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“Daddy,” Mike said. “I want to talk to you about some business stuff. When would be a good time?”
“Oh, boy,” Momma muttered, stepping out of Daddy’s arms and going back into the house.
Daddy wore joy and anticipation on his face. “How about right now?”
26
Gerty looked left and right as Daddy pulled up to the one of three stoplights in Coldwater, Montana. A sadness deep within her started to rise, and Gerty didn’t know how to swallow it back down.
She rode in the back seat, but Daddy’s eyes found hers. Tears welled and slipped down her face before she could stop them, before she even knew why they’d arrived.
“Gerty,” he said quietly.
“I’m fine,” she choked out, a completely ridiculous thing to say when she clearly was anything but fine. “Keep going.”
Since she just wanted this part of the trip over, Gerty had opted to pass the small town where her momma was buried, and where her maternal grandparents still lived, and get her belongings moved out of the storage unit.
She needed this to be done.
She managed to ebb the flow of tears as Daddy accelerated through the light, and he turned into the storage facility before they reached the next corner.
Gerty had loved her mom before, but the fact that she didn’t turn around and fire questions at her endeared her more to Gerty. She didn’t reach back and pat Gerty’s leg. She simply let her be, let her grieve the way she needed to, and let the silence soothe them all.
Daddy came to a stop outside of Gerty’s unit, and they sat there. After a couple of seconds, he said, “Gotta talk, Bug.”
“I don’t know,” Gerty said as a fresh wave of tears flowed down her face. “I just—I think I thought I was going to live here, you know? This was going to be my forever home, and it was ripped away from me.”
She reached for the door handle and got out of the truck. Daddy stood there when she closed her door, and he folded her into his chest.
“It’s not fair, Daddy.”
“No, it’s not.” He stroked her hair and held her close to his heart, right where Gerty had always existed.
She’d wandered away, but she’d always been his. She’d explored who she was and who she wanted to be, but he’d always welcomed her right back here, to this place, right in the softest, most comfortable spot he could provide for her.
Gerty clung to him and sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed. Daddy took it all from her, his own sniffling making Gerty feel guiltier than ever. He didn’t need her drama and to take time off work for this trip.
She drew in a long breath that was enough to help her step back. “I couldn’t have done this by myself.” Gerty wiped her face and looked over the bed of the truck. Mom wasn’t there, and Gerty twisted to find her silently weeping at the back corner of the truck.
“Mom, don’t cry.”
“I’m not.” She looked up, her eyes wet. She gave Gerty a smile that lit the world, and Gerty flew into her arms too.
“Sh,” Mom whispered in her ear. She didn’t stand as tall as Daddy, and that meant she held Gerty almost about the head. “You do not let this man take any more from you, Gertrude.” Her whisper felt like a shout in Gerty’s soul. “Do you hear me?”
Gerty did hear her, and her voice reminded her of what Mike had told her two months ago.
It’s enough, Gerty thought.
“I let him take so much from me,” Mom said next, and Gerty knew who she meant. The man she’d been married to before Daddy. Mom had been abused, and she’d lived for over a decade in fear, keeping everyone at arm’s length.
Daddy simply wouldn’t let her do that, just like he never kept his opinions to himself about Gerty’s choices, her current boyfriend, or anything else. He wasn’t perfect, but he was perfectly him, and Gerty needed both him and Mom so much right now.
Mom finally let go, and Gerty looked right into her eyes. Mom cradled her face and nodded. “Now.” She drew in a breath, which raised her slight shoulders. “We’re here to clean out this part of your life, so you can move forward into a new time.” She looked past her to Daddy. “Boone, let’s do this.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said.
Gerty let him and Mom get the storage unit open, the garage-style door squealing enough to make Gerty cringe. She turned her back on her parents and tucked her hands into her back pockets. That cocked her spindly elbows out to the sides, and she tilted her head back into the gorgeous Montana summer sky.
