I’m hoping he’s like she describes.
Veronica looks over. “He said he was going to get the eggs.”
“We got the eggs this morning,” Sadie explains.
Tristan lets out a long groan. “Harper…”
She huffs. “I’m going, I’m going. I don’t know how this is my damn job.”
“Because you volunteered,” Veronica says as she stirs the pot and then turns to me. “When we knew Pop couldn’t run the farm anymore, everyone got a job. Harper was to manage Dad as well as the accounting and front office.”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure that will end up being my role too.”
There’s not a chance in hell I trust Deacon or Ryan to take care of my father or mother.
“Can I show Lark my room?” Sadie asks.
Tristan nods, and she pulls me along. We go down a long hallway, and she points out each of her aunt’s rooms and shows me her dad’s, and then we get to hers. It’s so cute. Clearly, her father did not decorate it.
“This used to be Aunt Harper’s room, and she loves pink, so I kept it.”
I walk over to the huge photo on the wall. “Cloud looks handsome here.”
She smiles. “That’s the closest I could get to him for a long time.”
Yeah, I’m not sure how much closer she’s going to get for a bit, but I’m going to work on her father.
She shows me her collection of books, which range from young adult romance to stories about horses to a few mysteries. On the top shelf of her bookcase are little figurines and photos.
The one of Emmy Jo causes my chest to tighten. “May I?” I extend my hand and then stop to ask, not wanting to upset her by touching her things.
Sadie nods.
“You know, I have a photo of your mom, your aunt Mary Lou, and I right before my senior prom. I’d love to show you. I have a few photos, actually, that you may never have seen before.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” I laugh, remembering how much Mary Lou and I would drive Emmy Jo crazy. “One time she was in a bad mood because of something, I can’t remember, so your aunt and I got her Polaroid and took probably fifty photos of her when she wasn’t looking, and we made a photo book out of it. We thought she’d be so mad, but she laughed instead.”
“Dad said that Mom loved to smile.”
“She did,” I agree. “She was so kind to everyone.”
Sadie sits on her bed, listening to each word. “I like that you knew her.”
“Why is that?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know. It just makes me feel like she would be okay with me getting to be around you.”
I place Emmy Jo’s photo back on her shelf before I sit next to her on the bed. “I like to think that too.”
“Are you going to marry my dad?”
Well, that escalated quickly. “Right now we’re just dating, but who knows what will happen.”
Sadie stares off for a second and then back to me. “Thanks for being so cool, Lark.”
I grin. “You’re pretty cool yourself.”
