Renie’s prediction had been correct about how Ben’s two sons would react to news that soon they would have a little brother or sister. Both of them were overjoyed, and Luke had a million questions. He told them he thought Liv was too old to have more babies, just as his own mother told him she was.
“Never at a loss for inappropriate commentary, are ya, partner?” Ben laughed.
Liv laughed and kissed the top of Luke’s head. “He’s being honest. Nothing wrong with that.”
Billy was distracted throughout dinner, and nobody missed it.
“What’s going on with you two?” her mother asked when she and Renie were cleaning up the kitchen.
“He’s bringing Willow here, for Thanksgiving.”
“He is?”
“I’m sorry, Mom. I should have asked first.”
“Don’t be silly, you don’t need to ask. In fact, Ginny and I were talking about Thanksgiving a few days ago. Ben and I will be happy to host it here. I’ll invite Dottie and Bill. They usually host a big dinner for the ranch hands, so I’m not sure they’ll be able to make it, but it sure would be wonderful if they could.”
Liv said she planned to invite Paige and Mark too, and asked Renie how she felt about inviting Blythe.
“Are the two of you speaking yet?”
“Why wouldn’t we be?”
Renie hadn’t thought about Blythe at all. Which made her a terrible friend, but they’d gone weeks without talking before, how was this different?
“She’s hurt and confused that you never told her about you and Billy, and she feels bad about asking you to fix her up with him.”
“Oh. I hadn’t thought about that.”
There was so much she hadn’t thought about in the last eight months, much of which involved other people’s feelings. How many other people had she inadvertently hurt?
“I’ll call her tomorrow. I feel awful about it. It hadn’t occurred to me that Blythe would be upset.”
“You’ve
been living in your own little world the past few months, and I suppose you’ve been entitled to it.” Liv sighed. “We’re used to you being the strong one in our little patchwork family. It’s been difficult for us to get used to how different you’ve been.”
“I’m sorry, Mom.”
“Don’t be. What I’m saying is that we need to cut you some slack and let you show your emotions, the same way the rest of us do.
“Speaking of Thanksgiving, did you see the postcard that came from Jace?” her mother whispered.
“No, I didn’t. Where is it?”
Liv pointed at the stack of mail on the kitchen counter. “You might want to look at it later, when Billy isn’t around.”
“By the way, he’s not going back right away.”
“He’s not?”
Billy joined them in the kitchen. “What are you two jabberin’ about?”
“Thanksgiving. My mom is asking your mom and dad to join us. Paige and Mark, too.”
He wrapped his arm around Renie’s waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. “We’ll all be back together again.”
“We’ll do it here. Maybe your folks can get someone else to host Thanksgiving back at your place. They’ve been doing it every year for as long as I can remember.”