Page 53 of Carver
“Everyone is so kind. Truly. I don’t mean to be super corny and use grandpa’s favorite saying, but it’s a sock knocker offer.”
“Blow your socks off. That wind will blow your socks clean off.” She uses a deep voice and even changes her face. I have to cover my mouth to keep from bursting out laughing.
“Oh my god, Ginny, stop. You sound exactly like him.”
I scan the room out of habit every couple of seconds. Dom is back in the kitchen with Dravin, Tyrant, and Raiden. They’ve been grilling hotdogs and hamburgers for the past hour. They’ve refused to let me help, and every time I try to get near the kitchen, one of the women ushers me the other direction.
I finally gave up and just started making the rounds, talking to everyone, thanking them for coming, trying to learn something about all of the people I don’t know yet. I thought I’d met everyone the day that we moved to Hart, because it seemed like that little house was so full, but I’m finding out now thatthere are a ton of men, women, and kids that I’ve never seen before.
I give a little sigh of relief when I note that my mom has Elowen again. She took a turn in Kael’s arms, a spin around the room with Ella, did a little dance with Lark and Penny, had her hair fussed over by Tarynn, was cooed over for at least five minutes straight by Willa and Lynette, and was introduced to quite a few of the other kids by Haley. She’s a kindergarten teacher and I’ve never seen anyone better with children in my life.
“I’m so stoked for the hotel tonight. We never get to do that anymore, and this one has the best pool and a huge waterslide.”
Ginny’s loved swimming since she was a kid. She’s right. We didn’t get very many vacations, or hotel stays after we moved to the farm. When you’re farming, it’s hard to get away, and often, we didn’t need to. If we wanted to camp out, we just did it right in the yard. Swimming? The dugout was declared safe and clean by my dad every single spring. Anything else, we pretty much just set up in the yard. Forts, the trampoline, and all our games.
Ginny grasps my arm. “Whoa. It’s just one night. You’ve done overnights without Ellie before.”
I wasn’t even aware how hot my eyes were getting until she pointed it out. “Barely.”
“She’s just going to be a few miles away. Mom misses her like crazy and so do I, but you and Dom should have a night alone together.” She wriggles her brows wildly, winking with both eyes on and off.
“It’s not our wedding night.” I try to elbow her, but she dodges away.
Ginny tries to hide a smile and loses. It turns into a shit eating grin. “Maybe Mom and Dad just want more grandkids.”
“Oh my god.” I’m glad we’re standing in a corner of the room, and that the buzz of many different conversations, laugher, and all the wild calls the kids are making as they rip through like little tornados, drowns out our conversation. “Dom had his checkup with Archer last week. I don’t know any doctors here other than him, and he was nice enough to make time for me to have an appointment as well. I got an IUD.”
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Ginny so taken aback. “But you’re scared of birth control! You don’t like chemicals in your body.”
“I don’t like it, but it’s not forever. I- we needed something. I was super careful and still got pregnant with Ellie. I want more kids, and Dom wants a family too, now that he’s starting to believe in himself when it comes to being a dad, but now isn’t the right time.”
Ginny nods. She rolls her bottom lip between her teeth and bites down on it, which she only does when she’s thinking hard. “That makes sense. You guys just moved here, and you’re doing all those crazy renovations at Dom’s shop. You need time to be a family with just Ellie and each other. You’ve never lived together before. It’s a lot of firsts.”
My sister isn’t just my sister. She’s also my best friend. She just gets me.
Dom and Kael decided to move forward with buying the garage that we looked at. We’ve all been busy transforming it into ausable space. The club is helping out, which makes the work go a hundred times faster. I’ll often drop Dom off in the morning and go home with Ellie for a few hours, then come back in the afternoon, and it’s shocking to see what’s been accomplished in just a few hours.
I’ve sent my family photos of everything. We text during the day and talk at night. They get to see videos of Ellie as well as our video chats. I know that I’m not the only one missing home. Home is also missing me. I’ve documented every single aspect of the way Dom’s studio is coming together, the gallery space, and Kael’s top floor work area. Ginny is the most into it. She always texts me back right away with a thousand questions.
I expect Ginny to bug me a little more about tonight, but she changes tactics. “So, who’s single here?”
I really wish she would have asked me about my freaking ovaries instead.
“Stop for real!” I bump her shoulder, squealing in mock outrage. The only way to get her to listen is to be funny. If you approach anything with ano you freaking can’tattitude, she’ll prove that she’s more than up to the task.
“If you get to be with a hot biker man, why can’t I try my luck?” She crosses her arms, a motion that puts her breasts on show. The dress she’s wearing is already dangerously tight there. It’s a pinup style with a fitted bodice and a generous skirt. “I don’t want to live out on the farm forever. Or at least not without a husband and a family of my own.”
“Anyone who doesn’t have a date with them, I guess.” I do give her thelongestof long-suffering sighs, letting her know just how reluctant I am to divulge that information.
Thankfully, she turns her attention to the women instead. “How are they all so beautiful?”
At least I hope it’s the women she means. “Tarynn—she’s the one with the pink hair—she runs a salon. I’m pretty sure she’s responsible for all the amazing styles everyone’s sporting, but a lot of internal fortitude, toughness, and kindness all around goes a long way. And generosity. It’s responsible for all the glowing. Minus Lynette.” I subtly point her out. She’s standing with Willa and Atlas, cradling her baby bump subtly. Bullet is across the room, but even so, they still share looks with each other every few seconds, as though they can’t bear to be more than fifteen feet away. “Her glow is all pregnancy.”
“It’s so cool that they’re like one big family. I love how everyone is so friendly with each other, and as soon as we walked in, it wasn’t like ‘oh, who are the hillbilly famer people over there?’”
“Everyone is beyond friendly. We’ve been included in this family that that they have going on, no questions asked. I know that Dom is still trying to work that out, since that’s how his mind is always so analytical, but I’ve just accepted it for the wonderful gift it is. We grew up in a small town. Hart kind of has that mentality, in a good way. Not in the way where everyone talks about each other and is sometimes so mean about it all.”
“When’s Dom going to start prospecting?”
