Big Man For Christmas

“Just sleep on it,” she said. “I’m sure it’ll all look better in the morning.”

I hung up shortly after that because that wasn’t the conversation that I wanted to have. And it didn’t look better in the morning. In fact, it looked so, so much worse. Because then I was seeing all the signs that I missed and feeling like a complete idiot for missing them and letting myself be treated that way.

Now, my mom is looking at me, confused. “Of course I do.”

“Do you remember the part of the conversation where I told you that Tyler and I were over? That we’d broken up and that it was permanent because he’s spent the last four years cheating on me?”

She points behind me and I see my bag coming around the belt. I grab it and she pats me on the arm. “We’ll see.” She’s still smiling, and I fight the urge to yell at her in the middle of the airport. There is no seeing this. It is done.

Leading me out the doors, I see my dad waiting by the car, watching to make sure they’re not going to make him circle again. “Hey, Kiddo,” he says when he sees me, his eyes lighting up. He wraps me in a hug, and I sink into him. I’ve always been a daddy’s girl, no matter what.

“Where’s Tyler?” he asks, and I freeze again. Am I going to have to do this every time? Why? I thought I’d made myself clear. Apparently not.

I look at my mother. “You didn’t tell him?”

“Of course not,” she says, grabbing my suitcase off the sidewalk and moving it into the trunk. “I didn’t tell anyone.”

“You have got to be kidding me.”

My dad frowns. “What’s going on?”

“Tyler and I broke up,” I tell him. “Three days ago. Because I found out that he’s been cheating on me for our entire relationship, and that’s not something that I’ll tolerate.”

Anger sparks in Dad’s eyes, but I keep speaking before he can. “But Mom decided not to tell anyone, even though I called her right away. So now I’m going to have to have every person asking me when he’s showing up as if nothing has happened.”

Mom passes me and opens the passenger door, and before she gets in, she deliberately rolls her eyes. “It wasn’t a real break-up.”

She closes the door behind her, effectively making that the punctuation in her statement. Dad has questions in his eyes, but I just shake my head. I’ll talk to him later. I get in the back of the car and lean back against the seat.

My mother has chosen a side, and it’s going be a long ride back to Elgin. A long, silent ride. I might as well close my eyes and pretend to sleep. Especially since I’m going to have to face everyone asking about Tyler.

Dad meets my eyes in the rearview mirror, and I see his apology. All I do is smile at him. Because what else can I do?2CaseyI heave the bag of feed over my shoulder and toss it into the back of my truck. Fifty pounds isn’t much on its own, but after lifting and tossing twenty of those bags my arms are a little tired. But it’s worth it.

Darlene and Jemma are giving me longing looks, and I savor them a little more than I probably should. After all, I have exactly what the pretty ladies want. That was the last bag of feed, so I don’t see why I can’t give them a little treat. They’ll eat it up.

Striding around the side of my truck, I dig out the bag of emergency beef jerky from the glove compartment and choose two pieces. “Here, girls! Beg for it.”

The two beautiful hounds come running and sit up on their back legs with perfect manners. As often as I come here, I have them trained. Every time they wait for me to finish loading up all my bags of feed so they can get a treat, and I always make sure that I have treats ready for them.

“You’re going to spoil them,” a voice calls.

“You say that every time.”

Red shuts the door to the feed mill, shuffling as he does. “It’s true I do. And you never listen.”

“That’s because they’re such excellent girls,” I say, leaning down to pet them. I love on them because I don’t have a pet of my own. The cattle and farm provide me with enough work that it doesn’t seem practical to get a dog, though I would love one.

“You been around town recently?” Red asks.

“No more or less than usual,” I say.

He whistles. “You wouldn’t believe some of the shit that’s going on around here. Stan Williams nearly got his head cut off by a combine because he got too drunk and decided it was a good idea to operate the damn thing at night. And the Harrison’s daughter ran off with a singer from Nashville. A singer. Neither one of them got a penny to their names but they think they’re gonna make it big.”