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“Missed you too.” She peeked at Devo. “Is that your girlfriend?”

My face caught fire, and Mama grumbled.

Athena flashed her a sour look. “Granny, get over it already.”

Mama smiled at her. “Where’s my hug, wiggle worm?”

“Right here,” Athena said, stepping away from me to hug her grumpy grandma.

Mama pulled on the same pigtail I’d just tugged at till it slipped out of its elastic band, then she redid it so it was even with the other one. Poor Bax was hopeless with ponytails and braids even though Mama had given him how-to lessons. “Hear you caused some trouble with your friends last week.”

“So!” Athena blinked and looked at Devo. She wasn’t even trying to hide the change of subject. “Who’s ready to kick up some mud?”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

ABEY

Bax convinced Mama to come with us even though she said she’d prefer to stay and clean the farmhouse, so we all rode out into the sunshine on our ATVs. She was in too much discomfort from her arthritis to clean her own place, but she’d hurt and twist herself up like a pretzel for Bax and Athena. Case in point: riding four-wheelers.

Hashtag: Priorities.

Mama rode behind Bax on his old black beast, clutching at his shoulders for dear life, but he went slow, following behind Devo and me on my blue mud baby, and Athena led the charge on her own new four-wheeler. She was proud of that thing. Bax told me Athena washed and waxed the pink monstrosity once a week.

“Are you sure you’re not gonna crash this thing?” Devo was a nervous wreck behind me, and the anxiety had her tugging hard on the loops on the waistband of my shorts, so I kept jumping little bumps on the dirt trail so she’d have to hold on tighter. It was a beginner-level trail though. She was never in danger.

“Positive,” I called over my shoulder, trying to make my voice louder than the buzz of the engine. “I know this land like the back of my hand, and I can drive this thing better than I can drive my truck.”

“Okay,” she said. “If you say so. But can you sit down? You’re givin’ me a heart attack!”

I sat, and Devo wrapped her arms around me, twisting her fingers around my tank top over my stomach. Her body was warm against mine, and she glued her front to my back, nestling her head against my shoulder to block the wind on her face. Why had I waited so long to sit? She could’ve been holding onto me the whole time!

Athena goosed her thumb throttle to propel herself further in front of us. She was still pissed her dad wouldn’t let her install a twist throttle, like the one he’d been riding since boyhood. But like me, Bax had been riding since we were three feet tall, so he had years more experience than she did, and everyone knew thumb throttles were way safer than the old twisters. Athena was just stubborn, but I reminded her every time she whined about it that I rode a thumb-throttle quad, too, and that usually appeased her a little.

“Are you sure she should be drivin’ that thing?” Devo was terrified but trying to act cool. She was failing, and it was cute as hell.

“She’s an old pro. Besides, this is nothin’. It’s pretty flat land. You’d probably lose your lunch if you saw the terrain we ride sometimes. Almost flipped this baby couple months ago,” I tossed over my shoulder, patting my wrapped handlebars. I had my riding gloves on for better grip, but with Devo and my mama in tow, we wouldn’t go for difficult terrain.

“Flipped it? Like, upside down?”

Laughing, I revved my throttle, too, and caught up with Athena just as she slowed to a stop in the meadow by our lake.

We parked, and Devo said, “Wow,” as I helped her off my quad. The only other sound I heard in the little clearing beside the lake was the cheery, robotic twitter of Western meadowlarks flitting through the air and a big black raven squawking nearby in the safety of the trees. “This place is great.”

I looked around at the little finger of the forest reaching out at the bottom of the mountain I’d been riding up my whole life. Still water glistened on the lake under the warm September sun until a fish jumped and disturbed the reflection of the forest on the glassy surface.

The shiny memory I could see of me in a glittery, pink bathing suit, squealing and jumping off my daddy’s shoulders into the lake when I was seven, dissolved in front of my eyes.

I nodded at Devo’s comment, tucking my riding gloves into my back pocket and breathing in the spruce and pine, the clean air, and the fresh dirt we’d just turned up. A more beautiful place did not exist in the world.

“Abey, come get the cooler,” my brother said as he helped Mama down from his ATV.

This ride was easy compared to some we’d tackled, but it was the only one we’d ever convinced Mama to come along on. She was terrified too. But now that we were out here, I was glad she’d come. It was good for her to get out of her damn trailer. I still couldn’t understand why she’d wanted to move there.

But now, with the memories of my dad swarming my head, I had a feeling the choices Mama had made since he died had to do with the memories crashing through her head, too, of the life we’d lived as a family. She could be a real pain in the ass. We disagreed about pretty much everything, but she was still my mama. I loved her, and I wished she’d live more. I wanted her to find happiness again.

I hoped my dad would’ve wanted that for her. He may not have loved me like he’d promised, but he’d loved her, and she deserved it.

Devo wandered toward the lake, shielding her eyes from the sun’s glare with her hand as she looked around, and I grabbed the cooler, set it down on a fluffy patch of grass, and pulled a couple cold water bottles out.