Trey picked up his fork, but he didn’t want to relive the horrible parts of today. He’d rather focus on the good, the blessings he had, like the preacher had talked about today.
He took a bite of cake while his mother brought several pieces of banana cake to the table. She sat down beside him, her eyes wide. To her credit, she didn’t ask him any questions, and he knew with every bite of cake and every moment that he said nothing was driving her a little closer to insane.
He finally put his fork down and said, “I went to church this morning.”
Daddy’s eyes widened, and Mom gasped. “You did? Why didn’t we see you there?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “I was there. It was real nice.”
“I’m glad,” Daddy said. “Did you go with Beth and TJ?”
“We still want to have you guys over,” Mom said, glancing at Daddy. “I know you said you were going to take things slow and see how they went, and I know you’re coming to the big family party together.” She cleared her throat. “I’d just love to get to know them better.”
“I’ll talk to Beth,” Trey said, hoping that was really true. He hadn’t exactly told her about his mother’s invitation to dinner, but he should have. His parents would love TJ, and Trey wondered if he could bring the boy out to the house one day after school.
“How are things going?” Daddy asked.
“I fell in love with her,” Trey said miserably.
“Don’t sound so happy about it,” Daddy said, chuckling.
Trey started to laugh too, and as he scooped a piece of banana cake onto his plate, they were all laughing. He sobered and looked at his cake. “I did mess up, but I’ve already apologized. She won’t stay mad at me forever, right?” He looked from his mom to his dad, hoping they’d both say that of course he was right.
“Right,” Daddy said.
“Whenever I’m mad at your father,” Mom said. “I do make him suffer for a little bit.”
“Julie,” Daddy said, shaking his head though he was smiling.
“He apologizes, and I start planning how I’m going to let him know I’ve forgiven him. There’s always food, and if it takes a couple of days to plan…well.” She shrugged, a smile lighting up her face. “By then, he’s gotten me a gift, and when he comes in off the ranch, he presents me with that, and I have dinner ready, and everything is fine.”
She got up and patted Trey’s shoulder. “You’ll see.”
Trey sincerely hoped he’d see, and he thought his time that afternoon would actually be better spent at Beth’s favorite clothing boutique than with his parents. If only he knew what Beth’s favorite clothing boutique was…
Chapter Sixteen
Beth couldn’t stand the silence in the farmhouse. It reminded her of the night she’d been left alone after Danny’s funeral. She’d told people she wanted to be alone; she’d cried grateful tears when Hugh had offered to take TJ, who’d only been two years old at the time.
Then, when it actually came time to be alone in the house? Beth had hated it.
She felt the exact same way right now.
The weight of her family’s eyes made her feel like she was losing an inch from her height every few seconds. In addition to that, she’d invited all the cowboys and their families, and her humiliation knew no end.
TJ babbled happily with Lucas, and Beth wished she could be a child again, with childlike concerns, and no concept of awkwardness, money, hurt feelings, or mistakes.
She worked slowly on scooping macaroni salad onto her plate and squeezing the wrong kind of barbecue sauce over her meat. Her mind buzzed with all Trey had said.
He’d been unafraid to stand in front of everyone and speak. She wanted to be like that. She wanted to clear the air so they could have a good afternoon, filled with laughter and chatter, a quick gift exchange, and the craft she’d picked up for the kids.
She’d spent time finding a couple of simple but meaningful gifts for her family members and the cowboys, and she wanted to hug them all, smile, and let them know how much she loved and appreciated them.
Trey had ruined that, but he’d tried to fix it. Her refusal to follow him out the front door and make things right had kept the tense feeling in the farmhouse.
She didn’t know how to be brave like him. She didn’t know how to open her mouth and say the right things.
Still holding her fork, she pressed her eyes closed and prayed.Dear Lord…