Page 44 of Promise You Forever

LUKE

Seeing my sister, Sam, and Cooper sitting around the kitchen while Eli cooks dinner is unexpected but not unwelcome. Janey looks up as I kick my boots off by the back door and smiles. Sam bounces Coop in his arms as he fusses. Eli hasn’t noticed me yet; she’s standing in front of the stove stirring something.

“Hope you don’t mind,” Janey says as she tucks some hair behind her ear. “Eli invited us over for dinner.”

“Not at all.”

Eli peeks over her shoulder at me but turns as soon as we make eye contact. I know exactly what she’s doing, but I’ll play along. My family won’t be here all night.

“Am I invited to dinner?”

“If you behave yourself,” Eli says, still not looking back at me.

“And take a shower.” Janey sniffs as I walk past her. “You smell horrible.”

On my way past her, I make sure to put my arm over her head, so she gets a good whiff. It’s what any big brother would do. She pinches me in return, and when I look up, I see Eli laughing with us. It feels so good to see her genuinely smile like that. Especially knowing that my antics had a part in putting it there.

After the quickest shower ever, I sweep Coop into my arms because in no way am I missing out on time with him. He’s growing and changing so fast I don’t want to miss these young baby years. I was worried when Janey told me she was pregnant that it would be too hard for me. Being around babies hasn’t been something I’ve done since losing Amy and our baby. But with several therapy sessions dedicated to the subject, I finally came around.

I can’t imagine not being an active part of this little guy’s life. He looks like a perfect combination of my sister and best friend. His blue eyes come from our side, and his dimples come from his daddy’s side. He’s always so serious and taking everything around him in.

I walk over to Eli with him tucked in my arms. “Do you need any help?”

“No.” She wipes her hand on a towel and then gently runs a finger through Coop’s blonde hair. “Have uncle and nephew time. I’ll be okay.”

Her eyes soften, lingering on the sight of me holding the baby. Maybe I should do this more often. Especially if she’s going to look at me like that. Baby Coop has magical powers.

“What are we having?”

“Chicken piccata.”

“Fancy.” I lift my eyebrows, remembering how she used to burn eggs and toast. “When did you learn how to make food like this?”

“I took some cooking classes over the past few years. It kind of became an outlet for me when I’d miss my family.” She turns back to the stove. “But I still burn half of what I make, so don’t get too excited.”

“Beats what I’d be making if I was left to my own devices.” I shift Coop to my shoulder, patting his back as he works on holding his head up. “Should we tell them the plan? Get their take on it?”

“Sure. It affects them, too. I’d love to get their take on it.”

She plates everything, and Sam helps her carry it to the table. I sit down across from Janey and wave her off when she goes to take Coop. “I’ve got him. You two eat while it’s hot.”

Sam and Janey share a look of excitement. “We haven’t both eaten at the same time in months,” Sam says. “What a treat.”

“When you feel comfortable leaving him, I’d be happy to babysit,” Eli offers. “I don’t have a ton of recent experience, but I used to babysit when I was in high school.”

“We might actually take you up on that.”

I cut a piece of chicken and look around the table. “Eli and I have something we’d like to run by you two.”

Both Janey and Sam look up at me.

“We’ve been discussing how to move forward with the ranch, and what the future is going to look like. Last night we came up with the idea of turning the ranch into a working vacation type of place. Where people come to experience ranch life, ride horses, and work with livestock.”

“I even mentioned perhaps converting one of the barns to an event space for weddings or group events,” Eli adds.

“We could build a few more cabins around the property where people would stay.”

“I love that idea. Adventure tourism is all the rage these days,” Janey says.

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