You, Me and a Palm Tree by Inglath Cooper

Author:Inglath Cooper [Cooper, Inglath]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

♪

MAMA IS COOKING when we get home. The wonderful smell of biscuits baking in the oven greets us at the door. Hank Junior and Patsy trot into the foyer, tails wagging hard at the sight of us.

Holden gives them each a rub, looking at me and saying, “I love your mom’s cooking. Can she stay forever?”

“I’d be happy about it,” I say, walking toward the kitchen. “We’re home, Mama.”

She smiles at the sight of us, smudges of flour on the green apron she’s wearing. “Hey, you two. Hope you don’t mind that I started dinner.”

“Mind?” Holden says, walking over to kiss her on the cheek. “We don’t want you to ever leave.”

“Aww,” she says. “You’d get tired of me eventually.”

“No, we wouldn’t,” I say, putting my arms around her and hugging her tight. Somehow, I need one of her hugs right now.

She presses her hand to the back of my hair, saying, “Everything all right, sweetie?”

“Yeah. We just stopped to see Mr. Gearly. I think he’s going to be okay.”

“You’ve both been wonderful to him.”

I shrug.

“You have,” she insists.

“Maybe it’s helping us get some closure,” I say.

She wraps me a little tighter in her arms, kissing my hair. “Speaking of staying forever, I’m sure you’re both ready to have your life back.”

I pull back a little to look in her eyes. “Does that mean you want to go back to Virginia?”

“No. Actually, I wanted to get your opinion on something,” she says, stepping back to look at us both with a suddenly serious expression.

“What?” I ask, instantly worried.

“Well, Case has asked me to marry him.”

“What?” I can’t hide my surprise.

Mama smiles then, and I can see how happy she is to tell us. “Oh, Mama, that’s wonderful.”

“It is, Mira,” Holden agrees. “Really.”

“Y’all don’t think I would be foolish to hope I could keep a man like Case?”

I hear her doubts then, and even though I understand the source of them, I know how lucky Case is to have her.

“Mira,” Holden says. “You’re the best thing to happen to Case in a long time. I think he knows that.”

“I just don’t want to look like some aging desperado—”

“Mama,” I admonish. “You are a beautiful woman. The woman Case Phillips fell in love with. He’s been walking around with a broken heart for a long time. You two are meant to be together.”

“You really think so?” she asks, clearly wanting to believe me.

“I do.”

“I love him,” she says.

“I know. I’m glad you’re finally admitting it.”

“So have you set a date?” Holden asks.

She shakes her head. “Case wants to get married right away. On the farm.”

“And?”

“It seems too soon,” she says. “After everything that’s happened—”

I glance at Holden. He gives me a small nod. “Mama, we don’t want you to wait because of us. I don’t think we should put off living. We never know how that’s going to go.”

A flash of pain crosses Mama’s face. “It seems wrong to be joyful when you’ve both lost so much.”

“It’s not,” I say. “We live. That’s our only choice.

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