Page 34 of Make Me Whole
Chapter Eighteen
HAILEY
"Oh, my goodness, you did not!" I halted my fruit chopping momentarily to stare at Mavis. Not even caring that my jaw was somewhere at my feet.
The woman next to me nodded furiously. "Sure did. And it had been your mom's idea too."
"Really? So, the two of you locked your house parents in their room and took their car for a joyride?" Mavis and mom had met when they were very young. According to the stories I'd heard over the years, Mavis had been living in the children's home since she'd been only an infant and my mom had landed there when her dad had died in a freak accident.
Mavis gently nudged my arm with hers. "Your dear old mom was a rebel in her teenage years."
Smiling, I picked up the knife, grabbed a peeled apple and started dicing it the way she'd shown me earlier. "I kinda wish I'd known that side of her." I gave Mavis a quick sideways glance. "How come you and mom never saw much of each other? Up until the day she passed, you were her best friend."
She gathered the fruits I'd already cut up and dumped them in a pot she'd retrieved from the cupboard. "He might've had his faults but at his core, your dad was a good man. He was also old school and set in his ways." Nodding, I hummed in agreement as she continued, "Even though your mom never cared, your dad didn't approve of my…lifestyle. Today it's nothing when one woman loves another woman, but in those times, it was frowned upon."
I turned around and leaning back against the counter, I watched Mavis drop a few cinnamon sticks into the pot containing the apples. "Knowing Mom, she wouldn't let something like that keep you apart."
The smile on her lips was rueful while she stirred another pot containing sliced limes and finely chopped chillies. "You're right, of course. But I knew your parents would argue the moment I left, and I didn't want that. As luck would have it, Walker Ranch had been in need of a woman's touch and I'd needed a change. At least your dad hadn't been too concerned with us chatting away on the phone once or twice a week."
"It's so amazing how the two of you remained friends over the years with nothing more than telephone conversations and the odd visit here and there."
"Don't forget texting." Mavis winked. "Once us old ladies figured out how to do that, we talked every day."
A pang of hurt gnawed at my chest as another thought formed. "So, I guess Mom had confided in you about what Dad had done."
Mavis reached me in a few short strides, her arms encircling me. "Oh, sweetie. Your mom didn't know how to tell you. She was so proud of the fact that you looked up to her. As much as she wanted you to know the truth, she was more terrified to lose your respect."
This time when the pain wrapped around my heart and squeezed, it didn't feel as suffocating as it used to. Being here on this ranch—with the person who knew my mom best—was slowly, but surely suturing the gaping hole in my heart.
Spending time with a certain dark-haired cowboy might've had something to do with the healing process too, but that was an entirely different subject. One I wasn't prepared to look into just yet.
Mavis released me from her comforting embrace to hold my face in her hands. With a quick kiss to my forehead she quipped, "Now, those labels aren't going to attach themselves."
When I'd walked into the kitchen this morning, she'd roped me into helping her with the making and bottling of various jams they sold at the farmer's market on the first Saturday of every month. With a laugh, I moved over to the sink to wash my hands before I started wrapping mason jars with said labels.
I was in the process of rubbing my thumb over a small crease on one of the labels when the hairs at the back of my neck stood on end. Without even looking behind me, I knew Bradley had entered the kitchen. That much was evident by the way the air in my lungs had been replaced by his manly scent.
"Good morning, ladies." I didn't think I'd ever tire of the way that silky timbre glided over my skin.
"You're uncharacteristically chipper this morning," Mavis remarked in lieu of greeting.
A shadow fell over the breakfast nook I was seated at followed by a flash of red in my peripheral vision. A second later, Bradley's large frame slipped onto the stool next to me. "Oh, that's because I'm a man on a mission."
"Are you now?" I could've been mistaken, but I swore Mavis' voice had a warning edge to it.
For whatever reason, my eyes remained focused on the glass jar in my hands. My fingers excessively smoothing over theWalker Ranchlogo. But then again, I didn't need to look to know when his gaze was trained on me.
My entire body alerted me to it; my skin coming alive.
"Sleep good?" his question was low and husky, and left no doubt that it was meant for my ears alone.
As steadily as I could manage, I set the jar down and glanced at him. The intensity in those navy irises of his snatched the breath right out of me. "I did. You?" I had no clue how I managed to keep my voice calm while my insides where taking a wild ride on a rollercoaster.
His sinful mouth curved sideways in a lop-sided grin. He placed his folded arms in front of him, the bulging muscles in his arms straining against his red flannel shirt. "You bet." The way he was staring at me had my heart doing funny things. With a quick jerk of his chin in the direction of the jars in front of me, he asked, "Mavis tell you where all this jam is going?"
"She did."
His gaze flicked to something behind me for a beat before it collided with mine again. "Well it's my turn to man the stall tomorrow. You wanna come with?"
