“She is so lucky she was never robbed.” Xeni carried the tin back into the kitchen, carefully set out each piece on the kitchen island and photographed them. Then she sent the pictures to her mom.
Is this what you were looking for?
She used it as an excuse to stand in the cool kitchen and chug more water. Finally her mom responded.
Yes!
Okay great.
I’ll figure out how to get them home.
Thank you, baby.
Your aunts will be thrilled.
“All good?” Mason asked as he went over to the kitchen sink and started washing his hands.
“Yes. I’m handing these off to my mom. She and her sisters can fight over them.”
Mason toweled off, then glanced at his watch. “I hate to leave you like this, but I have a standing engagement.”
“You seeing another bitch behind my back? Sorry, that was aggressive.”
“No, love. I would never.” He leaned over the kitchen island and pressed his lips to hers. “Every Sunday at sunset, I play bagpipes at the farm. It’s become an unofficial tradition. The farm will be closing, but some people stop by or park on the side of the road and just listen.”
“Can I come?” Xeni didn’t want to miss this.
“Me, miss a chance to show off in front of you? Again? Never.”
“Great. Um, I desperately need to bathe. Can I meet you over there?”
“You know what? I’ll text Liz. You should go over to their place. I’ve been told it sounds ‘hauntingly beautiful’ from their porch. Liz’s words.”
“Yeah, if she’s okay with that. Sure.”
Mason leaned over and kissed Xeni on the cheek before he backed out the door.
An hour later, just as the sun was starting to go down, Xeni pulled up in front of Silas and Liz’s house. It was quite the scene. Liz sitting on the porch swing in the company of three of the dogs while Silas and Palila were playing in the grass with the rest. A couple of the dogs barked, but this time they managed to restrain themselves from ambushing her car. Xeni hopped out and instantly realized she hadn’t brought anything for Liz. She made a mental note to make up for it before she left town.
“Just in time for the show,” Liz said from the porch.
“Hi Xeni,” Silas said in his flat monotone way, which she was getting used to. “Say hi to Miss Xeni, Palila.”
“Hi Xeni,” Palila said before shoving her thumb in her mouth.
“Hello to you both. Thanks for having me over.” Xeni climbed the porch stairs and gave Liz a hug. “Sorry I’m the worst guest. Show up last minute empty handed. I should have brought you some non-adult beverages or something.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it. Come sit. Honeycrisp, move.” The dog blocking Xeni’s way just rolled on its side and not out of the way. Xeni careful stepped over it and took a seat next to Liz.
“I can’t get over this view.” The yard seemed to stretch on and on, and beyond the grass, the orchards began. She could see the top of the main barn way off in the distance and she knew that just a few hundred yards beyond that was the cannery and the cafe.
“I fell in love with Silas here,” Liz said, gently rubbing her pregnant belly. Xeni looked over at her rugged ass husband.
“Don’t blame you one bit.”
“I wasn’t sure if I wanted to kill him or keep fucking him, but one night we were sitting here and Mason started playing and it all kinda made sense.”
“It’s not gonna work on me.”
