeared me to it.
If anything it made me hate it even more.
Golden light poured out of my home’s windows. As I walked up the path, and I could see movement inside--the kids had come back.
One worry off my mind.
I barely got on the porch of my fifty-year-old brick house when the front door flew open, Braden there with a smile on his face.
I couldn’t help smiling at my handsome son. I might be biased, but even though he looks like his daddy, he’s still a handsome kid. Brown hair, green eyes. Killer grin. He breaks all the hearts--boys and girls.
“Hi, Mom. How’re the aunties?”
“Hyper,” I said as I pulled off my heavy coat.
Braden took it to hang it up for me. The gesture that always teared me up, because he was such a gentleman--even after living with his dad’s dickwad tendencies, Braden still remained a kind young man.
Especially after how difficult the teen years had been for both him and Brittany.
Made me proud that he’d grown up to be, well, a good guy.
“How is that ever different?” Braden asked.
“Good point,” I said as I kicked off my heels. “They missed you at the chili dinner.”
“Ugh,” Braden moaned. “Beans… Blech.”
I shrugged. “I have yet to convince your grandmother to make chili without beans in it.” Neither Braden nor Brittany was big fans of beans. I always made beanless chili, which is traditional in other parts of the United States. But in this part of the country, everyone puts beans in their chili.
“Well, Grandma has never followed convention,” Braden said. “What else are they up to?”
“Drowning in wedding bliss and joy,” I said.
“Blerg,” Brittany said, coming into the living room with a mug in her hand. She looked just like me. Dark hair, dark eyes. No nonsense.
Even when she dated, she wasn’t known to be horribly touchy or clingy. She did her own thing, and the rest of the world could kiss her ass.
Can’t imagine where she got that attitude from.
Made me proud.
“It was nauseating,” I said. “Besides, they wanted flowery and pretty. They didn’t want to talk about practical matters.”
