“We can pay to fix it; I’m just choosing to fix it for free.”
“Hmm.” She pressed her cheek into his chest. His heartbeat was as steady and insistent as the metronome that used to sit on top of her parents’ Steinway. “That would be nice.” A vacation would be good for them. Help them reconnect, away from the responsibilities of the farm, from the distraction of the milking schedules. The veterinarian visits and field trips.
He rolled onto his back again, keeping one arm tight around her. “So what’s up with Jenna?”
“Things are good. She’s getting ready to go on a two-week art retreat. It’s a big deal, I think. Something she didn’t want to turn down. It’s in Florida.”
“Two weeks at the beach? Sounds right up her alley.”
“It’s . . . I don’t think it’s actually on the beach. And maybe it’ll be good for her. She’s wanting to get back into her photography, and this will give her a chance to get away and focus on it. She used to be really good.”
“What about Addie and Walsh?”
Betsy paused a moment too long. Ty turned to her with wide eyes. “Betsy?”
“I told her I’d run it by you, but I said I thought we might be able to keep them here.”
“And when is this retreat?”
She took a deep breath and bit her lip. “It starts tomorrow.”
Ty lifted his shoulders and peered down at her. “Tomorrow? As in twelve hours, tomorrow?”
Betsy nodded.
He sat up and leaned his elbows on his knees. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“It’s two weeks. Nothing at all. It’ll be mostly me taking care of them anyway. I know you’ll be busy. And I should have asked you earlier.”
He laughed, almost a grunt. “You think?”
She put a hand on his back. “I’m sorry. Really. I just . . .” How could she explain the deep-down kernel of need inside her—the need to protect, defend, shelter her sister? Even when Jenna made rash, spur-of-the-moment decisions, even when she infuriated Betsy like no one else could.
Betsy closed her eyes. Jenna had once begged her parents to let her attend some kind of photography program the summer after her freshman year at Alabama. Betsy made it clear she thought her parents should let Jenna go, but they said no. They hadn’t even considered it.
“Jenna was always happiest when she was behind a camera. If this is her shot at trying photography again, I want to give it to her. And I can’t shake the feeling that something else is going on with her too, but I don’t know what it is.”
Ty turned and looked at her over his shoulder. “I don’t know if you believe all that or if you’re just saying it to make things sound better.” He sighed and lay back against the pillows. “I love you for taking care of your sister. I don’t love the situation, but it’ll . . . It’s fine. You’re right though—I won’t have much time for visiting. Or helping you with the girls.”
“It’s okay. I don’t expect you to change anything. I’ll take care of it all.”
Ty exhaled through pursed lips and rubbed the top of his head. “I wish she’d given us a little more of a heads-up before we become babysitters.”
“I know.” Betsy’s chest squeezed at the thought of little feet pounding up and down the stairs of the old farmhouse. Laughter in the hallways. She hoped she hadn’t made a big mistake in saying yes.
Outside, the faint sound of lowing cows, content in the barn, crossed the expanse of grass and yard and crept inside the house. The sound was strangely comforting.
Ty’s arm around her tightened. “You looking forward to seeing Addie and Walsh?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I am. It’s been over a year. Walsh was still a baby last summer.”
“I remember last summer.”
Betsy squeezed her eyes closed, shutting out the memory. She swallowed. “Things are different now, you know that. We’ve moved on. It’ll be easier.”
Ty was quiet. After a moment, Betsy propped herself up on one elbow to peer down at him. “I’m fine.”
“Good. Because I’d rather them not come at all if it’s going to be hard for you.”
Betsy leaned down and kissed him on the lips. “Thank you for worrying about me. But I’m a big girl. I can handle it.”
He pulled her to him again, his arm tight around her back. He nuzzled her cheek with his nose and kissed her, soft but pressing, urgent. She gave in for a moment, the familiar and pleasant ache rising in her belly, but when his hand slipped down to the waistband of her thin cotton pajama bottoms, she inhaled and pulled her lips away, just a fraction of an inch, so small she almost hoped he hadn’t noticed.
But he dropped his head back against his pillow. She put her hand on his chest and lay her head on the pillow next to his, her forehead pressed into his cheek. “Another night?” she whispered.
She felt him nod. In minutes he was asleep.
Long after Ty nodded off, Betsy lay awake. The half-full moon shining through a hazy film of cloud made a soft glow on the bedroom walls. The clock on her nightstand glowed red numbers—1:24.
Nashville last summer had been hard. At first she’d expected it to be a chance to celebrate good news of a positive pregnancy with her sister. Then after the nurse had called with the results, she hoped it’d be a chance to rest, lick her wounds, and get her feet back underneath her. It wasn’t until she dropped her bags in Jenna’s cozy little house that she learned Jenna had been offered the chance to pick up extra shifts at Full Cup and would be working for much of the weekend, starting with the late shift that night.
All Betsy had said to Jenna about the doctor visits was that she was “having some tests done,” making sure things were running normally. Nothing to indicate any real problem. Still, Betsy had
