Fix It Up - Mary Calmes Page 0,89

he said, taking a breath. “Can you tell me what happened with my mother and you, and why I didn’t know you growing up?”

“Of course.”

As I suspected, when Gwen Landau married Efrem Shelton, Sterling Madison had Nick’s mother cut ties with them. And it wasn’t just because Efrem was Black. He and Gwen were just starting out, and were poor. Sterling owned a horse farm and had been born into privilege, so Cora’s poor country relations were not welcome in his home or in his life.

But Gwen was a nurse, and Efrem was a plant manager of a veneer company in Winchester, about forty minutes away. Between their jobs and the farm, they’d done well and had put both their kids through college. Over the years their farm expanded, and they now owned fifty acres of beautiful, lush land. They lived simply, but they were by no means anyone’s poor relations.

“Tomorrow every one of your relatives is comin’ on up to meet ya, and we’re havin’ us a family reunion, and I am sorry, but anyone who can play even a lick on a guitar is bringing them along.”

He grinned at her.

Efrem shook his head. “It’s a shame, really, because some of those boys, and a couple of the gals, cannot carry a tune in a bucket.”

“I look forward to meeting them.”

“You say that now,” Efrem said, wincing, and everyone laughed.

Gwen put out food then, and cars were already driving up and parking out front, with women, her cousins and friends, bringing over dishes for us to dig into now, as well as food that needed to be stored for the following day, when they planned to spit-roast a whole hog in a pit out back, making enough barbecue for as many people as showed up.

The women all stopped and introduced themselves to Nick as they made their way inside; some were friends of his mother’s who remembered her from high school, and others were family that still missed her. Their care was shown in what they’d prepared and brought over to welcome him home. There were enormous freezers in the basement, and refrigerators, and shelves upon shelves of jars containing everything from tomato sauce to corn to green beans that were certain to be shared with any number of relatives. So much history in food.

As I had anticipated, more people started showing up then. Picnic tables were set up outside, and Gwen had a large stage brought in and set up under a tent. If Nick was going to be playing music with his cousins, it would be filmed, most likely over two days, Friday and Saturday.

The band was thrilled; they had been on a hiatus since Nick was sequestered with me, so it was a treat for them to have people dying to hear them. The food was a huge plus, and Meira, fussed over and taken care of by a horde of Nick’s aunts, was in heaven.

I felt a bit unnecessary, especially when Gwen’s cousin Bill showed up, who, it turned out, was the sheriff of Estill County. And even though he was there, off the clock, with his wife and their four kids, the deputies were there to make sure that no one who wasn’t a member of the family got to be on the Shelton Farm.

Of course, there were allowances that were made for close friends of the family, as well as Paul’s fiancée, Tatum Collins, and for Josie’s boyfriend, Vance Reims.

I ate, mingled, walked around the property, and when I saw that Brent was trying to reach me again—he’d been trying for weeks—I finally picked up.

“Hi,” he said breathlessly.

The fact that he was clearly stunned I’d picked up did a bit to soothe my irritation with him. “I guess Nick was right to fire you the first time around.”

“It’s not what you think,” he told me. “I’ve said this in ten emails and twelve voicemail messages, and––”

“I know,” I assured him. I’d deleted everything from him that hit my inbox, and erased all his phone messages.

“They asked me if Isai was Nick’s friend, and I said no, but before I could explain that he was Nick’s bodyguard, the guy in charge starts barking out orders and I couldn’t get him to listen and they made Isai go around to the other entrance, and meanwhile, I lost Nick.”

He’d said this in the first few messages, rambling and sobbing and saying it was all his fault. I had given up listening after that.

“And I know you