Page 61 of Butter You Up
“Shelikesthe truck. She also really likes Baabara’s shed.”
Gran gives me side-eye. “Molly told me about her fancy dog bed.”
“It’s adog bed,” I argue.
Loud voices come from the kitchen before Ethan and Colleen step out, carrying platters of sandwich fixings. Four place settings are on the table.
“Where’s Lia?” I ask. “Or that seed woman…”
“Diane,” Gran says with a glare, “is no longer here. I’d hoped she’d stay for at least another week, but she left Monday. I think she was uncomfortable after the fight. Lia is having dinner with her brother.”
Chastened, I sit down, and we make our sandwiches. There’s lunch meat and veggies, but Gran hands me a bowl of egg salad.
Ethan asks me about Spokane, and everyone listens while I tell them about Molly’s dad and that they’ll be driving back to Fork Lick, but it’ll take a while. Colleen has been running the summer reading program at the Fork Lick Library and Ethan and Gran are busy freezing, preserving, and making syrup out of blueberries.
When we’ve polished off the sandwiches, Gran laces her fingers together and gazes at me from across the table. My palms start to sweat. I don’t want to fight with Ethan or Gran again.
“I didn’t know what my Eugene said to you until it was too late, and I only got his side of the story. It was a long time ago, but would you be willing to tell us about it?”
Uncomfortable memories push inside my brain, and I shift in my chair. I glance at Ethan, who flashes a smile at me.
“Grandad was pretty stubborn,” he says.
I blow out a breath. “Yeah, he was. I don’t even remember what we were fighting about, you and me.”
“We fought about a lot.” His smile is gone now.
I shift forward, pushing my plate away so that I can rest my forearms on the table. “I know you didn’t expect to raise us,” I say, eyes on my plate. “And it must have been hard to be saddled with five kids when you were supposed to be thinking about retirement.”
A gentle hand touches my arm. I look up at Gran. “You don’t have to justify our behavior.”
Colleen, beside me, puts a hand on my shoulder.
I swallow. “I don’t remember what his exact words were, but he said that this was going to be Ethan’s farm someday, and he couldn’t have me arguing with the two of them all the time. He asked what my plans were after I graduated high school, and when I told him I was going to work the farm, just like he did, and Dad did, and Ethan was going to do, Grandad said I should think about doing something else.
“So, I did.” I shrug.
Across from me, Ethan’s jaw is tense. “He was so mad when you got the job at Udderly, though. I don’t understand that.”
I remember that, too. At the time, it felt like I just couldn’t win either way.
“Your grandfather was a proud man,” Gran says. “But he had a lot of stress on his plate and, while I’m not trying to justify his behavior and he wouldn’t say it outright, he worried he was failing you kids all the time.”
“But that’s in the past now,” Ethan adds.
I frown. It is, and it isn’t. The way we grew up is coloring how we see each other now. I have old wounds from my childhood, and I bet Ethan does, too.
“And I owe you an apology for how I acted more recently.”
“You didn’t know,” I say.
“I know you’re my brother,” he tells me, “and I haven’t always been the best at communicating. But I’d like to get better. And I really like spending time with you–and not just working together.” He punches me in the shoulder playfully. “It’s good having you around more often. Let’s make a habit of it?”
“Okay,” I say.
Colleen lifts her glass of lemonade, which is mostly empty. “To family,” she says. “Both originalandnew additions are always welcome.”
CHAPTER35
