Page 31 of A Farmer’s Guide To Gamers

“Tell me about the others,” she ordered, starting to chop the walnuts.

“Well… there are two betas. Kai and Aiden. Kai is more outgoing I think, while Aiden is shy. Though, Earl loved Kai! Wouldn’t leave his side and has moped since he left after dinner last night.”

“Your Earl?!” Mom said in surprise, her eyebrows rising in shock. “That’s impressive.” She searched my face for a moment. “You’re leaving something out. Who else is there?”

“Well… it’s actually someone you know.”

“No!!! Who?” she said, putting the knife down as if knowing she would have a big reaction before I even said the name.

“Dean.”

“Dean…. Sabrina’s big brother Dean?!” she shrilled. “Dean Ames?”

“Yes,” I said, heat rising up my neck into my face.

Mom knew exactly how much of a crush I had had on him growing up. When he left for college we’d had a mother-daughter night of movies, popcorn, and ice cream to help wallow in sadness.

No guys allowed.

My dads happily left us to it and kept the supply of food coming without interruption.

“Oh, Tillie. I’m so damn happy for you. I always thought there was more to that crush than simple puppy-love,” she said as she gently patted my cheek, likely leaving crumbs behind.

“He smells like mine and my inner-omega has been losing her mind since. He’s just as bossy as he was back then, but also adorably protective,” I admitted.

She studied me for a second, that soft ‘mom’ expression on her face. “They sound like a perfect mix of personalities. That’s important, you know.”

I chuckled. “You should have seen Jack on the farm. He tried to come up and help with morning chores and nearly perished at the thought.”

“Give him a year and he’ll be out there right alongside you,” she predicted as she slid the bowl across. My fingers were stained pink now but the cherries were prepped, the chocolate and walnuts diced, and all I had left to do was mix them in.

Mom went off on another tangent as I worked, giving me all the good Magnolia Ridge gossip she’d gathered this week.

“Dottie Lancaster down at the salon was telling me that her grandson caused a full-on food fight at daycare, including rubbing ketchup in a boy’s hair. He was blond and it’s now pink and the mom was demanding Dottie fix it for free. He got sent home and everything. She was so proud, even if she told the mom to shove it,” she chuckled. “Little hellraiser. He’ll come in handy in a few years if he joins the cause.”

Leave it to Mom to be recruiting before these kids could even read and write.

The farmhouse filled quickly with the incredible scent of baking bread and Mom and I took our chat out to the porch with cold sweet tea. She let out a sigh as the cool fall breeze washed over us, the sound of the farm the perfect background noise.

“Keep hold of this place tight, Tillie. One thing I’ve always taught you is to change for no one. Let them adapt if they want to keep you. You can accommodate, but this farmhouse, this land, this is your life’s work and from what I know of Dean’s work, they can do that anywhere.”

“They make video games,” I told her after taking a sip of tea. “I think if they are staying here at all I might have to budge and add some more electronics.”

“I think you could manage to live with some basics. Faster internet, television.”

“Paying for cable is definitely going to be a hard no, though,” I told her firmly. “No way should anyone pay that much for way too many channels to watch. It’s insanity.”

“That’s my girl,” she said with a wide grin. She placed her empty glass down. “I should go and check in with your dads. I can give you a few days but then you’re going to have to throw that pack into the deep end. Just think of it this way, baby, Dean can help prepare them.”

“I don’t think there’s such a thing as being prepared for our family,” I half-joked.

As Mom threw back her head in laughter I knew that I was right and Mom agreed.

Aiden

This wasn’t right.

I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what wasn’t working but it wasn’t.