“Are you there?”
“Yeah. Sorry. I’m not sure, Jace.”
“About what?”
“About later this week. There’s a lot going on.”
“How about this, let’s meet for a drink, or coffee. The pass is still open, it won’t take me that long to get there.”
“Well…”
“It’s just coffee, Irene. Then you can tell me whatever it is you don’t want to tell me on the phone.”
She forgot. He knew her, too. Maybe not as well as Billy did, but he knew her.
“Okay. When?”
“Tomorrow.”
“That works, let’s meet at…”
“I’ll pick you up at the ranch, that way I can see Ben and Uncle Bud and Aunt Ginny too. It’ll be great to see them again.”
Oh. This was turning into more than coffee. He wanted to stage a mini-family reunion.
“I’ll leave early and text you when I do.”
“That sounds…”
“I can’t wait to see you, Irene. I missed you.”
“Me too.” Wait, what was she saying? Why was she telling him she’d missed him?
“Great. Tomorrow it is. I’ll get there around nine. But as I said, I’ll text you when I leave Aspen.”
He sounded so excited. Way too excited. She should tell him not to come. But he was right, she had a lot to tell him, and it would be easier to do in person.
“Good morning.”
“Hi, Mom.”
“That’s not a very enthusiastic greeting. What’s up? Missin’ Billy?”
“Yeah, I miss him.” Even though he’d been gone less than two days. They were back to texting and talking several times a day, but it didn’t make it any easier. They talked via Facetime too, but he hadn’t asked her to talk to Willow yet. Maybe he was waiting for her to ask.
“There’s more.”
“There is? What’s up?”
“Jace is back in town. He wants to come to Crested Butte and have coffee with me.”
“Oh. You haven’t talked much about him. Are you…you know, going to?”
“Yeah, I am. I figured it would be easier to see him face-to-face. Oh, by the way, do you know where that postcard went? He asked about it, and I told him I hadn’t seen it. I’d hate for it to be in plain sight when he gets here tomorrow.”
“It’s right here,” Liv said, pulling it out from under a stack of other mail. “I need to sort through this today. Wait, did you say when he gets here tomorrow?”
“I know. He wants to see Ben. Bud and Ginny too.”