Good Together (12 page)

“I sort of remember her.” Portia was in the cupboard now, looking for the chocolate chip cookies. When she found the container, she took a couple. “You want one Mom?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“She was gorgeous.” Portia crossed the room to hand Wren the other cookie, then perched on the arm of the sofa. “She had wavy blonde hair and always wore pretty dresses.”

“Of course you would remember
that,”
Wren said quickly, then flushed when she noticed Mattie’s glance. “Not that there’s anything wrong with pretty dresses.”

“Well, they’re not exactly practical on a ranch,” Mattie said.

“So what happened to her?” Wren asked. “Why did they split up?”

“It’s hard to say. But I’m sure it didn’t help that Julia disliked the ranch and the isolation of Montana. I remember her complaining that we weren’t even close to an International airport. She liked to travel.”

“Well, why’d she marry Nat then?” Portia asked, indignantly. “How did they even meet?”

“Nat had an aunt in Seattle, she owned an art gallery and Julia worked for her. That’s how they met. And they fell in love. But I guess Julia never thought through the part where she was going to have to move to Montana and live on a cattle ranch. Or maybe it seemed romantic to her at the time.”

Out of respect for Nat’s privacy, Mattie didn’t mention the rest. How Julia had started drinking shortly after the wedding, and taken any excuse to leave on a trip to visit friends or relatives. Finally she’d run off to New York City with a man she met on the Internet.

“They didn’t have much in common, huh? Not like you and daddy.”

Mattie stared down at her hands. “True.”

“I’m tired,” Wren announced abruptly. “Mom, can Tuff sleep with me, tonight?”

Portia looked disappointed she hadn’t thought to ask first. “Can I have her tomorrow?”

“Of course. Why not alternate for as long as you’re home. A word of warning though—Tuff gets up early. And you have to take her out for a pee right away. She’s still a puppy.

“Oh.” Wren didn’t look nearly as enthusiastic about
that.
But she still cuddled the puppy close to her chest as she stooped over to give Mattie a kiss. “It’s been a really nice day.”

“For me, too.” Mattie ran a hand over her daughter’s silky hair, before she left the room. Yawning, she wondered if Portia was ready to sleep as well. But her other daughter was in the kitchen again, putting on the kettle, looking as bright-eyed as when Mattie had collected her at the airport.

And then Mattie remembered—it was an hour earlier in Seattle.

“Want some Sleepy Time tea, Mom?”

“Sure.” No matter how tired she was, she wouldn’t turn down an offer to sit and chat with one of her daughters. “So—how are your classes? Are you keeping up with the work load?”

“I’m managing, Mom. Psychology is my favorite—Aunt Dani is a really good teacher. The kids pay attention when she’s talking.”

“Dani’s passionate about what she does. She’s a great public speaker, too. Smart, funny, with great timing.” When she was younger, Mattie had been in awe of her next-in-line sister. Dani’s confidence and wit had made Mattie feel dull and slow in comparison.

But over the years Mattie had grown out of the petty rivalry. She’d never exchange her life for Dani’s, so how could she resent the gifts that had made Dani who she was?

“What about your social life, Portia? From our calls it sounds like you’ve made lots of new friends. Are they all from your sorority?”

“Mostly.” Portia’s voice was bright, but the very brief pause before her answer was telling.

“You mention Kirsten often. Tell me more about her. Do the two of you have lots in common?” Mattie had always been impressed with Portia’s ability to make friends. Not only make them, but keep them. Most of the little girls she’d hung out with in kindergarten remained in her circle all the way through high school. She wondered if this new friend would fall into that “keepers” category.

Another pause while Portia poured boiling water into mugs, then carried the tea to the table by the sofa. “We both enjoy dancing. And Kirsten has amazing taste in clothes. She’s also rich, so she can afford anything she wants. Not that I’m envious,” she added quickly. “Kirsten’s really generous about lending me things.”

“Don’t you have enough of your own?” Mattie was a little worried to hear the answer. It had seemed to her and Wes that Portia’s budget for clothing and other extra spending was fair, if not extravagant.

“I do. It’s just—sometimes Kirsten likes to dress me up. Like I’m a doll or something. It’s just fun, Mom. All the girls in the house share clothes.”

Something about that made Mattie uneasy, though she knew Portia had often traded clothing with her high school friends, too. “So you’re glad you decided to join a sorority?”

“Definitely.”

“I wonder if Wren should have gone that route, too. She’s loving her classes but all she ever seems to do is study.”

“I
told
her to. But she never listens to me.”

Mattie felt a yawn coming and just couldn’t stifle it. “Honey, I’m afraid I can’t keep my eyes open any longer. We’ll talk more tomorrow, okay?” She gave her a hug, and was surprised when Portia squeezed her tightly in return.

“Dad will be here tomorrow?”

This time it was Mattie who paused before answering. “I hope so.”

In her bedroom, with the door closed, Mattie took out her phone, dismayed to see no missed calls or text-messages. With a sigh, she typed out a message to her missing spouse.

“What time are you coming tomorrow? Both girls are here. They miss you. Dinner is at six.” She hit send, then waited for a reply.

After ten minutes she gave up and prepared for bed, brushing her teeth and her hair, putting on a pair of cozy flannel pajamas. If Wes wasn’t going to live up to his promise to be home for the holiday, what did that say about the other promises he’d made? That he wouldn’t sell the farm. Would respect their marriage vows and not get involved with other women?

But she couldn’t start obsessing about all that now. She was too exhausted—physically and mentally. She closed the drapes, feeling the cold seeping through the glass panes. Another Arctic front moving in, but no snow fortunately. She was going to miss having Tuff at her feet tonight—though having both her daughters sleeping under the same roof as her tonight was more than enough compensation.

By the time she’d turned out the light and crawled into her bed, there was still no reply from Wes. She put the phone on the pillow by her head then went to sleep.

T
o Mattie’s surprise, both girls were up early to help with chores the next morning. Tasks that they’d often complained about bitterly were performed cheerfully today. Clearly they’d missed not only her, but also Jake, the horses, the barn cats. Jake’s step had an extra spring to it as he supervised the goings-on. Several times Mattie caught him watching one of the girls, a smile playing on the corners of his mouth.

Once when he noticed her watching he gave her a wink. “Didn’t realize how much I missed those gals. Sure is nice to have them home for a bit.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” She dug her pitchfork under some wet bedding and hefted it onto the wagon in the center aisle.

The girls had brought Tuff to the barn, and made a safe spot for her in the feed room, using sacks of oats and supplements to cordon off an area, setting up a blanket for Tuff to sleep on and a bowl of water. It didn’t take long for the barn cats—Harry and Hermione—to come and check out the newcomer. Harry kept his distance, arching his back, then sticking up his nose and prancing off. But Hermione seemed entranced by the puppy’s antics. She perched on the top of one of the feed sacks and watched as Tuff gnawed on one of the chew toys Wren had brought out from the house.

Once the outside work was done, Mattie and the girls returned to the barn to fetch Tuff—and found the puppy and the cat cuddled together on the blanket, fast asleep.

“Oh my gosh. So cute!” Portia took out her phone to take pictures, and so did Wren. While they tweeted and instagrammed—Mattie didn’t really understand what either of these things were—Mattie gently extracted Tuff.

Hermione stretched, gave her a disgruntled look, then fell back asleep.

Tuff wiggled to get free, but Mattie waited until she and the girls were out of the barn before setting the pup down. As they all headed for the house, Mattie reminded Jake that dinner was at six.

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Jake said.

Then she and the girls went inside to shower and start cooking. First a big breakfast, then it was time to truss the turkey.

All this time, Mattie’s phone sat, silent, on the kitchen counter. No messages. No missed calls.

She noticed neither girl asked about their father again. Instead, they focused on preparing their dishes, asking for her advice when the recipe directions weren’t clear. If Wes had been home, he’d have been watching football on TV. Since he wasn’t, the girls took turns plugging their phones into the docket on the kitchen counter, sharing new songs that they’d fallen in love with during the past few months.

After the turkey was in the oven, there were potatoes to peel, the table to set. Mattie put out just five plates. No questions were asked then, either.

At five o’clock they changed for dinner, Mattie putting on a gray and black shift dress with leggings and sparkling earrings. Portia wore another cute sweater and skirt combo and even Wren, who rarely wore anything but jeans, came out in a dress with a long belted sweater over-top.

Mattie checked the time. They still had more than thirty minutes before the guests would arrive. “Let’s Skype Grandpa and Aunt Callan and wish them a happy Thanksgiving.”

“Hey Mattie! Hi Portia and Wren. You all look so gorgeous! Wish you were here!” Callan’s face appeared on the screen first. Petite and pretty, the youngest of the Carrigan sisters was often underestimated by strangers. In fact she was the toughest and most fearless of them all.

“We’ve got a full house,” Callan said, carrying the laptop around the kitchen so everyone could say hi.

Sage was there, her face glowing with happiness. Helping her with the turkey was her handsome cowboy Dawson, and his cute daughter Savannah.

Sitting at the table, enjoying a glass of wine, was Dani. She blew them a kiss when Callan passed her the laptop. “I was going to stay in Seattle for the holidays, but a last-minute seat sale changed my mind. How are you guys doing? Where’s Wes?”

“We’re fine,” Mattie responded, ignoring the question about Wes. “Just about to put the turkey on the table. Say hi to Dad for us, okay?”

“Hang on,” Dani said. “He just came into the kitchen. You can tell him yourself.”

Mattie gave her girls a grim smile. Talking to Hawksley Carrigan in person was hard enough. Over the phone, or on Skype, they’d be lucky to get five words from him.

The screen blurred, and then Mattie’s father’s face came into focus. He was uncharacteristically clean shaven for the special holiday, which made him look younger than usual.

“Hi Dad! You must be happy to have so much company for Thanksgiving.”

He just grunted.

“It’s great to have Portia and Wren home from college,” Mattie gamely continued, carrying the conversation forward on her own.

Her Dad’s blue eyes, grown paler over the years, narrowed as he studied the computer. “Is that a dog?”

Mattie relaxed a little. She’d been afraid he was going to quiz her on her husband’s whereabouts. “Her name is Tuff. Nat Diamond gave her to us.”

“Nice-looking dog.”

The girls both said hi to their grandfather and soon after that the conversation stalled. No one could silence a room quite like her father. Even now that she knew her mother hadn’t been perfect, Mattie still couldn’t feel any warmth for the man. She wished she could, but he had never fostered closeness with any of his children, least of all with her.

“Well, so much for that.” Mattie closed the laptop, then glanced around the tidy kitchen, looking for something that needed doing. The spool of cooking twine was on the counter, but as she reached for it to put it back in the drawer, it spun away from her fingers and fell to the floor.

Tuff, roaming the room, probably searching for the source of the delectable aroma of roasting turkey, pounced.

Mattie tried to catch her, but Tuff was much too fast. Ball of twine in her mouth, she looked up, jubilantly, then took off in a sprint, running under the stools at the counter, around each of the girls, then all the way to couch before she reached the end of the roll and was yanked to a dead stop.

The girls, legs trussed as tightly as the turkey’s, looked down and then laughed so hard they were doubled over.

“I wish we’d caught that on video. It would be amazing on YouTube.” Wren grabbed a piece of the twine and tried to free herself.  But as soon as Tuff felt the tug, she pulled back harder, causing the line around Wren’s ankles to tighten again.

Overcome by giggles, the girls fell to the floor. This provided the solution as the twine finally went slack and Mattie was able to unwind it from their legs, the stools, and, ultimately work the ball from the puppy’s grasp.

Tuff cocked her head on one side, as if to say, “But I was having so much fun...”

Her quizzical look had the girls laughing again.

And that was when a knock sounded at the front door. Mattie felt as if her heart had jumped to her throat. As the girls fell silent, her eyes went to the clock on the microwave. Quarter to six. Was her company early? Or had Wes finally come home?

* * *

B
ut Wes wouldn’t knock. Mattie gripped the edge of the counter and took a deep breath. She had to stop expecting her husband to show up at any second. If he was coming, he would have called. Or answered her text message at least.

Portia and Wren both ran to get the door and Tuff, excited by the action, followed. A moment later, Mattie heard Nat’s voice and seconds later he was in the kitchen, offering her flowers, already arranged in a glass vase, and a jar of huckleberry jam.

“Happy Thanksgiving.” He gave her a polite hug and peck on the check. He’d dressed in a dark green sweater that for some reason made the blue of his eyes even more intense. “I nipped the jam from Eadie’s pantry. It’s good.”