Had something happened? Only unconditional love, although I’d never have predicted the feeling to stem from a four-legged creature. This place had aroused a new life in me. But the problem with realizing you’d been, in essence, existing in a coma was that you couldn’t go back to the place of blissful ignorance.
But the Double B wasn’t reality either. At least, not my reality.
“Jocelyn?” Molly sounded concerned, and I realized I’d never answered her question.
“I’m fine. Ignore my prison break plea.”
A second passed. Two. “Has it really been that bad?”
My fingers threaded through Scout’s fur. “No, it’s been wonderful actually.”
“Then why say you need to leave?”
Because I was afraid if I didn’t, then I’d never want to. “Just miss my girls, I guess.”
A trail of dust billowed behind two cars coming up the long drive. Scout lifted his head to watch the small caravan, ears perked. The vehicles pulled to a stop, then a small blonde popped out of the passenger side of a used-to-be-white sedan. “Then it’s a good thing we showed up.”
Scout and I scrambled to our feet, and I slipped my phone back in my pocket. Car doors opened and shut, and one by one my friends emerged. Betsy scowled. Amanda surveyed everything in wide-eyed wonder. Nicole laid a protective hand on her eight-year-old daughter Sierra’s shoulder. Even Molly’s boyfriend Ben was here, as was Drew, his best friend from work whom I’d only met once.
“What are you guys doing here?” I asked as Molly squeezed me in a quick hug.
“Something about ‘the SoCal sewing girls have never missed a weekly get together and they aren’t about to start now.’” Ben draped his arm across Molly’s shoulders and looked down at her adoringly.
Drew stepped forward. “Can we talk about the name though? Sewinggirlsis so not inclusive, and I’d think thatsomeof you, anyway”—he slanted a mischievous look toward Nicole—“would have something to say about gender roles and societal expectations.”
Nicole’s lips pinched.
Ben waved a hand. “Ignore him. We only tagged along for the day and have to head back this evening for our shifts in the morning.”
Scout pressed against the front of my legs then folded himself down on the tops of my feet. “But you girls are staying?”
“For two nights,” Molly explained. “They have the most adorable Conestoga wagon we’re camping in. I plan on using the experience to write a few lesson plans about western expansion and the Oregon trail.”
The screen door to the main house slapped behind me. “Oh, good. Our other guests have arrived.” Gran glided down the front porch steps. “Welcome to the Double B.”
“Your place is beautiful, Mrs. Thomas.” Amanda held up her phone. “Would you mind if I took pictures and posted to social media?” Amanda’s followers would think something fatal had happened to her if she didn’t post a few times a day. But such was the life of a woman who made her living by managing the online presence of sports stars.
“Mind?” Gran’s smile caused the pleats in her face to fold deeper. “Exposure such as that earns you an extra slice of apple pie at dinner tonight.”
Ben and Drew both made a show of slipping their phones out of their pockets, and Gran laughed. “Don’t worry, sugars. I’ve got two boys myself. There’ll be plenty of pie for everyone.” Her eyes flicked between me and the newcomers.
I spoke up. “Gran, I’d like you to meet my friends.” I made introductions and everyone exchanged pleasantries.
Gran threaded her arm through mine and leaned in. “I knew I liked you.” She straightened. “I’ll call Malachi in from the cattle yard to show y’all around the homestead and to your sleeping quarters.”
An echo of the quiet man’s deep laugh rumbled in my memory. A sweetness that coated the bitter aftertaste of Henry’s denouncement. A balm to soothe the pain.
And I’d been right. His laugh held the richest tones, like the enchanted harp in the fairy tale of Jack and the Beanstalk. Not many had heard the mystical strains, but once they did, they had to have the mesmerizing melody for themselves.
That’s where I found myself. The audience to Malachi’s laugh but once, and already an addict who needed an encore.
“Could Jocelyn maybe play tour guide, Mrs. Thomas?” Molly asked. “We have some catching up to do. Unless that’s against ranch policy or she’s needed for something her corporation has planned.”
The rising anticipation of introducing my friends to Malachi halted in anticlimactic fashion. Probably just as well. His list of chores seemed endless, and I could show everyone around the place well enough.
Gran studied me a second. What was going on behind those rheumy eyes of hers?
“Is that what you want, Jocelyn?”
