after school next Friday. Stay for the weekend.” He grinned at his daughter, but Etta felt like he was erecting a fence between them.
Hailey hugged her father, and he said, “Go get in the truck now. We don’t need to be eatin’ with Etta every night.” He hadn’t said one word directly to her yet, and she hadn’t spoken at all. “Get over there and tell her thank you for pickin’ you up and doin’ your hair.”
Hailey turned toward Etta, pure sunshine on her face. “Thank you, Miss Etta.” She wrapped Etta in a tight hug, and Etta couldn’t help letting her eyes close in bliss.
“You’re welcome, my sweet girl,” Etta whispered. Hailey grinned as she skipped out of the kitchen, and the moment the front door closed, the mood shifted again.
“We could have the party another day,” she said. “The following weekend. Or on Wednesday night or something.” She leaned back into the counter behind her, hoping she didn’t come off as accusatory or demanding.
“Sorry about that,” he said, almost ignoring what she’d said. “I’ve just had a feeling all day that we should go see everyone. My brothers. My folks. Josie’s parents.” He cleared his throat and couldn’t seem to look at her.
“It’s fine,” Etta said. “I haven’t bought groceries or anything yet.”
“Good,” he said. “You really don’t need to do a party for her on another night.”
“I know that, August,” Etta said, too much bite in her voice. She sighed and ran her hand through her hair, feeling it stick up in odd places. “It’s not about need. It’s about wanting to.”
“I know you want to,” he said quietly. “You will always want to.”
“You make that sound like it’s a bad thing.” Etta pulled open the oven and slid the glass casserole dish inside, though the appliance hadn’t come up to temperature yet.
“It’s not,” he said. “But I don’t need you to, and I don’t want you to.” His tone carried edges now too, and when Etta turned back to him, fire shone in the dark depths she’d come to love.
“What will her grandparents do?”
“Spoil her rotten.”
“And your brothers?”
“Make cake and throw a party.”
“Then why can’t I?” Etta asked. There were plenty of opportunities for Etta to perfect her birthday-cake-making skills in the next few months. Smiles, Wilder, Robbie, and Kyle all had birthdays in March, which sat just around the corner. Holly Ann was due any day now. They’d already had a cake for Gun, and one for Chaz, and both Shiloh and Heather would celebrate birthdays before summer hit—and those were only the children in the Glover family.
For some reason, Etta wanted to throw a party for Hailey. She wanted a chance to bond with the girl, because deep down, she’d been hoping to become the girl’s mother someday.
August didn’t want that, nor did he need it. That was what Etta heard when he said things like that.
“Because, Etta,” he said softly, the fire extinguishing as quickly as it had flared up. “Everything you do is so wonderful.”
“Is this because you’ll feel inadequate?”
“I already feel inadequate with you.” He put his hand on her waist and slid it around to her back.
“I wish you wouldn’t.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t be so perfect.”
“Stop it.” She wanted to lean into him and take a deep breath of his shirt. She’d get the outdoors, hay, horse, and earth. The scent of his dryer sheets, and his skin, and his cologne. “I’m not perfect.”
“But you have so many more resources than I do,” he whispered, his lips dangerously close to her ear. “It makes me feel like a charity case.”
Etta stood firm in his arms, refusing to give in to his deep, throaty voice or his delicious lips. “I need you to answer something for me,” she said.
August finally got the hint that he couldn’t sway her by kissing her. This problem wasn’t going to simply vanish because they were physically attracted to one another. He sighed and backed up. “All right.”
“Are you going to be able to move past this?” She folded her arms. “Because if not, I’m….” She couldn’t bring herself to say that she didn’t think they’d work out. She absolutely did not want to break-up with this man. She’d fallen too far already.
“Define ‘this’,” he said.
Etta gestured to the enormous, luxury kitchen. The long dining room table. The huge living room that seated all twenty-four adults who came here for family meetings, plus their children. “This,” she said. “Who I am, and what I want to do