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She sat closedmouthed for a few more moments. When she looked up there were tears in her eyes. “Because Felicity is going to tell everybody about Aunt Minnie yelling at me, and they’re going to laugh.”
Regan’s heart broke. One more transgression to add to Minnie’s slate of sins.
“They’re not going to laugh,” Colt said.
“Yes, they are,” Anna countered.
Regan didn’t want to contradict Colt out loud but she agreed with Anna. Regan knew from her own experience how cruel classmates can be. In Virginia City, the children at her school somehow learned her mother, Corinne, was a whore and she and Portia were called foul names, made fun of, tripped, and shunned. But they never cried; they fought, and meted out their share of black eyes and split lips to both boys and girls. When the parents began adding to the nastiness with slurs and threats, Aunt Eddy took them out of school and hired a tutor to teach them at home. Regan didn’t want to encourage her daughter to fight, and she was certain Colt would be appalled if she did, so she said, “If they do laugh, tell them your mama yelled at Aunt Minnie right back.”
Anna’s eyes widened with shock. “You did?”
“Yes. While you and Felicity were in the kitchen.”
“Truly?”
“Truly. And I told her if she kept being mean to you, she’d have to leave.”
The eyes grew wide as plates. She looked to her father for verification. He nodded. “She was as mad as a mama bear.”
Anna’s smile lit up the room.
Regan said, “You didn’t deserve being yelled at that way. So, if Felicity does start gossiping, you tell her what I just said.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Anna replied firmly.
An hour later, Colt and Regan dropped their daughter off at school. As they drove away, he said, “I hope she does okay today. If I never see Minnie again, it’ll be too soon.”
Regan agreed.
He looked her way. “Last night, while you were getting the plates, she said she’s moving back East.”
“Hallelujah. I hope she left this morning at the crack of dawn.”
“Told me she wants to take Anna with her.”
Disbelief made her shake her head. “We’re not going to allow Anna to visit her for five minutes to have tea, let alone live with her on the other side of the country. Maybe Colleen actually bumped into Minnie at the saloon and Minnie was drunk.”
He laughed. “You’re so outrageous.”
“No more outrageous than Minnie thinking we’d agree to such a ridiculous idea.” She scooted closer and hooked her arm into his as he drove. She was as content as a kitten.
“I have a surprise for you.”
“Animal, vegetable, or mineral?”
“What?” he asked smiling.
“Animal, mineral, or vegetable? Those are the three questions you ask when someone says they have a surprise.”
He viewed her with amused skepticism.
“You’ve never heard that?”
“No, but it doesn’t matter, because if I tell you it won’t be a surprise.”
She showed a mock pout. “You’re no fun.”
“If I pull into those trees up ahead, I bet I can make you change your mind.”
