Outside, everyone’s smile disappeared as Peg animatedly told what I knew had to be the nightmare of losing Mama. Foxy’s blue-tipped nails covered her frown as her head shook. Jinx rounded the side of the van and clasped Pa’s shoulder. More condolences, I was sure. Wanting no part in it, I gathered the sandwiches and started divvying them out to the young’uns sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the baby swings as if they were the twins’ guardians.

“Who’s here, Ox?” Charlotte asked, eyeing Raleigh in a way that told me it was a question he wanted answered. He’d not spoken much since last October. Couldn’t blame him. I didn’t too much care for sharing words either anymore.

“I’m hoping it’s a remedy.”

“Like a doctor?” Charlotte questioned before taking a bite of her sandwich.

“Like a healer.”

Not caring for my answer, Boss finished the last bite of his sandwich, hopped up from the floor, and joined me in peeking out the window. “Foxy!” Bits of food flew from his mouth as he shouted enthusiastically. He nearly made me topple over with his hasty retreat out the back door.

I gathered everyone else to go join the welcome wagon.

Pa introduced each of us by our actual names but barely got the babies’ names past his lips. Foxy was nice enough but when I tried handing Knox to her, she took a step backward and patted him on his bald head instead. Like how someone ain’t a dog person but can appreciate the cuteness of a puppy from a polite distance.

Her standoffish behavior was a bummer, because I was hoping the healing she could bring to the farm would be that of a motherly kind, being’s that I was the worst at it. She and Jinx were two adults, nonetheless, so at least we weren’t stuck with just one broken adult any longer.

Over the next hour or so, I corralled the young’uns inside so the adults could have an adult conversation. After I got the babies down for a nap, Pa asked that Boss and I go with the Deverauxs to the guesthouse to help them move in.

“Ain’t this place groovy,” Foxy said in a dry tone, although she somehow sounded sincere.

I glanced at the two-bedroom cabin, sky blue with yellow shutters and trim. “My mama painted it. The place is small but clean, and it holds a lot of Mama’s heart.” I had no idea where that defensive attitude came from, but I sure did feel it in my stinging eyes and warm cheeks.