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Her smile widens and she puts a hand up to her throat like she’s overwhelmed. “I will. Thanks again for bringing this over for me,” she says.
He nods and gives me another pointed look before he walks away.
And I know it like I know what the weather will be based on the clouds: It’s only a matter of time before the whole family hears about this.
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MINE AND YOURS
RUBY
So far, the people in Landmark Mountain have been very welcoming. Granted, I’ve only met two of the Landmark brothers, which made me feel like I was in my very own Nancy Meyers’ movie, the way the two of them bantered back and forth. They are just so stinkin’ beautiful that they don’t seem real.
But then Bill comes over to take a look at Jolene and he’s great in an entirely different way. He and hiswife are fairly recent transplants to Landmark Mountain, he says, and he’s burly, with a long white beard and smiling eyes. The good news is there are no leaks or major repairs needed that he can see, but the bad news is she needs a new battery, and it seems as if they’re not just lying around at a nearby store. In fact, they’re hard to track down, and the one we did find online is on back order.
When Bill leaves, promising he’ll either keep looking or order the battery we found online by the end of the day, I don’t know what to say to Callum. I’m glad my RV is not as in the way as it was last night, but it’s still quite an imposition to just leave it parked out here.
I open my mouth to apologize again and he jumps in before I can.
“Wyatt was right,” he says. “I’ve got the room and you’re welcome to stay as long as you need.”
My shoulders sag with relief and also embarrassment. I’ve felt a weird mixture of the two since I got here.
“Uncle Pierre won’t be back until Thursday. That’s too long for any houseguest. I can check into that place you were talking about—your sister’s resort?”
His head tilts toward Dolly. “And leave her behind?” He grins to let me know he’s teasing. “It’s no trouble.”
My phone rings and I practically wilt when I see that it’s from my parents. I’m not ready to talk to them yet, but…
“I should take this,” I say, holding up my phone.
He nods and I walk past the barn, Dolly on my heels.
“Hello?” I answer.
“My baby,” Mom cries.
“Are you okay, Ruby?” Dad’s voice is weary, and the guilt that I haven’t called them before now outweighs the anger.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call right away.”
“We were worried sick.” My mom sniffs. “Thomas told us where you are, but…we shouldn’t have to hear it from him.”
“Pierre. He changed his name almost two decades ago,” I snap.
Dolly leans her head on my shoulder, sensing my anxiety, and I pet her.
“He’ll always be Thomas to me.” My mom sighs.
We’ll never agree on this point. When Uncle Pierre came out, he changed his name from Thomas to Pierre and I think my mom had more issues about the whole thing than she wanted to admit. She thought it was ridiculous for him to change his name and refuses to call him anything else. I wish she’d respect his wishes and call him what he wants to be called. Her hippie vibes go south quick when it’s too complicated for her to understand or if she doesn’t agree with something.
“What happened, sweetheart?” she asks.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were selling the place to Junior?” I ask. “I’ve worked so hard to keep it all afloat, and now it’s just…his?”
“That’s exactly why, honey. We didn’t want you to have to work so hard, and the place would’ve been yours too, not just Junior’s,” Dad says. “You were about to marry him. What happened? The poor guy is a wreck. I didn’t think you had this in you, Ruby Sunshine.”
Wreck, my ass, but my dad’s disappointment in me stings.
