AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Busy,” she said. “Everyone seems to be going to the beach for the fireworks.”
“We might be able to see them too,” Lee said, looking south, though he couldn’t see the ocean or hear the waves from here. They might see the popping lights in the distance, set against the pitch-black sky that existed over the vast Gulf of Mexico.
The annual fireworks show for Sweet Water Falls took place on the beach, but Lee couldn’t stomach the crowds this year. Any year, really.
Cherry stepped back and kept smiling at him. “Where’s Rose?”
“She took the cookies inside,” Lee said. “She brought her daughter.”
“That was going to be my next question,” Cherry said, her hazel eyes lighting up as if she’d set the brightest white fireworks inside her expression. “You met Autumn. How was it?”
Lee couldn’t help the smile that brought joy to his soul. He wondered if Cherry could feel it the way he could. “She loved the rabbicorn.”
“So my assistant was right.”
“Tell her thank you for me,” Lee said, even as the ribbon of worry wafted through him. “Cherry, do you think…?” He didn’t know how to finish his question. He disliked this doubt inside him, but it had been festering for a while.
“Do I think what?”
“Cherry,” Rissa called, and she came jogging across the deck. “You’re here.” She thumped down the steps and engulfed Cherry in a sisterly hug, complete with squeals and immediate talk about pregnancy and babies.
Lee grinned at his sisters, but he stayed out of the way when the two of them were together. A man had to stay sane, after all. He ducked his head, gathered his son, and headed for the steps that led up to the deck. “Come on, son,” he said. “Let’s go see what Grandma needs.”
“I just talked to her,” Rissa said. “She’s not giving up control of the potato salad.”
Lee waved over his shoulder, because his specialty wasn’t potato salad. It was worrying about whether he’d be able to come up with the right thing to do for Rose and Autumn by himself. He’d hadso muchhelp planning the right dates, and taking Rose to the right restaurants, and getting the exact right gifts.
What if what he’d been doing all this time to get Rose to like him was making her fall in love with someone he wasn’t? Had he done that with Martha? Was that why farm life was so hard for her? Had he not prepared her enough for it?
Perhaps he needed to make sure Rose knew what it was like to live on a very busy dairy farm, and it wasn’t always family picnics, fireworks shows, and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.
“Mister Lee,” Autumn said, and Lee tore himself from his thoughts.
“Yeah, baby doll?” He bent and picked her up, ignoring the protest in his old back.
“I can’t see you,” she said, giggling as she reached to take off his sunglasses.
He grinned at her and blinked. He couldn’t see distance without his glasses, but he could make out Autumn’s features just fine close-up. “I can see you.” He took off the sunglasses and tucked them up on top of his head.
“Momma said I have to ask you if I can have a baby cow for a pet.”
Lee burst out laughing, because the Berthas definitely weren’t pets. He met Rose’s eye, and it was clear he was supposed to be the heavy in this situation. He looked back at Autumn and booped his nose against hers. “Sure you can, baby. You can have all the baby cows you want.”
