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“See you in a bit,” he said to her.
“Yeah.” She smiled, and Mike loved the way it brightened her face. “Can’t wait until tonight.”
15
Gerty waited for Mike at the front of her truck, though they were already late. Their plans had been blown up by her parents, and familiar irritation itched at her. She told herself—again—that everything was okay. She didn’t need to show up, shower, and hurry out as fast as possible.
She loved her family, though she had a suspicion Daddy would say something to further annoy her during dinner, or he’d flat-out embarrass her. He loved her to the core, though, so Gerty would forgive him.
“I feel like I need five minutes alone with them,” she said as Mike took her hand in his. It suddenly felt scandalous to be holding hands with him, but she didn’t pull away. Coming home had been amazingly cleansing for her, and she hadn’t anticipated that.
She went days without mourning James now, and then sometimes, she’d find herself weeping in the shower over the loss of the life she’d thought she’d have in Montana. Then she’d straighten her shoulders and as she dried her hair with one of the most powerful blow dryers on the planet, she’d talk to herself.
You can have a great life anywhere, Gerty. It didn’t have to be in Montana.
There’s land here, sweetheart. You can still have your own farm. You’re not even thirty yet.
It’s not bad to be dating Mike. You should probably tell him more about your life.
“I can let you go in first,” Mike said.
“No.” Gerty sighed. “It’s fine. You’ve met my daddy, and you know he’s going to say something.” She led the way down the front sidewalk to the house.
“I haven’t been here in forever,” Mike said. “They took out all those evergreen bushes in the front.”
“Daddy hated them,” Gerty said, a smile touching her lips. “One day, he went to the hardware store and bought a chainsaw. Hacked them all down in a single afternoon. When my mom got home, she was horrified at the carnage.” She giggled, remembering how Daddy had called her to tell her the story. She’d been working at a ranch outside of Butte, and she’d needed his weekly calls to make it through each day.
“He said he’d never felt more powerful than when he used that chainsaw. It’s still one of his favorite power tools.”
Mike chuckled as they went up the steps to the porch. “That’s a good story.”
“Daddy then put in all the rose bushes for Mom. She loves roses.”
Mike paused and gave her a quizzical look. “And you call her Mom.”
“Yeah.” Gerty didn’t know how to explain this to him. “My mom died when I was so young, you know? Cosette has been a good maternal figure for me, and I don’t know. I don’t look anything like her or Daddy or any of the other kids, but I feel like I belong to them. Most of the time, anyway.”
“When do you not feel like that?” He looked down at their joined hands, and she noted he was using his right hand.
“You took off the sling,” she said. She hadn’t noticed until this moment.
The front door opened before either of them could answer, and Walter stood there. “It is them,” he yelled over his shoulder. “Gerty, you have to see this video Amy found of me.” He grabbed her free hand and towed her inside.
The energy here never dulled, and Gerty didn’t usually mind it. With Mike at her side, she already felt a little nervous, and Amy’s enthusiasm over the video of Walter doing his stunt riding from a few years ago almost put her over the edge.
“It was on theRiding Magazine’swebsite,” Walter said, clearly enjoying the attention. “Isn’t that great, Gerty?”
“It’s amazing.” She gave him a smile. “You guys remember Mike Hammond, right?”
Walter turned toward him as if seeing Mike for the first time. “Oh, sure. Hey, Mikey.”
“He goes by Mike now,” Gerty said before Mike could. She exchanged a glance with him, where she got the impression that he didn’t mind if Walter called him Mikey. “We’re dating.”
Amy looked up from her device, her ten-year-old eyes wide. “Do you kiss him, Gerty?”
Shocked by the question, Gerty’s mouth fished open and closed once. Heat rose to her face. “I mean—”
“Because my friend Lana has an older sister. Her name is Holly, and she has a boyfriend named Shawn, and they kiss all the time. Lana says it’sso gross.”
