Page 57 of Nashville Cowboy
God, she was such a mess. After all that therapy, and all this time. Why couldn’t she just be normal again?
“Don’t be sorry,” Jackson said gently, bringing her hand up to his lips. “This is going too fast for you.”
“It’s not that I don’t want you. This. I want you. And I want to be ready.” Fingers on the pads of her eyelids, she pushed back the tears.
“But you’re not. That’s okay.” He brushed a kiss across her knuckles, then pulled her close. “Let’s just sit here for a few more minutes. If we don’t get back soon, Mima might just call the FBI.”
Chapter 20
Lillian didn’t think she’d ever get Hank to understand. Then again, he was so dense he didn’t realize Lillian knew about him and Brenda. She’d been his first love, he still cared about her deeply, and had likely never stopped.
Hank, who rarely came off that hill at calving time, had been checking in more often, not coincidentally on the same days Brenda would drop in. Brenda, too, had been coming by the ranch and Lillian was certain it wasn’t only to see her daughter. They’d dated once, years ago, but then Brenda had married Ricardo, and Hank had his eye turned by the hurricane that had been Maggie Mae. Then she’d gotten pregnant with Lincoln and that was the end of Brenda and Hank.
There wasn’t a thing she could do about those two now. But there was still a world of possibilities for the next generation.
This matchmaking business was serious, exhausting work. She was an old woman if anyone cared to notice. A little help here and there would be welcome.
Instead Hank had complained the entire ride home. “He’s just going to be mad we left them, Mother. You can’t push those two together. Believe me, I wish you could.”
“Just leave it to me. I’ve already made progress. Those two werelaughingthe other night. Making jokes. They’re spending a lot of time together.”
“Just because they’re friends again doesn’t mean much. Look at me and Brenda.”
“Hank, I don’t have time for you and Brenda right now. You should see the way those two look at each other. Do you realize that if Jackson reconciles with Eve, he might actually stay in Stone Ridge? Don’t you want that?”
“Well, of course I want my son back home. But he doesn’t much care what I want, does he?”
Lillian sighed. Hank had a way of turning everything back around to himself. Ever since Maggie had left him, he’d been a bitter and angry fool. Having done the right thing by her, his resentment made sense, but he’d let it spill into every aspect of his life.
So many times, she’d tried to give Hank advice on how to talk to his youngest son. She’d done the same with Jackson, giving him advice on how to reach his stoic father. But Jackson was too much like his mother, and neither one could take the high road. Both he and Hank continually baited each other.
“I see he’s been spending time with you. Jackson is a cowboy at heart. He’ll come back home. We just have to make being home a good option.”
“I just don’t know if Eve is enough to keep him home. She wasn’t before.”
That might have been true then, but Jackson now realized what he’d lost. She’d caught Jackson following Eve with his gaze as if he couldn’t help himself. Yes, there was still something there. All it needed was a little watering.
And the quilt.
She’d heard about the quilt from Sadie, bless her tender heart. She was on Lillian’s side. Eve hadkepther marriage quilt, given to her by the SORROW ladies. All these many years later, a quilt that should have surely been lost in a move at some point might be somewhere in this house. Unless it could still be somewhere in Brenda’s tiny cottage but that was doubtful. Sadie was already searching in her cabin where Eve still had some boxes but had suggested looking in the Carver home’s attic. Lillian was hardly in a position to search up there with a broken arm.
She remembered some boxes in a corner of the barn and set out to look there after Hank had dropped her off and headed up the hill. If she found the quilt, she planned to have it cleaned, pressed, and maybe presented to Eve as a sort of “wake-up” call. She still loved Jackson, and they could have a second chance. With no help, because after the rehearsal dinner, Daisy ran off Lord knew where, Lillian didn’t know where to start. She went for a box in the corner, one marked “memories” but there was nothing in it but old yearbooks and concert tickets. They all appeared to be Jackson’s things.
“What are you doin’ now, woman?” Albert asked.
Lillian jumped at least a foot. “Don’t sneak up on me like that, old man! You’re going to give me a heart attack.”
“Alone out in the barn with all the spiders? What should I think? You’ve finally lost your marbles.”
Spiders. She cringed. “I’m l-looking for something important.”
“Must be, to risk walking into a spider web like you just did.”
“What?” She did a little dance, turning in circles, brushing herself off.
Albert laughed and slapped his knee. “You fall for that every time. Never gets old.”
“You’re wrong about that. It got old a long time ago. Everything gets old and damaged. People. Quilts.”
