“He broke it off with her once and for all, then asked my father if he could have a man-to-man talk with him,” Esther confesses, a light blush covering her cheeks. “See, whenever he did manageto come over, if Enid was in a snit, she’d leave the room so he and I would talk. He’d ask about school, my studies, my hobbies, and I’d make sure he had a warm meal to eat because he usually came directly from his chores. I would listen to him talk about how he wanted to expand the farm when it came his turn to run it, and I slowly fell in love with him. I never said a word because he was dating my sister, of course, but I did what I could to be a good friend to him when she was being a witch.”
I hide the grin that wants to pop through because I’d have called her sister what she was—a bitch. Blue collar guys are usually the salt of the earth when push comes to shove, and Enid sounds like she was nothing more than a spoiled princess.
“What happened then?” Holly asks.
By now, all three of us are leaning in as though Esther is sharing state secrets or something and while I never had this with anyone who is older than me, I’m grateful to be included today, because I need some wisdom. Especially where my feelings regarding Eli are concerned.
“Well,” Esther drawls out, smiling widely at the three of us who are staring at her with rapt attention. “It seems that during all of the visits where Enid would disappear and he was left to hang out with me, he had come to feel more than friendly toward me. It’s the reason he broke up with her once and for all because even when we disagreed about something, we discussed it, the way adults should. I never ignored him on his next visit like my sister would do. Not only that, but I actuallylistenedto what he had to say, even though I had absolutely no clue about the inner workings of a farm.”
“You sure figured it out,” Holly interjects, giggling. “I owe everything I am to you and him, but it explains why Aunt Enid never really came around all that much.”
Esther starts laughing at those words, and soon, we’re joining in, even though we don’t know the rest of the story. “Well, about that. Seems that she was actually interested in the Brewster boy, who came from money, and she was just using Paul to make him jealous. She wanted to be a city girl and had no plans to actually ‘settle’ for Paul, whose hands were always going to be calloused and rough. When it dawned on her that Paul had caught feelings for me, she got miffed, of course, but she had achieved her objective and was soon on the arm of Andy Brewster. Ask me how that turned out.”
I take the bait and query, “So, tell us how the Brewster nuptials were, please?”
“Paul had obtained my father’s permission to court me, and six months later, we had a small church wedding right before the harvest was to be planted. He took me to the mountains for a long weekend getaway, then we came back and started working the farm. This farm, as a matter of fact. Over the years, we’ve added on, of course, and updated things, but it’s the same farm that was in his family for two generations before we came along.” She stops and takes a deep breath. “Enid, not to be outdone, of course, planned a lavish country club wedding, even knowing it would strap my parents, in order to distinguish herself from her ‘pauper sister’. A year into their marriage, Andy was caught sneaking around with his father’s secretary. Oh, the scandal! She was pregnant at the time and came home crying and sobbing, but my parents sent her right back telling her that she’d made her bed. I wouldn’t have agreed with their stance, but she pitched a royal temper tantrum when both of our parents triedto tell her he wasn’t the ‘good man’ she thought he was, so they decided she needed to be taught a lesson. You may not agree in this day and age, but back then, marriages were until death, no matter what, unless the woman was being physically abused. They stayed married but he was never faithful, although he learned to hide his indiscretions better after talking with his father. Seems that kind of behavior ran in the family, so for all their money, they were a miserable lot. Meanwhile, even though we only had one child despite wanting a houseful, we’ve built a beautiful life. I said all of that to tell you this, Phoebe, sometimes, you just have to take a chance.”
Later that evening while getting ready for my work week, Esther’s words continue to replay in my head.
“Sometimes, you just have to take a chance.”
“But I’m scared,” I whine out loud. “What if he ends up being like Alex? Then I’ll ruin any chance of having Cami in my life because there’s no way I’ll be able to be around him!”
That night, my dreams are filled with all the what ifs that could happen if I stick my neck out and tell him I’d like a chance to explore something with him.
CHAPTER TEN
Prophet
“So, what’s going on between you and Phoebe?” Rebel asks as we sit at the bar in the clubhouse.
“Not a damn thing outside of friendship,” I retort. “I’m not sure I should go there, brother. I mean, my head says she and Rosa are nothing alike at all, even if theydofavor one another, but my heart doesn’t want to get crushed again.”
Since she let her hair go back to her natural brunette color, the likeness is more noticeable. The biggest exception, of course, is the fact that Phoebe has tattoos while Rosa had none. She’s also a bit curvier than Rosa ever was, but that’s because Rosa practically starved herself to be model thin, while Phoebe eats. Not to excess, although that honestly wouldn’t matter to me; no, she eats healthy and manages to somehow still find time to work out several times a week. All in all, I’m beyond impressed with her ability to manage a demanding job while helping me out as often as possible.
“You’re sounding like a pussy right now,” Ash says, sitting down next to Rebel and reaching over to grab a beer. “What if she’s the best thing that could ever happen to you and you don’t explore it and end up a miserable old bastard? I mean, you were already on your way there before you found out you had a daughter.”
“Asshole,” I mutter as Rebel chuckles. “You don’t think it would be odd to date the cousin of the woman who I had a child with?”
Both of my brothers shake their heads, which has me rethinking myself. I enjoy spending time with Phoebe; she’s funny yet serious at the same time, and even though I know she holds something of herself back, I think it has more to do with the fact that Rosa was her cousin than anything. But I won’t know unless I talk to her about it. Resolving that I’ll do that very thing, I’m about to say that to my two brothers when I hear a faint cry through the baby monitor that sits on the top of the bar next to my beer.
“Welp, that’s my cue to head on up,” I say, snatching up both objects. “I’ll think about it and that’s all I can say for now.”
“Both Holly and Marnie really like her,” Rebel adds as I prepare to walk away. “We do as well and like how you are when she’s around. You’re still a badass because we all are, of course, but you’re softer too. It’s not a bad thing to move on and who the fuck cares if Cami’s mom was her cousin? We’re not gonna judge you and in case you forgot, we don’t give a fuck what anyone else thinks about us.”
I let them continue to ramble as I head upstairs. Cami’s teeth have started coming in regularly now since her bout with her ear infection, which upsets her sleep. If tonight goes the way the rest of the previous few nights have, I’ll get the chance to cuddle my girl while reading to her as the oral gel the doctor gave me worksits magic. Hopefully, she won’t develop another ear infection, but if she does, I know what to do now.
“What’s going on with my girl?” I ask as I enter my new suite of rooms.
True to his word, Rebel and my brothers moved me into a larger suite so that Cami has her own room and we’re not on top of each other. I hear her babbling undecipherable sounds as I breach the doorway to her room only to stop short when I see her standing while holding onto the railings of her crib.
“I see you’re trying to grow up too quickly on your old man,” I tease as I reach her side and hold out my arms. She grasps onto my fingers, and I maneuver her so I can safely pick her up then head over to the changing table. “Huh, well look at the mess you’ve made,” I muse as I stare down at the blowout that has gone up the back of her onesie. “Guess we’re headed into the shower first.”
Holly is the one who suggested that trick to me the first time Cami had one. She came to check on us and found me gagging as I tried, unsuccessfully I might add, to clean my daughter up without getting it all over myself. After she laughed so hard she was crying, she picked her up and went into the bathroom where she turned on the shower and told me to get in with her just like that, while she went back out and cleaned up the disaster area I had created.
I quickly strip down to my boxers then pick up my slightly odious smelling little girl and walk into my en suite, where I turn the water on and get it warming. “Girl, I think your food disagrees with your belly tonight,” I mutter. I notice she’s a little warm and make a note to send Holly a text to find out if there’s a stomach bug going around.
As much as all the kids are around each other, it wouldn’t surprise me if there is one and she’ll have the information I need to make sure Cami’s okay. Once the water’s warm enough, I get in and in no time at all, I have my baby girl smelling much, much better.