the sink. She washed her hands and splashed cold water on her face. She covered her face as she dried it with a towel, and then took deliberate seconds to dry between each finger.
With a big sigh, she turned to face him again. “Let me get the pie in, and then we can talk more about you and Tam.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Blaine said, though he sort of did. He hadn’t mentioned the relationship to anyone but Spur, but everyone had to know. Maybe they didn’t, though, as Blaine had dropped things in his life to go help Tam in the past.
“Okay,” Mom said, her voice pitched too high. “You can talk about whatever you want.” She finished the pie, and Blaine just watched as she laid the top pie crust she’d already prepared over the filling she’d mixed with butter, sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
With that in the oven, she took out a pan of sausage links, and one full of bacon. “Should I go see if Daddy can get up and join us?” She looked at Blaine for permission, and he gave it. She bustled off to do that, and Blaine snuck three or four pieces of bacon while she was gone.
Her phone started to ring just as he heard Daddy’s slow, thudding footsteps start to come down the hall.
Alex’s name sat on the screen, and shock traveled through Blaine. Had his mother texted her when he wasn’t looking? He dismissed the idea. He’d been watching her the whole time.
“Who is that, dear?” she called from the mouth of the hallway. She did not let go of Daddy, though, her devotion to him pure and strong. Blaine watched them for a step, then two, his desire to have a good, strong woman at his side when he was seventy-six-years-old growing and growing.
“It’s Alex,” he said, and Mom looked up quickly, her eyes widening.
“Don’t answer it,” she said as the last ring died.
“I wasn’t going to.”
“When I call her back…” Mom clicked her tongue and shook her head. “She better start prayin’ right now.”
“What’s this about?” Daddy asked, looking from Blaine to Mom.
“I can’t tell it again,” Blaine said. “Mom will fill you in.” He went around the island and retrieved the spatula again. “How many pieces of toast do you want, Daddy?”
Blaine pulled his phone from his back pocket as it started to ring. Cayden’s name sat on the screen, and Blaine resisted the urge to break into a jog. “I know,” he said instead of hello. “I’m literally on my way.”
“Just wondering,” Cayden said. “I don’t care, but you should see Spur.” He was whispering by the time he finished speaking. “He’s pacing like a hungry lion.”
“He’s just nervous,” Blaine said. “Trey’s there, right?” As the four eldest brothers, Spur, Cayden, Trey, and Blaine got along really well.
“No,” Cayden said. “He’s late too. TJ was in the hay loft of the southeast barn.”
“Again?” Blaine asked, sighing. “He’ll be over at Beth’s forever, then.”
“Probably,” Cayden said. “I’ve got Spur. It’s fine. If you’re—”
“I’m on my way,” Blaine said, reaching his truck. “I’m getting in the truck. I’ll be there in ten minutes.” It was a fifteen-minute drive to the men’s wear store where Spur was trying on tuxedos for his wedding, but Blaine knew how to shave off a few minutes.
Spur and Olli had set a date for an August wedding, and that meant they only had nine weeks to get everything together. Spur had shoulders that didn’t fit into a normal shirt or suit coat, and that meant time in tailoring. A second fitting, and possibly a third.
The call with Cayden ended, and Blaine had the thought to call Trey and see if he needed a ride. If he’d found TJ in the barn, he’d likely walked the little boy home.
He pushed the button on the back of his steering wheel and waited for the beep to come through the speakers. “Call Trey,” he said loudly.
Another pause, and then the truck said, “Calling Trey.”
The line rang, and Blaine slowed as he neared the end of the dirt lane that was their driveway. He came to a stop and waited for his brother to pick up. He didn’t, and his voicemail kicked on.
Blaine hung up, because he didn’t need to leave a message. Trey would see he’d called, and he’d either call back or he wouldn’t. Blaine hesitated for a moment, looking left. He had to go that way to get to town, and Bethany Dixon’s