Tatum enjoys a rebirth after her cry-therapy with Bianca Bella. She smiles more, and her eyes always have a little more light behind them. The next day at breakfast, she doesn’t hide behind her hair and even laughs when Mom announces the hardest part of marriage is learning to love Hayes’s hairy ass.
That morning, Tatum makes endless eye contact with Cricket and even speaks to Cap. My brother is the least frightening person in the world yet who managed to intimidate her until now.
With Tatum now embracing life, I decide to drop her into an awkward situation as quickly as possible. I’m a jerk, sure, but I also know she needs to get a few meet-and-greets out of the way before she can truly call White Horse home.
“We’re in Hickory Creek,” Tatum says on the way to lunch. “I’m right, aren’t I?”
“Yes, and look at how you’re getting to know the area. Didn’t even need a GPS, Breezy.”
Tatum’s proud smile warms the SUV. She still feels like a visitor from Florida rather than a Butternut, but every day we drive around, the more her comfort increases. Of course, I’m about to ruin her good mood.
“We’re having lunch at an Italian-style family restaurant. Might be full of kids so you’ll be in your element.”
“Why here and not somewhere in White Horse?”
“They make good meatballs.”
“Should I be worried?” she asks, proving she knows when I’m full of shit.
“Of course not. I’d never make you uncomfortable.”
“Yeah,” she mutters, clearly on to my tells.
“At least, I mean well, right?” I say and leave the SUV. Opening her door, I wear my most casual smile. “You’re so sexy when you give me the irritated wife frown.”
“Who is inside this restaurant?”
“Ruby Fletcher manages this place. She’s a good woman. Don’t be nervous. Now get moving before I freeze off my balls.”
Tatum sighs loudly, sounding too much like Cricket and Bianca Bella. Yep, we’re such fucking bad influences on this poor young woman.
I take her hand and walk inside where we’re seated at a booth between two groups of excited children. Tatum slides in first, and I sit protectively on the outside. Though I’m the one who needs shelter from these loud children. Tatum doesn’t even flinch when the kid behind us lets loose with a squeal so damn loud that my balls crawl up inside me.
“Ours better have a mute button,” I mutter while looking over the menu.
“None of them come with that option.”
“Well, then I hope they look like you so I’ll be too hypnotized by their beauty to notice how obnoxious they are.”
“How did you handle the mini-twins’ screaming?”
“I left the house whenever they got too loud. I’m their fun uncle. Cap is the one who likes to hold colicky babies.”
“Really?”
“Which part?”
“Either.”
I grudgingly smile. “I might have held a crying baby or two. Cap might have an aversion to them. Who can really keep my lies straight?”
“I would think that would be your job, Chippy.”
“You’d think wrong, Breezy.”
Tatum fights a smile before finally giving in. “What should I order?”
“The meatballs are good.”
“Let’s hope they don’t give me lockjaw again.”
Bursting into laughter, I can’t even calm down when Ruby appears to sit on the other side of the booth. Still laughing at the memory of Tatum’s bizarre reaction to dick flavor, I gesture between the women.
“Hi, Tatum,” Ruby says in the soft, warm voice of an experienced mom who knows how to calm a riled kid.
“Hi. Sorry that we didn’t come in that night.”
“That’s okay. We enjoyed our free meal.”
Tatum relaxes a little but still says, “You’re Bonn’s wife and Chevelle’s mom.”
“That makes me your sister-in-law.”
“Chipper didn’t tell me that we were coming here.”
“Of course, he didn’t,” Ruby says, shooting me a grumpy look.
Finished laughing at this point, I only smile at the women. “Ruby runs this restaurant for the Hallstead sisters who are your aunts. Everyone worth knowing in this area is married or connected to each other.”
“I spoke to Clara, Eloise, and Alice about you,” Ruby says while fixing her dark hair slipping from its thick bun. “They’d like to invite you to their yearly holiday party.”
“Will Howler be there?” Tatum asks, sounding ready to cry.
“No. He has no interest in his sisters these days,” Ruby says and leans forward. “Rumor has it that a few years back, he and they got into a huge screaming match and one of them threatened to shoot him if he didn’t leave the house. I guess since then, they haven’t spoken.”
“I very much like that story,” Tatum says, glancing at me. “Can I bring Chipper to the holiday party?”
“Of course,” I answer immediately. “I’m your man, and you need me around to distract people from your awkward silences.”
“Distract how?” Ruby grumbles.
“I don’t know. Flex my muscles. Talk about porn. Challenge someone to a dick-measuring contest. I’ll do whatever is necessary to help out my woman.”
“As charming as ever,” Ruby says and sighs. “I’m certain the sisters weren’t happy to know Tatum was shacked up with you.”
I shouldn’t smile at this news, so I laugh instead. “They’re so jealous of White Horse and Hayes. It’s pathetic.”
Tatum rolls her eyes, but I catch her smiling. If she’s taking sides, no doubt she’ll have my back.
“What’s Bonn like?” Tatum asks to distract from my mocking of the Hallstead women.
“He’s a good man. Strong and self-sacrificing. He loves family more than anything else. His mom raised him basically alone, and they didn’t have much. Even though Howler comes from money and his sisters sometimes helped out, Bonn knew poverty most of his life. It’s why he works so hard for Hayes. He wanted Chevelle and Adric to have everything growing up that he didn’t.”
“Is his mother still alive?”
“No, she passed away almost a decade ago. Not long after Adric was born actually. She’d been struggling with illnesses and depression for most of her adult life. Her death was hard on Bonn because she never got to enjoy everything he accomplished.”
“Does he hate Howler?”
“Most people do. The guy doesn’t do anything to make himself lovable,” Ruby says and then grits her teeth. “Howler didn’t do shit for Bonn. Didn’t care if he lived or died until Bonn started working for Hayes in Common Bend. Once his son had power, Howler gave a shit, but it was too late. Bonn would rather have no father than a shitty one.”
“Why do you think Howler is such a bad person?”
“Howler was spoiled. He’s always had money and power. People feared him even when he was a kid. His sisters babied him and never let him suffer the consequences of his crappy choices. Then he built a club with Mojo Rutgers, so everyone feared them. Howler never once had to suffer for what he did to others.”
My mind wanders from thoughts of yanking Howler’s teeth to how spoiled my little brother is. “Howler’s like what Cap would be if he weren’t an angel from above.”
Ruby rolls her eyes. “Your family is so weird about that angel stuff.”
“Jealous?” I ask. “Do you wish your family had an honest-to-goodness angel in it?”
“You better watch out, or Cap will grow up to be a ten-foot-tall weirdo with a god complex.”
“And the downside to that would be?”
Ruby exhales roughly. “Back to Howler, he’s a loser, and you’re not missing out by having him out of your life. With that said, you being his daughter means you’re Bonn’s sister and the twins’ cousin. You’re a member of our family now, and you’ll never be alone.”
“She’s a Wilburn now,” I point out.
“Yeah, but she might want more normal people to spend time with too.”
“Why? What’s the upside to normal?”
“I’m not wasting my time explaining that to you, Chipper.”
“Whatever, Mom,” I mumble and roll my eyes.
Deciding I’m a lost cause, Ruby focuses on Tatum. “I hope you’ll have dinner at our house soon. Bonn would really like to meet you. Adric would too, even though he’s a teenager so he won’t show his interest. I know my sisters, who are married to the Rutgers twins, can’t wait to meet you. Like I said, your family got bigger even if Howler will never be worth your time.”
“More family is good,” Tatum says, and I know she’s struggling with her feelings.
I take her hand under the table and whisper, “Your mom would be proud of you for coming to Tennessee and building a new life.”
Blinking wildly to keep her tears at bay, Tatum still manages to smile. She agrees to join Ruby and Bonn for dinner tomorrow. Her voice breaks when she speaks, and I know she’s overwhelmed despite Ruby’s calming personality. The more people Tatum adds to her life, the less present her mother feels.
The night before, while Tatum played with the mini-twins, Bianca Bella and I had a little chat. That’s why she and Cricket are currently hanging up framed pictures at my house.
I can never give Tatum back her mom, but I’ll do whatever necessary to keep Marissa Dole alive in her daughter’s heart.