Good Together by C. J. Carmichael Read Free Book Online Page B

certainly snowball into another.
    “I’m a lot better, today. Don’t worry. How are classes?”
    “Crazy busy, but I love them all. Poli-sci is my absolute favorite. We’re reading about Plato—he’s amazing, Mom. Just brilliant. I can’t believe he lived more than two thousand years ago.”
    Wren spent fifteen minutes talking about Greek philosophers, most of which Mattie couldn’t follow.
    “—and we had to write an essay, and I had the highest mark in the class, Mom. The professor singled me out later and said he was really impressed and that I should participate more during class because I obviously had worthwhile things to say.”
    “That’s wonderful, honey.” She was proud of her daughter, but then, she’d never had any doubt that Wren would excel at college level classes. “What are the other kids like in the class? Have you met anyone that you like?”
    Wren went silent, and Mattie felt badly, knowing her question had taken the fizz out of her mood.
    “Not really. But it’s okay. I’m super busy keeping on top of the work load.”
    That was what Mattie had been afraid of. That Wren would throw herself into her studies and end up with zero social life. If only Wren had agreed to go to UW, then at least she could have visited her sister and aunt when she was lonely.
    “Can I talk to Dad?” Wren asked, after Mattie had updated her on the well-being of the horses and the cats.
    “Sorry, honey, but he isn’t home.”
    “I thought he had a clear schedule for the two weeks after Billings?”
    Trust Wren to be up-to-date with her father’s calendar. Often she knew better than Mattie where Wes was supposed to be on any given day.
    “His plans changed and he had to go. But I’ll tell him you called and if he gets a chance he’ll get in touch.”
    They said goodbye after that, exchanging “I love yous” and “I miss yous.”
    Mattie called Portia next, which was easier, since Portia didn’t hit her with as many questions, or ask what was going on with her father. For twenty minutes Portia chatted about sorority parties and a new friend of hers named Kirsten. When Mattie turned the topic to her classes, Portia just sighed.
    “They’re hard, Mom.”
    Portia might have kept chatting for another twenty minutes, but a friend came to her room and so she finally said good-bye. Mattie put down her phone, then closed her eyes, thinking about her daughters, wishing they weren’t so far away. She was relieved that they both sounded okay. But that didn’t prevent her from feeling guilty about being out of touch for so long. Falling apart wasn’t an option when you were a mother. She would have to do better.
    * * *
    O ctober was slipping away and with it, the long days that came with spring and summer in Montana. The advent of winter was almost harder to bear than the season itself. Five long months of snow and ice, cold, and dark lay ahead. Maybe Jake’s idea about heading south wasn’t so dumb.
    Mattie had already been awake for an hour when the morning alarm went off. The news came on, but she couldn’t focus. Then the weather. A cold front was coming down from Canada. She didn’t want to get out of bed. The cheerful prattle from the radio announcer didn’t fool her.
    She was alone.
    No man was sleeping in the bed next to her, waiting to give her a good-morning hug. No children needed her to make lunches or hurry them along to catch the bus. Even the horses outside didn’t really need her. Jake could manage on his own, one more time, if he had to.
    But. She’d promised herself that this morning she would do it, resume her life, in some form or fashion.
    So she hauled her body out of the bed then pulled on her work clothes.
    Her first sip of coffee promised her she could do this.
    She could face the cold, the work... the emptiness.
    Fifteen days since Wes had left. The longest she’d been alone in her life.
    Maybe she’d feel different, stronger, more capable, if she hadn’t married so young.