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“You want to bring them by next weekend?” I asked.
She wrinkled her nose. “It’s supposed to be Henry’s weekend. We’ll see if he actually goes through with it.”
I hoped he did, but I’d miss having them out again. “Okay.” I toed my boot in the dirt. I’d miss the kids, but Emery wouldn’t be at Henry’s. “You want to go out with me, then?”
“Holden, are you asking me on a real date?” Interest sparked in her eyes.
I was about to sayhell yeswhen Landon appeared with Riley. “I think she ate a rock.”
My pulse kicked up. “Is she okay? Do I need to call for help?”
Emery patted my arm. “She’s fine. If it’s small enough for her to swallow, it’s usually small enough to pass through to the other end.” Her mouth twisted in a wry smile. “Usually. But it wouldn’t be the oddest thing one of my kids has eaten. Don’t worry.”
Relief rushed through my veins. Her confident, nonplussed tone was everything I needed. “Okay. Good.”
Mom rolled down the drive. Her chin jutted out as she glanced from Emery’s Traverse to where I stood talking with Emery and the kids.
I ground my teeth as I worried for a moment whether she’d block Emery’s vehicle in. Mom could be petty like that. But she parked next to it, with the bed of her pickup sticking far past the back end of the Traverse.
Emery could drive over the grass; I didn’t care. But Mom had made it more inconvenient for her to back out.
I walked Emery and the kids to their car, my anxiety ramping up. I hadn’t thought about what I’d tell Mom about Emery. It wasn’t her business, but she’d make it hers.
“Are we coming again next weekend?” Avery asked.
All four sets of eyes landed on me, even little Riley’s, the girl I’d nearly passed out over when Emery had asked if I wanted to lift her up.
It seemed silly now.
I’d been so bitter about Teagan, but Emery had nailed it. Teagan had built herself a support system that I had made mine too. So when she was gone, I was left with no safety net.
“You’ll be with your dad,” Emery answered like she wasn’t questioning whether Henry would live up to his end of the custody arrangement.
Landon’s face lit. “Dad’s picking us up after school Friday?”
Emery finished buckling Riley in. “That’s the plan.”
She closed the back door. “Thanks.” Her gaze strayed to the side where Mom was, thankfully, walking to the house.
“She’s not one for introductions. I have a long-lost cousin from Texas. When he first chased his wife up here—long story—Mom and my uncle Cameron antagonized the shit out of him until he quit talking to them. That’s what she does to family. You don’t need to deal with her.”
“That’s so isolating.”
If I told someone else that, their response would be closer to “that’s fucked up” and I would agree. But not bighearted Emery. She saw immediately why I withdrew into myself after losing my daughter. It was what my mom had done all my life.
How could Emery think she was nothing special? “Call you later?”
She hadn’t answered me about a date yet, but now wasn’t the time to cement the details. “Yes. Thank you for everything.”
“No problem.” I waited for her to pull away before I gave one last wave and wandered to the house.
I steeled myself to face my mother. I found her inside, a boot kicked up on my end table, reading one of the magazines about ranching published out of Bismarck. Not a dyed-brown hair out of place for a woman who worked outside for a living. Both of her brothers, Cameron and Bruce, had a healthy dose of gray that they didn’t hide. I hadn’t met Archer’s dad to know whether he was the same. Mom never let her gray show. I wasn’t sure if that was a woman thing or a Mom thing. If people might think gray was a weakness, she’d smother it.
She was dressed similarly to me. She used to wear my clothes and boots until I grew a good few inches taller than her. I doubt she borrowed from Nora. Too “girly.”
“What’s up?” I asked, testing the water. I wasn’t offering information if she didn’t ask for it. That was how our relationship worked.
“We’ve got to talk about moving cattle.”
