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“It’s lunch,” he whispered. “You love lunch.”
Boone said, “July seventh, noon. Everyone is welcome.” He nodded, clearly done, and came back down the steps. He stopped in front of Gerty and hugged her, and Mike let go of her hand so she could embrace him back.
Her father whispered a few things to her, and she nodded against his shoulder. The love between the two of them radiated from them, and Mike grinned at Boone as they separated. He nodded at Mike and went to join his family as Uncle Gray said, “And Easton has something to say.”
His eyes flew back to the deck, his heart doing somersaults in his chest now. “Easton?” He looked over to his father. “What’s Easton got to say?”
“I don’t know.” Daddy barely moved his mouth, and he narrowed his eyes at his second son. He glanced over to Momma, and so did Mike. She wore plenty of anxiety in her eyes as she shrugged.
Easton took center stage, his perfect Hammond features not marred by helicopter crashes and hard physical workouts. He was still tall and trim, without much body fat at all. He took his wife’s hand and looked at her, his smile so contagious, Mike felt it filling his soul.
“Allison and I are going to be parents.”
Momma sucked in a breath so hard it sounded painful. “She’s due right about Thanksgiving.” He looked out at the crowd, and because he didn’t know everyone there and they didn’t know him, the response was delayed.
In fact, it was Mike who whistled first, yelled, “Congrats!” and started clapping. That got everyone else to join in, and Momma rushed the deck. Daddy followed slower, leaving Mike to stand alone with Gerty, his chest turning more and more hollow with every congratulations offered to Easton and Allison.
His feelings made no sense, but Mike had been through enough in the past year to know that things didn’t have to make sense for them to be real. He could feel pain in his leg sometimes, though it had healed completely. He could wake up in a cold sweat, the images in his head absolutely real but not there at all.
“Mikey,” Gerty said, and he turned toward her. She tried to pull her hand away from his and couldn’t. He realized then how he’d been crushing her fingers.
He quickly released them. “Sorry.”
She wore questions in her eyes, but Mike didn’t want to face them. He couldn’t answer them anyway. He moved away from her, thinking he better say congrats quickly, before his throat would be so tight he wouldn’t be able to.
His eyes met his brother’s, and Easton simply emanated goodness and happiness. Mike wondered in that brief moment before Easton took him into a hug and laughed, if he could possibly ever feel the way his younger brother did.
Right now, it didn’t feel like it. His world didn’t exist past tomorrow, and even then, he knew he’d wake up with pain and a long road of recovery in front of him.
“Congratulations,” he said to Easton.
“Thanks, bro.” He lightly bopped Mike’s left shoulder. “Surgery in the morning, right?”
“It’s at two, actually,” Mike said.
“Can you eat?” Allison asked, and she was a pretty blonde, the same as Gerty. In Mike’s eyes, she wore too much makeup and tried too hard with curling irons and jewelry and fashion, but she adored Easton and he loved her, so that was all that mattered. Gerty was more his type, and he found her ten times as attractive as Allison.
“Until midnight,” Mike said. “So let’s get this party started.”
“Yes,” Uncle Gray said. “Let’s do that. I think we’ve reheated the mac and cheese four times.”
Mike looked over to him, their gazes locking. “I didn’t mean—” Uncle Gray said.
“It’s okay,” Mike said. “It’s my fault. I’m sorry.”
Aunt Elise swooped in between them. “Don’t you dare apologize,” she said, wrapping an arm around him and making him feel safe. “I have told absolutely everyone not to help you with your food, okay? I know you won’t like it.”
She gave him a warm smile, and Mike did his best to return it. Something quivered inside his chest at how much she loved him, and he said, “Thank you, Aunt Elise.”
“Oh, here’s Gerty.” She grinned at her and said, “He’s all yours, honey,” before turning back to the food.
“Quiet down,” Uncle Gray yelled. “Cord, up here, son.”
The man came up on the deck and stood next to Gray. He swept his cowboy hat off his head and held it in front of him with both hands. He gave the men in the crowd a moment to do the same, and Mike clumsily removed his hat. Gerty took it from him, and they exchanged a look. For some reason, when she helped him, he didn’t mind.
Then Mike bowed his head and closed his eyes, trying to find a safe center inside himself.
“Lord,” Cord prayed. “We are indeed grateful for Thy bounty in our lives. From the beauty of these mountains to the abundance we have here on the farm, we are thankful for it all. Bless this food and bless those who’ve prepared it with whatever they stand in need of.”
