Barking up the Wrong Tree by Janice Thompson

Author:Janice Thompson [Janice Thompson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781636094519
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2023-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

After the early service the following morning, Tyler and I stopped off at the store to pick up flowers for Mama, then headed off to Navasota. He offered to drive, which left me free to ride in the passenger seat. It felt kind of cool to be headed home with someone else behind the wheel—someone, I should add, who actually seemed really excited about going.

I kept turning around to check on Little Bit, who seemed to be doing well in her new car seat. I felt better with her safely secured in it than in my lap, though I would have loved the idea of snuggling with her as Tyler drove.

He turned down the radio, but the sound of a country song still played in the background as we talked … which we did in abundance.

Or, rather, he did. I mostly listened.

Tyler carried on and on about fishing. Turned out, he was really looking forward to seeing my brother again.

“I wish you could’ve met my older brother, Cleo. He works offshore on an oil rig, so he’s only in town a few weeks a year.”

“That’s some family, Kristin.”

“Yeah. I’ve always thought of them as being a little too quirky, but maybe I’m just biased in the wrong direction. You know?

“Quirky is okay,” he responded. “And I think it’s probably normal to see the flaws in your own people more than others.”

“I guess.”

“I guess I’ve been talking a lot today,” he said with a crooked grin. “Sorry about that.”

“Are you kidding? I love it.” I turned my attention out of the window to the beautiful landscape. The road between Brenham and Navasota was winding and beautiful, and the bright overhead sun caused ripples of light to cascade down through the pine trees that framed the road on either side.

I smiled, feeling more at home here—with Tyler—than I had expected. It felt good.

A couple of miles before we arrived in Navasota, I decided I’d better start paying more attention to directions.

“Turn right at the next corner,” I instructed him.

He slowed and took the turn, smiling all the while. “I haven’t been through Navasota in years,” he said. “I used to drive through on my way to A&M, of course. But that was a while ago.”

Felt like eons, actually.

A couple of minutes later, we pulled into the long drive and I took in my family’s home, trying to see it through Tyler’s eyes.

The ranch-style home was old—built in the ‘50s, in fact—but Pop kept it in great shape. On the property to the right of the house stood the family’s antique shop. Even from here I could see all of the cars in the parking lot. Looked like the Antique Barn was doing a great business, even after all these years.

I got the dog out of the car seat and clipped on a leash. The moment I set her in the grass, she did her business and then tried to take off running in several directions at once.

“Looks like she’s a country dog at heart,” Tyler said.

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