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going in for
a sweater.   Can I bring you out a
blanket or something?”
    “No, I’m good, thank you.”   She heard the screen door open and close
and stared across the sky as the first stars began twinkling.   So, Jesse was a young father with a
teenaged son.   She couldn’t see it,
she just couldn’t see the man she’d dismissed as a no-strings loner as someone’s
father.
    Cal returned a few minutes later wearing a worn cardigan and
carrying a plate of cheese and crackers.   “Thought you might be getting hungry.”   And she was.   She’d been too angry after her outburst
to stay in town and enjoy a nice lunch like she’d planned and then she’d been
too wired to eat and started pulling weeds.   It was too late in the evening to dice
and sauté the ingredients for the elaborate chicken recipe she’d downloaded
from the Internet.   And as she’d
learned two nights ago, cooking for one wasn’t all that much fun.   So she indulged in more wine to go with
her cheese and crackers and enjoyed Cal’s stories of the great loves of his
life:   his wife Ellie, his son
Jesse, and grandson Ty.  
    Hours later, when she slipped between the sheets of her bed,
slightly buzzed and high on the aftereffects of an enjoyable evening, she felt
blessed for being included in the family of Cal Bloodworth, if only for a
little while.

 

 
    Chapter 4
    Someone, somewhere, had just cut their grass and the
fragrant smell of the newly mown blades made Kerri Ann smile.   She closed her eyes for just a moment as
memories of summers spent running through her neighborhood came rushing back in
her mind.  
    “Mom,” Ty screamed from the passenger seat.   “Did you seriously just close your
eyes?   Jesus, and you say Dad’s a
bad driver.”
    “I just shut them for a second.”   She gripped the wheel extra tight and
made sure her hands were at ten and two to set the right example for Ty.   “Do you smell that grass?   Sure a sign as any that spring’s on the
way.”
    “Yeah, well, we won’t get to enjoy spring if you run off the
road and kill us.”
    “I’m a better driver with my eyes closed than your dad ever
was, so please don’t insult me by comparing our driving.   You know that gets on my nerves.”   And even more lately, she admitted to
herself.   Maybe it was because she
and Ty couldn’t be alone for five minutes without Jesse’s name popping up one
way or another.   Yes, he was the
world’s worst driver, but couldn’t Ty have compared her to her own father?   Pops had just last week rear-ended the
neighbor’s mailbox.  
    “Why are you on Dad’s case all the time?”
    She had to stifle a snort before answering.   Since when did he become so
perceptive?   “I’m not on his case.”
    “Could’ve fooled me.   Even Bryce noticed.”
    “Bryce?”   Kerri
Ann whipped her head around to look at him.   “When did you talk to Bryce?”
    Ty shifted in his seat.   He’d segued into his least favorite topic:   his parents.   It always made him uncomfortable and he
usually avoided talking to one about the other whenever possible.   The fact that he’d brought it up made
Kerri Ann worry.   And she knew that
if he hadn’t been trapped in the car with her for another few miles, she’d
never get the whole story.   “I saw
him the other day in town when you were dealing with the vegetable delivery
guy,” he said.
    “And he told you I was on your dad’s case?”
    “No, I told him you were in a pissy mood and he suggested it
had something to do with Dad.”
    “Oh really?”   Well, wasn’t that just perfect.   “I don’t appreciate you discussing my moods with Bryce Jenson.   As a matter of fact, I don’t want you
discussing my moods with anybody.   And since you’re entering the time of your life when you need to know a
thing or two about women, you’d be smart to never discuss a woman’s mood with
anyone.   Got it?”
    “Loud and clear,” Ty said under his breath as