Page 92 of The Moment They Can Never Forgive
“I want to convert one of the barns into a place for me to live. How do you feel about that?” he said.
“Yes!” Just the thought of seeing this man every day made the tightness in her chest ease a little more.
“Well then.” He smiled. “I’ll take a look later, and we’ll work out what needs doing.”
They headed toward town on a warm, sunny day, and she told herself that for today, this was enough. She would enjoy the money and the fact that her uncle was staying. The rest they would face together.
“You’re doing a great job with Hudson, you know,” Uncle Callum said.
“He’s a great kid.”
“But?” He shot her a look.
“But sometimes I am terrified I’ll get things wrong. That he’ll grow up like me and Cassie?—”
“Let me stop you right there, Leah. You could never be like your father. He was weak when my sister died. Too weak to fight for what he had, so he gave up on you and Cassie. Gave up on himself. Jenny would have been disappointed in him,” he said. “I’ll tell you another thing too. You are doing better than he ever could have and have taught that boy so much, and you can see heloves you, so don’t be hard on yourself. You’re both learning how this new life works. Let it happen, Leah.”
“I’ll try.”
“Good girl.”
“I can’t believe all that money is mine, Uncle Callum. I really should check there hasn’t been a mistake of some kind.”
“No, you won’t. You’ll put it in the bank. You take that money and make it work for you and Hudson.”
Leah was still mulling this over as they drove down the main street.
“What the hell is going on there?” Uncle Callum said.
There was a small space in the middle of town that had a gazebo and grassy area. It was used for all kinds of things from exercise classes to volleyball tournaments. Leah saw a group of Lyntacks all standing in rows.
“I have no clue,” she said. “Slow down. That’s Larry Limpet leaning on that post, watching. I’ll ask him,” she said.
Uncle Callum pulled in beside the man. Larry had once owned Limpet’s Bakery, which was now Ryder Duke’s cafe. He was crotchety and rude but someone she’d always liked because he’d come to the farm a lot to see her father.
“Hi, Mr. Limpet.”
He turned, and his lips tipped up an inch.
“What’s going on?”
“Apparently, it’s called Tai Chi. Good for the mind and body, or so that fool Bart Matilda says. He tried to get me to do it. Do I look like someone who’d do something that sounds like a dish I’d never eat?”
“No, sir,” Leah said solemnly.
“I love Tai Chi,” Uncle Callum said, getting out of the pickup. “Go to the bank, and then I’ll see you at the cafe, Leah. These old muscles need to be stretched.”
She watched him walk away from her. “You drive afterward because I’m not sure you’ll be able to walk!” Leah called after him.
He raised a hand to say he’d heard.
“Man needs his head examined,” Larry Limpet said.
“And then some,” Leah muttered. She kept herself healthy by walking but hadn’t ever been into gyms or fitness classes.
“But I guess we’re all getting older,” Larry added.
“So what? You’re going to try Tai Chi now instead of eating it?”
