went with her to a service. I knew it was going to be bad as soon as I saw the church. Have you seen it? Itâs prefab. Real shoddy construction. I said, âJoelle, Jesus was a carpenter!ââ
âI bet she loved that,â Dean said.
âYou canât joke with her anymoreâthatâs the worst thing.â
Dean had no idea what heâd done to get his mother-in-law on his side, but it felt good to have at least one person in the family rooting for him. She had an independent streak that he admired, one that he felt the rest of the family failed to recognize. They were all shocked when, after her husband, Paul, died, she decided to renovate one of the old outbuildings at the edge of the pasture and live there. Joelle and Ed insisted she continue to live with them in the farmhouse, and even offered to build out an addition, but Geneva said she could smell Paulâs death in the rooms.
âWhoâs ready for a burger?â Ed called from the grill.
âIâm going to go help Aunt Joelle with the salads,â Stephanie said, glaring at Dean before heading into the house.
âWhat was that about?â Geneva asked.
âShe wants me to ask Joelle to help out with her brothers this fall, but Iâm not crazy about that idea.â
âI donât blame you,â Geneva said. âDid you know sheâs going to homeschool Megan and Jenny this year? She doesnât want Megan going to the high school.â
âThatâs crazy; she wonât be able to play sports,â Dean said. Megan was the older of Joelleâs two daughters. She was a petite girl, and Dean still thought of her as a little kid around Robbieâs age. But now she was moving into Stephanieâs world.
âOf course sports are the first thing that comes into your head!â Geneva laughed.
âThey give you confidence. I always told Stephanie that. She got her confidence from her grades, but thatâs not available to everyone.â
âMost people would see it the other way. They think sports take away confidence.â
âThose people are overly competitive. They canât enjoy something they arenât winning.â
âArenât you that way?â
âIâm a coach,â Dean said. âIâm supposed to want to win. But I donât say you canât enjoy yourself if you donât. Maybe itâs harder to. But you still get the physical benefits.â
âIâve touched a nerve.â
âIâm just tired of my PE classes getting cut. Or I see a girl who looks athletic and it turns out sheâs a cheerleader. I told Stephanie Iâd break both her legs if she became a cheerleader.â
âMaybe itâs good Meganâs not going to high school. She wonât risk getting her legs broken by her fanatical uncle.â
Dean smiled. âI shouldnât be so hard on cheerleaders. They raise their own money. They can do what they want.â
âI shouldnât be so hard on Jo,â Geneva said. âAll this Holy Roller stuff started after Paul passed on.â
Dean took his mother-in-lawâs hand. It was cool, despite the mugginess of the afternoonâlike Nicoleâs used to be.
âThere goes one of my buzzards.â Geneva watched a bulky-looking bird take flight from the pasture adjacent to her little house.
âAre you still encouraging them?â Dean asked.
âI left scraps out this morning.â
Genevaâs vulture fixation had started when she noticed the birds were eating the dry mix that she put out for the barn cats. She began leaving meat scraps for themâgristle and poultry gizzards. After a few months, the vultures got accustomed to her treats and would hang out in her yard, waiting. No one could understand why she fed them, and Joelle thought she was just plain losing it. But Dean trusted she had her reasons.
More guests had begun to arrive, mostly Edâs family
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