Beard Necessities (Winston Brothers, #7)(106)

“I never thought I’d say this, and don’t take this as permission for future usurping of my glorious sausages, but I’m glad you bought those hot dogs.” Cletus took the seat next to Billy and me, turning to Jethro and Sienna on his other side. “Don’t you ever feed your children?”

Presently, as was our tradition on the last night, the adults were sitting around a second firepit not far from the kids. Most of us were sharing camping chairs except Roscoe and Simone who were sitting together on a blanket, and Jenn and Cletus as little Linus was asleep in Jenn’s arms.

Jethro sighed while Sienna laughed. “You’ll find out, Cletus, when Linus turns twelve or thirteen. Teenage boys eat their weight daily.”

“It’s scientific fact,” Beau chimed in, his tone completely serious. “I think I read somewhere teenage boys eat up to twice their weight every day.”

“You did not read that, Beauford.” Cletus sent my brother an unimpressed look, which only made the redhead laugh.

“I remember my brother eating all our leftovers when he was a teenager,” Simone said from her spot, lying between Roscoe’s legs, her back against his chest. “My mother told me she had to double every recipe until he was out of the house.”

“I can’t imagine what our momma’s grocery bill was every week, if that’s the case.” Roscoe turned his lips against Simone’s temple, giving her a kiss.

“It wasn’t so bad. She had creative ways of supplementing the store-bought groceries, which cut down on the total,” Billy said, and I studied him as his gaze seemed to turn inward.

For a long time, he’d struggled to reconcile his memory of Bethany with the woman who’d asked me to leave her son alone. I hated that, by sharing this secret, I’d tainted his view of his wonderful mother.

But one night when Jethro was visiting us in Nashville, the older Winston had quoted one of Bethany’s sayings: Don’t toss out a painting because you dislike one of the brushstrokes.

Bethany wasn’t perfect, but neither was I. Neither was Billy. I’d reminded him of the saying later that night, encouraging him to reevaluate how he’d been permitting this one, single, solitary decision of his mother’s to blemish a lifetime of love. That, at last, seemed to make a difference. It had allowed him to make peace.

“That’s right.” Duane pointed at Billy, nodding. “Didn’t she trade with the Hills? Deer meat for tutoring their kids?”

“Yeah. She had a similar deal with Mr. Badcock and his chickens and eggs,” Cletus said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

“Poor Mr. Badcock,” Jenn muttered, and I saw she and Cletus share a look across the fire.

“She traded with Mr. Badcock until we got our own chickens,” Ashley added softly from where she sat on Drew’s lap, absentmindedly twirling her husband’s long, blond hair around a finger.

“And the firewood trade with both Nancy Danvish and Old Man Blout for vegetables and the like,” Jethro said. “I remember cutting three cords of firewood one summer just to find out in the fall that she’d traded them for vegetables.”

“And then she made you eat the vegetables?” Sienna asked, amusement in her voice.

“That’s right. I thought for sure I’d be able to get out of eating those green beans, seeing as how I’d cut the wood.”

“Don’t forget the yellow squash,” Billy said.

“Ugh. I hate yellow squash.” Jethro made a face that reminded me so much of Constantine when I served him yellow squash, I almost lost my breath.

“What is it with you and yellow foods? Bananas, squash, corn.” Cletus poked at Jethro.

I felt Billy’s shoulders shake and I looked at him. He gave me his eyes as his laughter faded, leaving behind a happy smile.

The oldest Winston brother shrugged, his gaze moving to his wife, a slow spreading grin taking over his features. “I like papaya.”

“Isn’t that green on the outside and orange on the inside?” Roscoe asked.

“When it’s ripe, it turns yellow on the outside, and it’s my favorite,” Jethro went on, his eyes locked with Sienna’s.

“On that note—” Sienna stood, grabbing her husband’s hand to pull him up “—we should go round up the little ones and take them back to the house. It’s getting late.”

I could feel the reluctance to disband as everyone moved to do so, stretching and picking up their drinks. I watched from my place on Billy’s lap as each of the Winstons paired off with their mate.

Drew pulled Ashley close for a tender kiss, looking at her like she was responsible for everything beautiful in the world. Jessica walked backward, tugging Duane along with her, a sassy smile on her lips. Jethro and Sienna strolled out of the fire ring, hand in hand. Cletus walked over to Jenn and picked up their sleeping son, cradling him while Jenn stood and placed a kiss on Linus’s cheek first, then Cletus’s. Beau toyed with Shelly’s braid and she smiled her breathtaking smile, lifting a hand to cup his jaw. Once they were standing, Roscoe bent to whisper something in Simone’s ear and she laughed, reaching around to pinch his backside.

It was always at this point every year that I choked up a little and had to swallow against the lump of emotion in my throat. All this love, all these good people, I couldn’t believe I belonged among them. I’d been alone for so much of my life. As grateful as I was to be here, as much as I treasured these moments and this family, part of me feared these blessings wouldn’t last.