“No. Let’s go inside the house. Logan said he was hungry on the way home.” Dustin lifted Logan into his arms, carrying his son inside.
“I grilled some hot dogs. They’re cold, but I can heat them up.” Sutton opened the screen door, letting everyone file inside.
Holly took Greer’s arm, not letting him go inside. She waited until they were all gone before letting Greer have it.
“Quit saying you’re going to give him an ass whipping! He’ll repeat that when he goes back to school. He’s had a traumatic experience. We need to be gentle and considerate of his needs.”
“He had a fucking a traumatic experience? You’re the one who had a traumatic experience. You lost your shit! Dustin had a traumatic experience. Imagine Dustin when we realized he was headed for the lake and we didn’t know if we would find him alive or dead. He crossed a fucking road. How many dead deer have we passed on that fucking road? He’s seven years old, not a fucking baby. He knows better! He’s going to get an ass whipping he’ll never forget!”
“Greer, do you want to marry me?”
“You know I do!” He ran a shaking hand through his hair.
“You still want to have children?”
“You know I do.”
“Then we might as well settle this now. I’m not going to spank our children. It’s Dustin’s job to punish Logan. You should stay out of it. Besides, I have every faith Dustin will find a punishment that will equal the spanking you want to give him.”
Greer had a hot temper. He might as well learn now that she wouldn’t consider spankings an option.
“Fine, have it your way!”
Holly was relieved that Greer could be sensible to her wishes and considerations. Then he blew it.
“But if I don’t like the punishment Dustin gives him, I’m still giving him the ass whipping.” He stormed into the house, the screen door slamming closed behind him.
Holly went inside, glad to see Logan wasn’t bent over Dustin’s knee. Instead, the boy was eating his hot dog with a huge mound of potato chips on his plate and two cookies.
Rachel and Sutton sat by the boy. From their eyes, she realized the women were standing guard, making sure he didn’t get the spanking and didn’t get relieved of the cookies they had given him.
Holly went to the kitchen to make herself a plate, moving to the side to get past Tate as he made his.
She had reached for a plate when she heard the sound of breaking glass. Startled, she turned to see Tate pale as a ghost, clutching the counter, his plate of food on the floor.
“Tate, are you okay?” Frightened, she saw his eyes focus on her, then his family as they stood up from the table.
“I’m fine. Finish your meal.” He started to bend down to pick up the plate.
“I’ll do it.” Sutton cast her husband a worried glance, taking out the broom and dustpan from the pantry. “Go sit down. I’ll make you another plate.”
“I’m not hungry.” Tate went to sit down with his family.
Holly had lost her appetite at seeing the Porters staring at each other. Apprehensively, she sat down beside Greer, her hand going to his knee under the table.
“You heard them, didn’t you?” Greer asked, putting his hand over hers.
“Yes.”
“What did he hear?” Holly stared at them, waiting for someone to answer. It was Greer.
“Logan, go sit on the couch and eat your food.”
Not wanting to press his luck, Logan carried his plate to the other room.
Greer waited until Dustin went into the living room and turned on cartoons before coming back. “He heard the death bells. It makes twice he heard them this month.”
“Does that mean something?”
“It means Death is close. Someone Tate has come into contact with today is going to …”
“He was in the kitchen with me. Is it me?” Holly still didn’t really believe in the Porters’ gift, but faced with her possible mortality, it sent a spine-chilling finger up her back.
“No, it could have been someone he was around this morning or this afternoon. There was a large group of men who arrived at the lake when we were there.”
“Should we cancel the wedding?”
Greer pushed his food away. “It wouldn’t matter. We can’t stop it. It could be tonight, tomorrow, or next week when Death strikes. That’s why they just give us warning, so we can’t prevent it from happening.”
“This is creeping me out.” She leaned against Greer, letting his strength warm her. Then she frowned when he pulled away.
At first, she was hurt. Then she realized what he was doing. He was conserving his strength. She stared, focusing on the family around the table and thinking how many times they had asked her to leave the room with Logan. Keeping this part of their family to themselves, they had asked Logan to go into the other room, because he was too young. They hadn’t asked her to leave this time, because she was now a part of their family. It was time she started acting like it.