a lot of heart—the latter of which her husband had in spades.
“Yeah. And Mom called. The headstone for Dad’s grave finally arrived.”
Angela stood and walked to her husband, wrapping her arms around his stomach, which softly bulged over the waistband of his khakis. His pregnancy sympathy weight, he called it. Two years later and it had become a permanent feature. She didn’t care, though, considering her own extra twenty pounds. “I’m sorry. That must have been difficult.” She planted a kiss on his lips.
He pecked her briefly, but his thoughts seemed elsewhere. Still, she allowed herself the luxury of being held. Since his father’s death a month before, he’d been busy checking on his mom and helping her with finances and such; plus there was always some crisis at work. She’d had to hold down the fort at home even more than usual, but she didn’t mind doing her part. Sherry was family, and she was alone now. Angela couldn’t imagine how that must feel.
Wes’s arms squeezed and released her. He took her hand in his and played with the ring on her finger. It was simple, a gold band with a half-karat diamond, but he’d been so proud to present it to her on their fifth wedding anniversary after saving a little from every paycheck. “So, Brent asked me to go climbing with him this weekend.”
“At the gym? You should go.” Wes could use an outlet for all of his stress.
“Actually, he suggested the Adirondacks. Make it a whole weekend trip.”
“Oh.” Angela bit her bottom lip. That would leave her alone all weekend with the kids, and there was the church-wide BBQ on Saturday. It was always difficult to keep track of everyone by herself, but she could manage if Wes needed her to. “All right.”
“Really? You’re okay with that?”
“Yes.” She rose on her tiptoes and kissed him again. “So long as you come back to me in one piece.” She laughed the comment off, but part of her meant it. Brent was known to pull some crazy stunts—had been doing it his whole life. Still, Wes always knew how to rein in his little brother.
Her husband gathered her back into his arms. “Of course. It’s all perfectly safe.”
Angela’s hand trembled at the memory. Wes had been wrong. Living Brent’s lifestyle came with taking chances—and Wes had bought into it. Of course, most of the time things were safe. But why take the chance when you didn’t have to?
“I’m sorry, Eva. The answer is no.”
“But—”
“Hey, Mom. Look!” Lilly’s voice cut through the strain.
Angela turned her attention back to the tree house, and her heart nearly leapt from her chest. Zach had a harness fastened to him, and the guide squatted at his level, giving him instructions. Her son nodded, concentration visible on his face. Then the guide stood and slipped a helmet onto Zach’s head.
She raced toward the platform. “Wait! Stop!”
The guide looked up, confused. “What’s the problem?”
Angela grabbed Zach and hauled him toward the stairs, away from the edge. A gasp flew from her mouth at seeing how high up they were. “Don’t you need some sort of waiver or permission slip to allow children to zip-line?”
“I slipped away during breakfast to sign the waivers at the main office in town.” Eva’s voice spoke up behind her, quieter than usual. “I didn’t know you’d have a problem with it.”
Angela tried closing her eyes, but all she saw was red. Finally, she faced her sister-in-law again. “Can we talk?” After ensuring Marc was watching the kids, Angela led Eva back down the stairs and up the path where no one could overhear.
“Eva, I know you mean well, but these aren’t your kids. They’re mine. My responsibility. Do you understand what that means?” Her words chafed, leaving her throat raw.
“I just wanted to help.” And there was the telltale tremble in Eva’s voice. The woman’s shoulders slumped and she chewed her thumbnail. A tear trickled down her cheek.
Great. Now Angela looked like the big bad wolf blowing down a little piggy’s house. She rubbed her nose. “I know you’re trying. And you’re a fun and wonderful aunt. But you just don’t seem to get the fact that my number one priority is keeping my kids safe and protected. And when you go against me like this, I end up looking like a stick-in-the-mud to my kids.” Of course, it went deeper than that, but Angela didn’t want to explore those thoughts at the moment.