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Gerty and her family would be there. Her uncle Matt, who’d been running Uncle Gray’s farm for decades now, would have his whole family with him, all of whom worked at Pony Power with Mike. He liked Keith a whole lot, and it was a good day when he got to be paired up with his best friend.
Hunter and his family would be at the party, of course. Travis and his. Cord, Mission, and Vince, who worked at Pony Power with Mike too.
Not only that, but Mike’s brother had arrived that afternoon with his wife. Easton and Allison seemed to be made of shiny diamonds and stars, and Mike felt very dull compared to them. He was older than Easton by a couple of years, but he felt small in his brother’s presence.
He’d taken his money at twenty-one and gone into pharmaceuticals. While Mike took college classes and attended flight school, Easton had been funding research on stem cells, forward-thinking cancer treatments, and more.
He’d met Allison in the laboratory, and their romance had been a whirlwind of intensity that had culminated in an engagement after only three weeks.
Mike had known Gerty since he was fourteen years old, and everything in his life seemed to be moving backward while Easton rocketed forward.
He sighed, said, “Don’t compare yourself to him,” the way his momma had said to him his whole life. The older brother was usually the one with all the popularity and amazingness, but somehow, God had skipped him and given all those traits to Easton.
He’d dated in high school too. He’d gotten decent grades. He wasn’t a complete loser, but he wasn’t Easton. He kept to himself while Easton would absolutely adore the party already happening on Uncle Gray’s back deck and in the backyard.
“Mike.”
He jumped at the sharp tone of his sister’s voice. She rapped on the door in an equally harsh fashion, and then she opened it.
“Hey,” he protested. “I could’ve been naked.”
She looked down to his feet and back to his face. “You’re not, and besides, I’ve seen far more naked bodies than I care to admit.”
He scoffed and gave her a look he hoped conveyed his disgust. “Not mine.” He reached up with his good hand to smooth his hair.
“You’re just going to put on a hat.” Opal took his arm as he lowered it and towed him out of the bathroom. “Come on. Everyone’s waiting for you.”
“Stop it.” Mike pulled his arm away, his heartbeat moving too fast. Opal was twenty-six and in her final residency program before she could sit for the boards and be an official, licensed doctor. How he’d come to be in this family of brainiacs, he was still trying to figure out.
Opal looked a lot like Mike—plenty of dark hair, dark eyebrows, dark eyes. Right now, those eyes fired at him as she folded her arms. “You’re stalling.”
“Of course I am.” He gave her another dirty look. “I don’t want to go out there and have everyone stare at me. Ask me how I’m feeling. Offer to carry my blasted plate.” He turned away from his sister. “You don’t get this, but this is really hard for me.”
“I get it,” she said softly. “Momma’s just worried about you.”
Mike stared out the window beyond the dining table. He could see his cabin to the left, and he wondered what the fallout would be if he went that way instead of toward Uncle Gray’s backyard.
Huge, that’s what. He couldn’t skip this, and he knew it. Part of him didn’t even want to. Aunt Elise and Poppy Thatcher were excellent cooks, and the food would be delicious. Gerty would be there, and maybe he could just stick beside her and everything would be okay.
The thought calmed him, and he turned back to Opal. “Momma’s always worried about me,” he said. “No matter what I do, that’s not going to change.”
Opal nodded, and Mike, stepped over to her and engulfed her in a one-armed hug. “It’s good to see you, sis. Thanks for coming here on your only week off.”
She was doing her residency at a hospital in California, as she’d attended medical school at Stanford. Top of her class too. Her specialty was emergency medicine, and Opal had the cool head and swift hands to make quick decisions in an emergency situation.
She hugged him back, hard, and Mike didn’t mind at all despite the twinge of pain in his shoulder. He ignored it, because he loved his sister with everything he had.
“I miss you,” she whispered. “Maybe I worry about you too.”
“You’re too much like Momma,” he whispered back. “I’m fine.”
She pulled away and looked at him. Really looked. “No, you’re not,” she said. “I can see it in your eyes. There’s pain there, and it’s not all physical.”
Mike dropped his gaze from hers. “I’m seeing a counselor here. I’m okay.”
“Getting better, at least,” she said.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “We can’t really expect more than that, can we?”
