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“Why didn’t you?”
Dani hesitated. “It was hard for me to leave the farm.”
“Why?”
She lifted a shoulder. “The same reason it would be hard to leave now. This place means a lot to me and I’m not talking about money. It’s been in the family for so many years.”
“So?”
“So I love it.”
“More than you loved Dad.”
Dani smiled sadly. “I don’t like to think so. I know it’s hard for you to understand but when your dad left me, my mother-your grandmother-was still alive. She lived here, with us. The farm was really hers, you know. I couldn’t ask her to sell it. Her great-grandfather had homesteaded this piece.”
“Big deal!”
“It was a big deal. Still is. Anyway, I told your dad I would move with him, but he claimed that he needed the extra cash from the sale of the property to get settled in Duluth.
“When he finally left, grandma was sick and you were very young. It was the middle of winter and he said he’d send me some money in the spring so that I . . . we—you and I—could join him.”
“But he never sent the money
.”
“Right.”
“And he found another . . . woman?”
“I guess so,” Dani said quietly, seeing no reason to bring up the fact that Blake’s interest in other women had started long before he’d left Montana.
Cody sat still for a minute before turning large hope-filled eyes toward his mother. “So maybe he’s changed his mind and wants to come back. Maybe now he’ll come home.”
“He didn’t say that in his letter, did he?”
“He kind’a did. Remember. He said, ‘See ya soon. Love, Dad.’”
And it had been nearly three months since the damned letter had arrived.
“And he said that he’d write again,” Cody added. “So maybe he is coming home. Maybe he’s on his way back here right now! Wouldn’t that be great!”
Hating to dampen Cody’s spirits, she offered him a small smile. “I don’t think he’ll be back. At least not for a while.”
“But when he gets here?” Cody asked hopefully.
“If he gets here,” she said with a sad smile, “we’ll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it, won’t we?” She cocked her head in the direction of the kitchen. “Now, I’m going upstairs to shower, Why don’t you tackle the dishes?” She slapped him fondly on the knee. “Deal?”
“Deal,” he replied, rolling off the couch and nearly falling on top of Runt, who growled at having to move from his favorite position near the fireplace.
Dani climbed the stairs and heard the sound of plates rattling as Cody cleared the table. He’s a good boy, she thought to herself. You’ve just got to take the time to talk with him and quit avoiding the truth about his father.
Forty-five minutes and a relaxing shower later Dani came down the stairs to find Cody back in front of the television, a huge bowl of popcorn in his lap. The table had been cleared and the dishes had been placed in the dishwasher. The mess from making the popcorn still littered the kitchen, but Dani decided not to mention it.
“You’ve been busy, haven’t you?” she asked.
“Yeah. I decided you were right about the chores.”
“Aren’t I always?” she teased.
