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Chapter Fourteen
Jill laid down her blue seven and a red one. “I think that’s it,” she said, looking at her father. “Your turn, Daddy.”
“Yeah, I see,” he said, looking at his tiles and then out to the board where he could play. “You really messed me up with that play.”
“I laid out two tiles,” Jill said, not sure how her innocent red one on the front of a run would impact him at all.
He sighed and shook his head. “I have to draw.” He picked up a new tile and put it on the tray in front of him. He smiled at her, and Jill grinned back, both of them looking at Mama next.
She’d wrapped her head with a colorful scarf this afternoon, though Jill wasn’t sure why. She’d finished her chemotherapy treatments almost a month ago, and her hair had been growing in nicely. Jill eyed the rainbow-colored fabric, sure there was a story there she needed to hear before she left the farm.
“Mama,” she said.
“Hmm?” She glanced up from her tray. “Oh, my turn?”
“Yep.” Jill exchanged a glance with Daddy, but neither of them said anything.
“Let’s see. What did you do, Harry?”
“I drew,” Daddy said.
“Hmm.”
Jill had been visiting for a couple of hours now, and Mama had had lunch ready when she’d arrived. The food had been delicious, as always, and they’d spent some time talking about the farm, the new men Daddy had hired to help now that he was getting older, Mama’s treatment moving forward, and Slate.
They’d pulled out this tile rummy game that Jill had loved as a child, but her mother seemed ultra-distracted now.
“Is Kenna coming today?” Jill asked, her voice light.
“Not that I’ve heard,” her mom said, placing a green seven and an orange seven in the playing area. She took a blue seven from another group to complete the set and added, “That’s it for me.”
Jill had just reached for her next tile when the front door opened and a voice called, “Hello! We’re here, Mama.”
Haven.
Jill’s stomach twisted, flipped, and fell to her cowgirl boots. Haven would hate them, and Jill would bet everything she owned that her sister would comment on them in the first five minutes.
“Oh, Haven’s here,” Mama said, abandoning the game instantly. She stood up and started into the living room, already laughing before she left the kitchen and dining room.
More voices joined the fray, which meant Haven had brought her whole family. Daddy patted Jill’s hand and said, “I had fun, Jilly.”
“Me too,” she murmured as her father got to his feet and headed out to greet Haven too. Jill picked up her red twelve and put it on the end of the run, then placed another blue seven on the group where her mom had taken it. She still had two tiles left that she couldn’t play, but Daddy had seven, and Mama had five, so Jill was going to count herself the winner of this game.
She certainly wouldn’t be winning anything once she came face-to-face with Haven.
Sighing, she got up and went out into the living room too. Haven stood with her two kids and was currently detailing what they were wearing. “So the school is requiring navy blue for the kids this year.” She shook her head as if navy blue was the most heinous color on the planet.
“We like the black better, but we were out-voted. Turn around Peter, and show Grandma the back.”
Her son turned dutifully, and Jill had no idea what she was supposed to be looking at. Of course, she didn’t have to wonder, because Haven could talk the ear off a dead man. “Look at the cut of that shirt. Isn’t it awful?” She brushed her hand down her son’s back. “I suggested a different brand, but it was too expensive to be approved.” She pursed her lips. “The girls don’t have to wear skirts this year, but Quinn’s got hers on.” She turned her attention to her daughter, who was a couple of years older than Peter.
Never Pete. Haven would never shorten her son’s name. Jill had heard her say on multiple occasions, “If I wanted to call him Pete, I would’ve just named him that,” as if nicknames were something only the devil’s spawn abided by.
“It’s cute,” Mama said.
“It’s cute enough,” Haven said. “The girls wear the same shirts as the boys, and I think that’s ridiculous, but I’m not on the clothing panel. So.” She looked back and forth between her kids and then to their parents. Only then did she realize Jill had come into the room, and Haven’s face lit up.
“Jill,” she said in a falsely bright tone. “I didn’t know you’d be here today.”
