Yes, of course I care about your feelings, he thought to himself. That’s why I’m doing what I’m doing. But he said nothing. After almost a quarter century on the ranch together, they’d become masters in the art of silent conversation.
He took another sip of coffee, listening to the clink of the spatula in the pan.
“No problems this morning,” he said instead. “I checked the stitches on the calf that got caught up in the barbed wire, and she’s doing fine.”
“Good.” Having set aside the spatula, she reached up into the cabinets and pulled down some plates. “Let’s just serve up at the stove, okay?”
He set his coffee cup on the table, then retrieved the jelly and the butter from the refrigerator. By the time he’d served up, his mom was already at the table. He grabbed the toast, handed her one of the pieces, then moved the coffeepot to the table as well.
“We need to get the pumpkins ready this week,” she reminded him, reaching for the pot. No eye contact, no morning hug… not that he’d expected it. “And we’ve got to get the maze set up, too. The hay will be arriving Tuesday. And you have to carve a bunch of pumpkins.”
Half of the pumpkin crop had already been sold to the First Baptist Church in King, but they opened the ranch on the weekends for people to buy the remainder. One of the highlights for the kids – and thus a draw for the adults – was a maze built out of hay bales. His father had sparked to the idea when Luke was young, and over the years the maze had grown increasingly complex. Walking through had become something of a local tradition.
“I’ll take care of it,” he said. “Is the layout still in the desk drawer?”
“Assuming you put it back last year, it should be.”
Luke buttered and jellied his toast, neither of them saying anything.
In time, his mother sighed. “You got in late last night,” she said. She reached for the butter and jelly when he was finished with them.
“You were up? I didn’t notice any lights on.”
“I was sleeping. But I woke up just as your truck was pulling in.”
He doubted that was the complete truth. The windows in her bedroom didn’t face the drive, which meant she would have been in the living room. Which also meant she’d been waiting up, worried about him.
“I stayed late with a couple of friends. They talked me into it.”
She kept her focus on her plate. “I figured.”
“Did you get my text?”
“I got it,” she said, adding nothing more. No questions about how the ride went, no questions about how he felt, no concern about the aches and pains she knew he was experiencing. Instead, her aura expanded, filling the room. Heartache and anger dripped from the ceiling, seeped from the walls. He had to admit, she was pretty good at administering the guilt trip.
“Do you want to talk about it?” he finally asked.
For the first time, she looked across the table at him. “Not really.”
Okay, he thought. But despite her anger, he still missed talking to her. “Can I ask you a question, then?”
He could practically hear the gears beginning to turn as she readied herself for battle. Ready to leave him alone at the table while she ate on the porch.
“What size shoe do you wear?” he asked.
Her fork froze in midair. “My shoe size?”
“Someone might be coming by later,” he said. He shoveled some eggs onto his fork. “And she might need to borrow some boots. If we go riding.”
For the first time in weeks, she couldn’t hide her interest. “Are you talking about a girl?”
He nodded, continuing to eat. “Her name is Sophia. I met her last night. She said she wanted to check out the barn.”
His mom blinked. “Why does she care about the barn?”
“I don’t know. It was her idea.”
“Who is she?” Luke detected a flicker of curiosity in his mother’s expression.
“She’s a senior at Wake Forest. She’s from New Jersey. And if we go riding, she might need boots. That’s why I was asking about your shoe size.”
Her confusion let him know that for the first time in forever, she was thinking about something other than the ranch. Or bull riding. Or the list of things she wanted to finish before the sun went down. But the effect was only temporary, and she concentrated on her plate again. In her own way, she was just as stubborn as he was. “Seven and a half. There’s an old pair in my closet she’s welcome to use. If they fit.”
“Thanks,” he said. “I was going to split some wood before she gets here, unless there’s something else you want me to do.”