“Stop calling me that,” she says. She then looks at me and smiles. “He’s mad that I won’t take off to the courthouse and marry him on any given day. Lady friend is supposed to make me feel guilty.”
My body relaxes as I put names to faces and absorb their genuine kindness.
I see where Boone gets it from now.
A hand presses gently on my shoulder and I spin around. A set of the faintest green eyes look back at me.
“Hello,” says the woman directing traffic. “I’m Siggy Mason, Boone’s mother.”
“She’s my mom too!” Oliver shouts as he takes another box to the back bedroom.
Siggy rolls her eyes. “I’m the mother to all of the males here. Let me clarify so no one gets their feelings hurt.”
I laugh.
“I really hope I’m not overstepping any lines,” she says, a hint of concern in her eyes. “I sprang to action this morning when Boone called and it wasn’t until on the way over here when Bellamy asked if I’d talked to you. I probably should’ve done that.”
“Honestly, I’m overwhelmed in the best way.”
“If you don’t like anything we picked out, I’ll take it back. All of it. I’m the return queen,” she says, pressing her hands together as if in prayer. “But I truly just want to try to help out. It seems that you’ve had a lot put on your plate.”
I suck in a quick breath. “You could say that.”
“I’m terribly sorry to hear about your sister.”
A lump prickles against my throat. Instead of fighting it, I lean into it and acknowledge that it’s there. It helps it ease a little.
“Thank you,” I tell her. “We weren’t close so it’s not like that. But it still hurts. It’s still … sad.”
She nods. “Of course, it is. Do you have any family to help you at all?”
I glance around the room full of Masons. They laugh at and with each other. They show up to help each other. They bring what must be the entire children’s section of the local department store with them because their brother called needing help this morning.
“It’s just me,” I say, pulling my gaze back to her. “I have a cousin, but she’s … going through a lot right now. I haven’t even told her about Rosie.”
The prickling starts again in my throat as I look around the room for my niece. I can’t see her but hear her laughter coming from the kitchen.
I smile.
“Well, you have all of us,” Siggy says, returning my smile.
My body fills with an unimaginable warmth that starts in my toes and gets hotter as it floods my chest.
She winks. “We can be an overbearing brood, but our intentions are good.”
“I honestly can’t thank you enough. All of this is just …”
“You’re welcome. And if we miss anything, please let me know. I love shopping, and the only son of mine out of five to have a child is Coy, and it’s not here yet. And he and Bellamy—you haven’t met her, have you?”
I shake my head.
“She’s Coy’s wife. A complete and utter doll. You’ll love her. Anyway, they’ve put me on a spending cap, and it’s making me twitchy.”
I laugh. “That sounds terrible.”
“It is.” She gestures for me to follow her to the kitchen. “I’ll survive, I’m sure, but I would like a little freedom. It’s hard when your children start giving you boundaries. I’m not good with them. So, if you don’t mind, please use me. I’m a mom. That’s what my job is.”
“I appreciate you, Siggy, I do. And while I’m here, I’ll remember that.”
She looks at me over her shoulder. “Are you going somewhere?”
We stop in the doorway. The refrigerator is propped open while Blaire fills the void with milk, eggs, fruit, cheeses, meats, and piles of other food items. Boone and his brothers argue about jets over large pans of steak and gravy, mashed potatoes, and the yellowest corn I’ve ever seen. Rosie sits on top of the counter right in the middle of it all. I don’t know her well yet, of course, but the look on her face seems like contentment. Even though her whole life has been turned upside down, there’s a tiny smile on her adorable, sweet face, and it brings tears to my eyes.
She’s calm.
She might even be happy.
I sniffle and turn my attention back to Siggy’s questioning gaze.
“Well, yes, eventually,” I tell her. “I mean, I’m sure Boone doesn’t want a woman and her niece living with him for the rest of his life.”
“Hmm.”
I have no idea what that means, so I smile.
“Can I do anything to pay you back for all of this?” I ask her. “I can—”
“You can keep this child of mine fed so he stops coming to my house and raiding my refrigerator.” She grins. “Now let’s eat. Coy, get your finger out of the potatoes. Were you raised in a barn?”