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“Thanks for inviting me,” he said.
The kids returned with their plates, and that was Gerty’s cue to leave. She and Mike went to get plates, and he leaned down and whispered, “What happened when I went to get the soda?”
“Nothing,” Gerty muttered. Then she decided just to tell him. “They’re not super-jazzed I’m moving out.” She picked up Mom’s and Daddy’s plate too and took them with her. “But they’re mad when I’m out late. It’s just better for everyone.”
Mike said nothing, and they went back to the fire pit to get their food. Mom smiled at Gerty kindly. “Thanks for bringing my plate, honey.”
Once everyone sat at the table, the salad got passed around, and lemonade or water or sweet tea poured, Gerty thought things might actually be okay. She sat across from Mike and between Amy and Mama. Daddy and Walter sat on the other side of the table, with Walt between Mike and Daddy.
Her boxes were already packed, and all she had to do was haul them out to the truck. Then Mom could take down the sofa bed and have her office back.
Gerty had left a lot of her big items like her bed and couches in a storage unit in Montana, and she had no idea when she’d get back up there to retrieve them. Maybe she wouldn’t. Maybe she’d call her Grandma and ask her to go get them out and sell them in her next yard sale.
“So, Mike,” Daddy said, and that brought Gerty’s head up. She first looked at him, then Mike, then Mom. They all seemed to be on pins and needles, waiting for what Daddy would say next. Gerty included.
“You’re going to work with Hunter? Going to take over HMC?”
Mike flicked a glance toward Gerty. “Yes, sir,” he said. “That’s the plan. I’m working at Pony Power part-time too, mostly while I recover from the surgery.”
“You’re looking really good,” Mom said. “You’re not even wearing a sling.”
“Aren’t you supposed to wear it?” Daddy asked.
“Sometimes,” Mike said at the same time Gerty said, “Daddy.”
He gave her a look too and went back to his dinner. “Never pictured Gerty with a CEO,” he said a few moments later.
Gerty sighed, not sure what to say to salvage the conversation. Mike kept his gaze on his plate for what felt like a full minute. Gerty had no idea. Even Amy wasn’t talking, and that meant she could feel the tension at the table too.
“Well, sir,” Mike said. “I don’t rightly know if Gerty and I will end up together, at least not right now. We’ve been getting to know one another again, and I’ve sure enjoyed that.”
Daddy looked up and right at Mike. Gerty couldn’t take her eyes from him either. He hadn’t spoken loud or fast, but his words and demeanor held her captive. They held power she could not ignore.
“I don’t know how long I’ll be CEO at HMC. I know Hunt’s been doing it a long time, and he wants to retire to the farm. I don’t have a farm. I don’t have much of anything right now, but I know how to work hard, and I try to listen to what God tells me to do.”
Gerty started to smile, because he was just so perfect.
“When I come to a fork in my road, I take the path I think I should.” He reached across the table and covered Gerty’s hand with his. “I hope your daughter and I stay on the same path for a while, and maybe that will mean we get married and have a family. I don’t know. I don’t even know if she wants a family, because we’re goin’ pretty slow, and we’ve got time to do that.”
“There you go, Boone,” Mom said softly. “Now leave it be.”
Daddy nodded and looked past Walter to Mike. “You’re a good man, Mike. I’ve never doubted that.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“My daughter has dreams of having her own farm someday.”
“She’s told me, sir.”
“You don’t have to call me sir.” Daddy rolled his eyes then, and that made Gerty’s grin all the wider. “What are you smilin’ about?”
“You tryin’ to be all grumpy,” she said. “It doesn’t really work for you.”
Daddy tried to keep his frown in place, but in the end, Amy and Walter cajoled him until he let his smile fill his face fully. They all laughed then, and the tension that had accompanied them until now dissipated completely.
Gerty met Mike’s eyes across the table, and she wanted to tell him so much. She did want kids. She wanted the farm. She wanted as many horses as she could have.
And she wanted him.
