“I’ll pack your food tonight and put it in the fridge. Don’t forget it in the morning. There’s a bag on the counter of things that don’t need to be kept cold, but you can take both insulated soft coolers to keep the other stuff cold. It should be enough to last four days if you need to be gone that long. And make sure you both take jackets. It’s getting cooler at night,” Grams warns. Sue smiles. The only thing she doesn’t tell them to do is brush their teeth and wear a warm hat.
“Ok, Grams, we’ll get it all. Thank you,” John tells her kindly and nods. His million watt smile is not on his face tonight. He is austere; his mind is a whirl of activity. Sue can see it in his eyes. There’s a nervous energy around the table. Even Hannah seems on edge and worried.
“Reagan, do you have the list of items you and I will need?” Grandpa asks her sister.
“In my bag, Grandpa,” Reagan answers. She’s also quiet. Sue wonders if she’s scared. She would be if she had to go into the danger zone of the lovely city that Sue had shopped and had lunch with Grams in just months ago.
“Good, girl. We could have a use for those things in the future. But I surely hope not,” he tells Reagan.
“Me, too,” she agrees.
“Oh, we finished the bee boxes today, too. So when Sue gets the beekeeper suits sewn we’ll wait till it gets cold one night and move that hive,” Derek tells everyone, changing the subject to something positive.
“Good, the honey will be a valuable commodity next year. We’ll have to learn how to process it. I believe there is a separation process we’ll need to learn,” Grams comments.
“I have it on the list to find a book if I can,” John says. Sue, Grams and the kids clear the table while Hannah and Em fetch the pies she and Grams have spent time making today.
“Wow, Hannie, you didn’t have to go to so much trouble,” Reagan exclaims when she sees the rich, creamy pie that Hannah places in front of her.
“Yes, we did. You’re doing so much to help the family by going with John that it’s the least me and Grams could do to make you pie,” Hannah says and leans in to kiss Reagan on the cheek. It’s the first time since she’s come home that Reagan doesn’t flinch. Perhaps Grams was right. Perhaps her sister will recover.
“Geesh, Hannah. These look great,” John remarks.
“She didn’t make them for you, idiot. They were made for me ‘cuz it’s
my
favorite,” Reagan says snidely. Then again, maybe not.
“Reagan McClane, there’s plenty enough for everyone!” Grams scolds her, making Reagan frown. When Grams turns back to serving pie, Reagan rolls her eyes and half sticks out her tongue at John. Poor John. Sue hopes their trip is expedient for his sake.
“It’s my favorite, too. What do ya’ know, boss,” John remarks and gives a grunt when Reagan elbows him.
“Yeah right,” Reagan comes back.
“He’s serious,” Derek tells her across the table. “He’s always liked anything with peanut butter. Or anything sweet, really. Until recently.” Her husband’s last remark is not missed by the adults at the table, and everyone laughs or smirks behind their hands. Sue doesn’t hold back, though. She laughs loudly, earning her a nasty look from her little sister. Even Grandpa gives a half grin.
“You eat up, little missy. You might be gone a few days. We want you to both come back just as healthy and strong,” Grams says to change the subject. Everyone is reflective, thinking about what she’s just said. They are all worried about John and Reagan. From what Derek had told her about the trip home with the men and Cory and Em and the short trip he made the other day with John and Reagan, it is very bad out there. It is easy to forget how isolated and safe they are at the farm. Their loved ones are basically venturing out into what could be a potential war zone.
The children volunteer to clear everyone’s place settings when the meal is done, and Sue is impressed at how thoughtful and kind and well-mannered they all are becoming. Of course, life is different now. There are no cell phones, video games and television programs to run off to right after dinner. They are each other’s friends, each other’s entertainment. She is afraid their lives will always be on this farm. It could eventually become a problem, especially for Cory who will be like Kelly someday and want his own life elsewhere. Sue has had time all day to reflect on why Kelly would want to leave the farm and why Grams has seen him looking like he wished he was elsewhere and this is what Sue has deduced. He wants to start his own life maybe on his own farm and find a person to raise the kids with. But it is also strange that he would want that. She’d been so sure of what she’d seen in his eyes regarding Hannah. Perhaps she’d been wrong. After all, she isn’t nearly as perceptive as Grams it seems.
For a change, everyone convenes to the music room following the clean-up. Even Grandpa joins them when he usually leaves for his den with Grams. Em, Justin and Ari play on the floor in front of the big fireplace, using the hearthstone as part of their animated play. Justin has lined up his toy soldiers on the ledge, and the girls are using fairies with iridescent wings to knock them down. Em’s chestnut hair is a tangled mess of waves and dirt and even some hay. Kelly has many times expressed how thankful he is to have Hannah and Grams and herself to help out with his step-sister. He tries, though. She’s got to give the poor guy some credit. The brushing of Em’s hair, however, is no easy feat. Sue has even spied a few times when he is helping them at night to get ready for bed downstairs and had had to leave for fear of him hearing her giggle. He is so massively huge and there was Em bossing him, yelling at him, pouting when he tugged too hard at a tangle. For the most part, though, Kelly does a great job with his brother and sister, especially for having absolutely no previous experience. However, Sue doesn’t see French braids and swirling, elaborate up-dos in his future. Arianna’s laugh interrupts Sue’s train of thought. The kids are having fun with their silly make-believe game. They are oblivious to the hushed timbre of the room.
John, Derek and Kelly review plans one last time as Cory listens in. They go over signals, when and when not to use the radio for communications and how they’ll handle things if it gets bad. After about an hour, Kelly tells the kids to head downstairs for showers and bed, and Sue follows suit. Everyone stands, the kids depart and the good-byes of the adults commence. It feels too final, too morbid, as if they might never see them again.
“Good-bye, John. Be careful,” Hannah says and hugs John unashamedly, squeezing tight. Her youngest sister literally clings on to John, unabashedly showing how much she’s come to care about him. Sue notices Kelly’s eyes pinch slightly as John hugs her back and places a brotherly kiss to the top of her pale head.
“Will do, Hannie. You be careful here, too. Look out for hoss for me, ok?” he answers and she laughs. Her delicate, musical laugh could light up a dark room. She smiles up at John and feels for Reagan who touches her shoulder.
Grams follows suit, hugging John and patting Reagan on the cheek, who grimaces. Hannah holds Reagan’s hand a moment and tells her how much she loves her. John has clearly and wholeheartedly adopted every member of the McClane family, and Sue is positive he’ll never want to leave the farm if things stay the way they are out in the rest of the country.
“We’ll be fine, Hannah,” comes Reagan’s response. At least she doesn’t jerk away which would devastate Hannah. Everyone in the family has always given special leniency to Hannah when it comes to shielding her and keeping her protected and allowing her to do things differently.
“Call us if you need us, dude,” Derek tells John and they bump fists.
“Got it,” John agrees. “Nothin’ to it. Right, hoss?” he asks Kelly who also bumps his fist.
“Reagan, can I talk to you?” Sue asks as they go back into the music room, but she can still hear the men’s conversation.
“Twenty miles, huh?” Kelly asks.
“Yep, when my granny was ninety-one she ran ten miles just for fun,” John sings in a cadence.
“And when my granny turned ninety-two she up’d and went to Ranger school,” Kelly finishes, and they all laugh. “Watch your ass, bro.”
“Yep,” John answers, and it sounds like they hug.
“What’s up, Sue?” Reagan asks and rolls her eyes at the guys singing their old Ranger song. Sue thinks they are kind of cool, but she doesn’t want to admit it to Reagan. Of course she thought Rangers were hot, she’d married one!
“I just want to know if you’ll be ok. If you have any doubts about this, then don’t go. Derek told me last night that he’d go instead if you want to stay. The men will find their way there; you don’t have to worry about that. Those guys could find their way to Montana if they had to,” she explains. The idea of Reagan going into the fray makes her sick. She can’t bear the idea of her little sister coming home in the same condition as the last time when she came home from the school. Or not coming home at all.
“I’m cool. Don’t worry, Sue. We’ll be fine,” she says and looks at the floor, then the piano, anywhere but directly at Sue.
“I do worry, honey. We all do,” Sue tells her.
“I said we’ll be fine,” she answers more impatiently.
“Ok, but you listen to Johnny, Reagan. You hear me? He’s the soldier, not you. He’ll keep you safe. Don’t argue with him like you do around here,” Sue lectures to which Reagan gives her one of her exasperated looks. “I mean it, Reagan.”
“Ok, mom, I’ll be good. I promise,” her sister answers asininely, but Sue nods just the same. She thinks she got through to her, but with Reagan who can really tell?
“Is there anything you want to talk to me about before you leave?” Sue offers. Reagan’s gaze darts up to meet Sue’s.
“Like what?” her sister asks stupefied. Sue can hear Derek and John still in the hall talking. There are still last minute things they are covering.
“Come over here and sit,” Sue tells her, going farther into the room where they sit on Grams’s favorite, floral print sofa. She tries to take Reagan’s hand, but her sister pulls away and pretends that she really needs to pick up one of Justin’s plastic army guys from the side table. It’s a diversionary tactic, Sue knows, but she also knows it’s all Reagan’s capable of for now.
“What now? You gonna tell me I have to be nice to John, too? Listen to him, let him move into my goddamned room, teach him how to ride, blah, blah, blah,” she says sarcastically and tosses the toy back to the stand.
“No, even I won’t go that far,” Sue admits with a laugh. “I just thought you might want to talk about being gone with him by yourself for a few days.” She tries to communicate non-verbally with Reagan by widening her eyes and leaning in, giving her the “you know” look. Of course, her sister just squints in confusion at her. She was never much of a people person. If Sue had written a book on non-verbal communication techniques and the effects they had on a person’s health, then Reagan would’ve already read it most likely. Her sister can be a bit dense sometimes.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” Reagan asks in confusion.
“Well, you’ve never been overnight with a guy before. You could potentially have to stay at the cabin for a couple of days. You never know. Are you comfortable with that?” Sue asks her.
“He’s been sleeping in my damn bedroom, hasn’t he?” Reagan says on a pout. She is never going to let that one go. Her stubbornness sometimes seems to have no limits.
“That’s not the same thing, honey. You two are going to be out in the middle of nowhere alone. Together, Reagan,” Sue insinuates. Her sister pales, her eyes cloud over as she mulls on this. It’s obvious she hadn’t thought of the finer details of this trip. She was probably too busy in studying mode, thinking about the route they’d take, planning what they need, packing.
“Um, that’s... um,” she stammers. Her brain is buzzing in circles; Sue can see it happening right before her eyes. Reagan starts feeling her throat. She does it when she gets nervous about being around someone or if they touch her or stand too closely. Sue’s not entirely sure why her sister does this, but she suspects it’s from her university attack.
“He’ll keep you safe, Reagan. I didn’t really mean it like that, honey. You shouldn’t be scared of John. He’s a good man,” Sue tries to dispel her sister’s rising anxiety.
“I know. I’m not scared of him,” Reagan lies, and they both know it. She’s scared of all men, except Grandpa. She’s even standoffish around Derek, which is a shame because she used to laugh and joke with him when she was younger. It was rare that she was home at the same time as Derek, but when she was, they were both fun to be around. She was light-hearted, ornery and liked to laugh at Derek’s funny military stories.
“It’s ok if you are. I’m just saying you don’t need to be. He’d never do anything to hurt you, sweetie. I kind of meant: do you want to talk about being alone with him- as in your feelings about John?” Sue tells her, and Reagan swallows hard and looks at her feet.
“I don’t know what you mean. I can’t stand him,” her sister says firmly and too quickly.
“You don’t have to do that. John’s a very handsome man, Reagan,” Sue tells her quietly so as not to be overheard. Reagan fidgets with the front of her shirt and refuses to make eye contact.
“Do what? And no he’s not,” she stalls and her thin index finger touches the scar that reaches below her black shorts.
“Reagan,” Sue admonishes and turns her sister’s chin to look at her directly. Her green eyes are tortured, confused, frightened. Will she ever be the same again like Grams predicted?
“I just want you to know that you can talk to me if you need to. Especially about John.”
“No need. There’s nothing to talk about,” Reagan shuts down and pulls away.
“Are you nervous about having to spend the night in the cabin with him?”
“I
wasn’t
,” she answers with a touch of enmity in her gravelly voice.
“Do you feel like anything could happen?” Sue knows that John lusts after her sister. She just doesn’t know if Reagan realizes it yet. This trip could prove eye-opening for her.
“What do you mean? What could happen?” Reagan asks guilelessly.
“You know what I mean, honey. Think about it for a minute,” Sue hints. Reagan only frowns and puckers her lips, but then it hits her.