I had no idea what to say to that, so I nodded and left her to film the deputies putting a handcuffed Alan Samson in the back of their patrol car.
The band was keeping the crowd entertained with their catalog, as well as some country hits, and it turned out that Meira had a lovely voice. Gene and Dez were on the porch trying to sort out their lives. Danielle and Beth were sitting in the chairs on the opposite end of the porch, Danielle on her phone and Beth with her face in her hands.
Nick and I walked up the stairs, and he stopped to look at them. After a moment, Danielle ended her call, and Beth lifted her head, mopped at her eyes with the tissues in her hand, and stared at her brother.
There was a resemblance between the three of them, but it was vague. Same hair color, same eyes, but interestingly enough, Nick had the most delicate features, chiseled and fine, the fullest lips, the longest lashes, and cheekbones that you could cut yourself on. There was also the life in him, the vitality you could feel rolling off him, that you wanted to touch, be near, soak up and savor.
“Nick.” Danielle managed to get out his name.
“You look so different, like Mom,” he told her.
She nodded.
“I didn’t come after your father to ruin your lives. It was just time,” he explained. “And I can’t have him hurt any more horses. Now, what he did to me is another—”
“Nick,” Beth began, her face crumpling, “you can’t expect Dad to have reacted any differently when he found out you were gay. The very idea that, being the kind of man he is, that he could have fathered a sodomite is—”
“I’m bisexual, actually,” he clarified for her. “Not that you care, but it is general knowledge. I am curious to know what kind of man he is, though.”
She looked confused. “He’s a man’s man, Nick. He hunts and fishes, he runs a farm, can fix his own car. I just mean manly and strong.”
“Which I’m not, of course,” Nick said flatly.
“You’re artistic.”
He looked over his shoulder at me, and I was going to say something, argue and rail, but honestly, it wasn’t going to make an iota of difference. People couldn’t say she was ignorant because she was raised on a horse farm, because so was Nick. And it wasn’t a Kentucky thing, because at least a hundred people had just clapped and whistled when Nick announced he was marrying me. It was the toxic house they grew up in. I had to wonder how different things would have been if his mother had lived.
“I’m going out to Mom’s grave tomorrow, if you wanted to come back and go with me.”
“Nick,” she said, voice shaking, “my husband has been taken to jail, my father is there awaiting sentencing, Dani’s life is exploding, and we came up here to get money from you! Why on earth would I be concerned with my mother’s gravesite?”
He nodded. “Absolutely.”
When I walked around him to the screen door, I held it open for him as he turned from her to head in.
“Wait!” she yelled at him. “I need to get the money from you for Dad so—”
“Oh no,” he told her, shaking his head. “We’re done, Beth, all three of us. It’s okay. I have Gwen and Efrem, and I’m about to get married, so instant family, you know? You take care now.”
As he walked by me, I followed him in and closed the door. When I heard the door open, there was throat clearing. Turning, I saw Efrem in the doorway, shaking his head.
“I think you should get on down to the jail now and arrange bail for your husband,” Efrem informed Beth.
“But Nick’s not going to press charges,” she told her uncle. “Why would he?”
“Your husband discharged a weapon,” he reminded her. “It’s still reckless endangerment, if he doesn’t get charged with attempted manslaughter.”
I could hear her shrieking from the kitchen, where I flopped down beside Nick at the table. Gwen was standing near the stove and turned to smile at us.
“It’s so exciting when you all visit,” she teased us.
Nick snorted out a laugh, and I groaned and put my head down at the table.
“Who wants a sandwich before the rest of the concert?”
“Oh yes, please,” Nick said happily, hand in my hair. “I think my baby needs a nap.”
“Don’t call me––”
“My boyfriend, how’s that?”
“Not any better.”
“Look at this ring on his finger, Gwen, doesn’t this look good?”
“It certainly does. It’s a glorious thing to find the person who belongs to you.”
“It is,” he murmured, moving my hair so he could kiss my cheek. “You have no idea how much I wanted him to be mine. I’m still amazed that all my dreams came true.”