“That’s why I was looking for those darn extra sandbags. I don’t want to be surprised.” He closes the bin and stretches his back. “I’ll text Danni and ask if she knows where they are. How ‘bout you? You ready for some flooding?”
“It’s looking like all this flooding is becoming our new norm. We’re doing all we can to fence some more grazing land because of it. Once the mentees arrive, that’ll be their first task—to get those poles up.”
“You’re all set for them?”
“Yep. Tank got all the funding. And everything’s ready, except for a few more homey touches to the cabin, but Lacy’s on those.”
Ned swipes his forehead with a red handkerchief. “Tell Wren I’ll bring her bike to her a little later.” He straightens out and studies me. “Thanks for looking out for her. Glad you’re a gentleman, Johnathon Fox. I’ll tell your mother. She’ll be proud of you.”
“I was thinking of leaving Wren there on the road. She wasn’t too happy about us stopping. And she’s prickly as a bull thistle.”
Ned grins. “Maybe it’s just you.”
“Most people find me charming.”
“You mean, besides your mother?” He chuckles. “Speaking of, how’s Nita?”
“Her memory’s worse.”
“I know, son.” He puts an arm around me and squeezes. “Tell me what we can do. Rena and I visit her every Tuesday and take her out to eat, when she’s up to it. But we can do more. We can take turns sitting with her. You know your mom’s just as much family as you are.”
I look down, nodding, sadness clogging my throat. “It’s tough. The changes keep sneaking up on me. But thanks, Ned. Maybe we could sit and talk about what else I could be doing for her? Extra ears would help.”
“You bet.”
When I return to the truck, Ava’s sitting in the pickup alone, humming a song, her feet stuck out the window.
“Where’s Wren?”
“She’s walking home. She took her stuff.”
I step away from the pickup and look down the path. She’s not in sight. “She could have waited for some help.”
Ava shrugs. “She said she had to go.”
I hop back in the truck, and swing back toward the road to May Ranch.
“You should smile,” Ava says.
“I smile.”
“You should smilemore. “
“Good advice that I think would go unnoticed if you’re talking about Wren, who’s got a stick up her—” I glance over. “Never mind.”
“Wren’s nice. Everyone’s wrong about her.” She’s biting her thumbnail again.
“That’s good. You bring out the best in people. You know that, Ava?”
“Yeah.” She grins over at me. “I know it.” She tucks her legs under her. “Wren told me she used to sleepwalk. Like me. But since she’s been here, she hasn’t.”
“Maybe since she’s on vacation, she’s more relaxed?”
“No.” Ava shakes her head slowly. “She doesn’t seem like she’s on vacation.”
“Why do you say that?”
She doesn’t answer right away, so I glance over. She’s looking out the window again, chewing at her thumbnail, like she’s trying to figure something out. Finally, she says, “When she dropped her bag and everything fell out, her sunglasses slipped off. Her face is all bruised up. She has a bunch of makeup covering the bruises, but you can still tell, though. She looks like Sherry after she had a fight with one of her loser boyfriends. She’d put a bunch of makeup on her face, but it didn’t hide everything.” She taps her fingers against her thigh, then sits on her hands, as if realizing what she’s doing. Skye told me once that when Ava’s nervous, she taps to self-soothe.
