“Katie will learn how to be safe on the ranch,” Mom insisted, dogging Eve’s steps. “Surely, she learned her lesson after spending a night in the open with Irene. Just look at her. It doesn’t seem to have affected her.”
“It had to, Mom.” Eve imagined that Hayden had emerged from every hardship the same way, camouflaging his hurt.
“That’s true,” Mom said in a subdued voice. “I just wish—”
“Mom.” Eve faced her mother, forcing strength in her words when she felt none. She was operating on force of will alone. “Are you willing to bet my custody on a four-year-old’s ability to judge what’s right or wrong? What’s safe or dangerous? That’s a tough ask when Irene is like Peter Pan, enthusiastically pulsing in and out of reality. Katie adores her. And Irene… Even the doctor can’t predict when she’ll regain her faculties. We had to leave.”
“But you love Hayden,” Mom said, fighting the wrong battle.
“Yes. If it wasn’t for Steven…” Eve hugged her mother quickly. Briefly, so she wouldn’t start to cry again. “It doesn’t matter. I need to go to the county clerk tomorrow and see how to annul my marriage.”
“Annul?” Mom’s brow furrowed.
“Divorce. Annulment. What difference do the terms make?” When it meant she wouldn’t be with the man she loved?
Her mother started to cry. “I never thought you’d divorce Hayden. You’re so good at fixing disasters, especially within a family. And he was more of a family man than Steven could ever be.”
“This is the fix,” Eve admitted morosely. “The best fix for Katie.”
“Mama!” Katie wailed from the back porch. It was a tearful wail.
Eve ran out the back door.
Katie was crying, and Poppy sat swishing her orange tail as if agitated. “Poppy scratched me.” Katie revealed a trio of red scratches on the back of her hand. “We can’t stay here, Mama. Poppy doesn’t like it. We need to go back to Hay-Hay. Poppy doesn’t scratch at Hay-Hay’s.”
Eve drew Katie into her arms. “I’m sorry, bug.”
“Don’t you see?” Mom said, joining them on the back porch. “There’s danger everywhere you go, Eve. You should stay where you’re loved if only because love makes everything easier to bear.”
But Eve refused to be swayed.
*
By mutual agreement, Hayden and Rhett decided not to attend the livestock auction. Dr. Merritt had offered to do a home visit for Irene, and they both wanted to be present for his exam. Thankfully, Hayden had set a minimum price he’d accept on the stock he had for sale.
Not that the auction was top of mind. Hayden was crushed by Evie’s departure. He sat in a chair in the living room, hunched over, elbows resting on his knees and hands clasped tightly, his mind a hot mess. There would be no more mornings with Katie as his wake-up alarm. No more family feeding time with Mike. No more teasing banter, warm smiles, deep conversations, or soft kisses. No more…love.
Love sucks.
But he’d known that for far too long.
Outside, Sadie and Piper sat in the porch rockers with kittens in their laps. The rocker where Katie used to sit with them was empty.
Love really sucks.
He hadn’t realized how bad until now.
Rhett sat in the corner of the couch; long legs stretched far in front of him. “After the doctor leaves, you should go into town to talk to Eve.”
“Don’t.” Hayden clasped and unclasped his hands. “I can only handle one emergency at a time.”
“That’s not true.” Rhett gave Hayden the kind of disparaging look only siblings flashed each other with immunity—challenging disbelief. “After Dad died, you were putting out fires right and left and…”
Doc came downstairs.
Both Bennett men came to their feet.
“Irene is resting peacefully upstairs.” Dr. Merritt set his backpack down on the floor and looked at them each in turn with that calm demeanor Hayden had always respected. “At this stage in her recovery, your grandmother’s brain is struggling to hold on to recent information, especially painful truths like your grandfather’s passing. To her, it may feel as if he’s just stepped out of the room, or like she’s waiting for him to come in from the barn or the range.”