I hadn’t even come home for Kaci’s funeral, knowing Dirk would be there. I couldn’t take seeing him again and watching him grieve. Even though Kaci had ended up marrying Brock Shaw, a part of me knew Dirk had given her his heart long ago. It had to be the reason he was still single and hadn’t settled down yet. He was still in love with her.
Even now my eyes felt as if they would burst with tears, so I closed them, took in a few deep breaths, and then opened them once more. I hated that my heart still belonged to a man who didn’t want it. Who didn’t even deserve to have it. I hated him for making me still feel this way.
“I should probably get going. I’m meeting Channing there,” I said, pushing away my thoughts of Dirk.
Mom shook her head. “Do the men not come and pick up the women anymore?”
“They do, Mom. Just not in this case. Remember, casual.”
I grabbed my purse and sweater and made my way out of my bedroom and through the house.
“Have fun, sweetheart.”
“I will. What are you going to do?” I asked her with a wink.
She shrugged. “Stella asked if I wanted to join her and a few other women from her knitting club. They’re thinking of going out tonight. Girls’ night out.”
I smiled. “You should go!”
“They mentioned going to the street dance. I don’t want you to think I’m checking up on you.”
Laughing, I shook my head. “Mom, I’m not going to think that. Go, have fun!”
Her cheeks turned pink as she blushed. “I think I will go. It’s been forever since I went out with my friends.”
“Go, Mom. You’ll have fun.”
With a quick nod, she replied, “I will.”
The entire drive into Hamilton, I cursed myself out for making my mother feel bad. I hated what my father did to her. What he did to all of us. His betrayal and selfishness cut so deep to the bone, and I couldn’t even begin to understand how my mother felt. Men were assholes. Every single one of them, and I hated that I felt that way, too. I truly did want to meet someone, fall madly in love, and have kids someday. But the prospects were pretty slim.
With a sigh, I shook my head. “How can you do all those things with your life, Merit, when you’re hung up on the biggest asshole of them all?”
An older gentleman waved a lighted baton for me to pull into a parking area. Once I was parked and got out of the car, I looked at the mountains in the distance. They were covered with snow that looked pink from the sun lowering in the sky. Goodness, I would never tire of this view. How I had missed it while in New York. The mountains had been one of the main things I’d missed, besides my family and the farm, of course. After I pulled my gaze from the landscape off in the distance, I started walking toward the street dance. I texted Channing.
Me: I’m here. Where should we meet?
I kept walking, and when he didn’t text back, I worried that maybe he had forgotten. Or worse yet, had changed his mind. Then, my phone buzzed.
Channing: Over by the chicken on a stick booth!
“Gross,” I mumbled as I weaved my way through the people. Where in the hell was the chicken-on-a-stick booth?
“Merit!”
The voice was familiar, and I turned to see Timberlynn Holden—no, it was Shaw now, I corrected myself. She stood there with a huge smile on her face.
“Hey, Timberlynn. Congratulations are in order. I heard you and Ty were recently married.”
She beamed, and I could practically feel the happiness oozing off of her. “Yes! We got married a week ago, on May twenty-fifth! We’re going to take a honeymoon probably this fall. I’d like to go to France, maybe Italy.”
“That would be amazing.”
“Lincoln had her baby, did you hear?”
I smiled. “I did, congratulations. It’s a boy, right?”
“Yes, Hunter Mason Shaw. He’s almost three weeks old! He was born right before we got married. It’s been a busy month in the Shaw household,” she said, grinning.
“I bet he’s handsome,” I said with a grin.
Timberlynn smiled even wider.
“Hey, if it isn’t Merit Eden!” Ty Shaw said as he walked up with his pregnant wife, Kaylee. Ty was the oldest of the Shaw brothers, followed by Brock, Beck, who had died in the Marines, and then Tanner. He was the youngest and had married Timberlynn.
“Hey, Ty. How are you?” I asked as Ty leaned down and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
“I’m doing good. Merit, do you know my wife, Kaylee?”
I smiled. “I do. We’ve met a few times.”
“You never came back to knitting class,” Kaylee said, a twinkle in her eyes.
“Well, it’s been really busy on the family farm trying to get everything ready for the you-pick-it season.”