“One more thing,” I say. “Maddie says she wants Rhonda to stay here with you.”
“I’m glad, but why?”
“She says she just needs to deal with this on her own for now.”
“I can see that. Rhonda stepped out to take a call. Is Maddie telling her now?”
“Yeah.”
He pauses for a moment before saying, “Rhonda will probably be hysterical, but tell Maddie not to worry about it, I can handle her.”
“I know you can. Just wanted to give you the heads-up.”
“I appreciate that. To be clear, Rhonda is still going home Monday night, right?”
“That’s the plan. They have Monday off, but Rhonda needs to be at work first thing Tuesday morning.”
“Makes sense. I wanted to take her back to Colorado for a couple of weeks but she said she couldn’t. Sounds like she and Maddie are pretty dedicated to that fabric store. I don’t get it.”
“I got the same impression. I think they feel a sense of obligation to their boss. You don’t see employees like that these days.”
“Probably because most bosses are corporate assholes.”
“You got that right.” We both hated our corporate managers before Elsie rescued us from our soul-sucking jobs. Thank goodness she did. “Call me if you need anything.”
“You know I will. Take care of that girl.”
“I will. Talk to you later.”
I hang up and peek into the bedroom. As expected, Maddie is still on the phone. I listen for a second and it sounds like their conversation isn’t going to end anytime soon. Might as well get dressed and have a beer from the stocked bar. Maybe two. I foresee a solo night of sitting on the sofa watching TV while thinking about what Maddie said earlier.
Did you know I swallow?
Make that six beers.
CHAPTER 28
Maddie
Sometimes, the people we love are too much to deal with.
Rhonda was a mess when I broke the news to her. She was so emotional, which I get, but it was making me so emotional I couldn’t form coherent thoughts. I knew it would be that way. That’s why I wanted her to stay in Vegas with Ash for the weekend. It’s probably selfish of me, but I get to be selfish now.
Riggs and I were able to catch a flight this afternoon. I’m so glad he offered to come. He has a confident presence that’s reassuring, and I feel like I can handle anything with him by my side.
“This place is gorgeous.”
“Welcome to Sweetbriar Hollow.” I thought he’d like the scenery—everyone does. It’s a beautiful town nestled in a pine forest with plenty of old farms, rustic barns, green pastures, and even an old covered bridge that draws all sorts of artists from Portland on the weekends.
We’re pulling onto Main Street in a brand-new Dodge Ram pickup Riggs somehow had waiting for us at the airport. Did he buy it and have it delivered? I have no ideabecause I didn’t ask. I refuse to show any interest in his money, mainly because I’m not interested in his money. I did, however, take note of what kind it was. I’m pretty sure it’s a reminder of his threat to buy my brothers the exact same truck if I don’t let him pay for the funeral—or anything else for that matter. He made it very clear that his threat extends beyond funeral costs.
We’ll see about that. He hasn’t seen how capable I am of putting my foot down, even with him. But when it comes to the whole truck thing, I have to admit he kind of has me at a disadvantage. I think he really would buy a couple of trucks like this, and the idea of my brothers getting such an extravagant, undeserved reward for doing absolutely nothing feels like swallowing broken glass. Yeah, I hate the idea that much.
As we drive down Main Street at fifteen miles per hour—a slow speed limit for a slow town—every head turns to look at us. You don’t see a ninety-thousand-dollar truck in Sweetbriar very often.
Part of me has been nervous about Riggs coming, mostly because of Josh and Keegan, and maybe my dad. On the flight here, I did my best to prep him about my brothers, and he acted like he understood, even reassuring me that it wasn’t going to be a big deal—but he hasn’t met them yet.
The whole time he seemed more interested in something else. “I have one question,” he said on the plane. “Why don’t you play poker more often? I mean, if your dad goes all the time, why don’t you?”
