Hummingbird Lane by Brown, Carolyn (good books to read for beginners TXT) 📕

vehicle. Together, they slumped down on the gravel side by side.

“I didn’t mean to blurt that all out.” Sophie continued to weep. “I shouldn’t be happy now when I didn’t even want my own child. Teddy wants a family, and I would be a terrible mother. I’m no better than Victoria. She didn’t want you, and look how that worked out.”

“Shh, don’t cry.” Emma wiped her own tears with the back of her hand. “I’ve had the same worries. What if I find someone wonderful and he wants children? What if I’m no good as a mother? At least you had Rebel, and you know how to be a good mother.”

A car parked behind their SUV and an elderly guy with gray hair and a beard halfway to his waist got out. “Are you ladies all right?” he asked. “Do you need help?”

“We’re fine,” Emma said, “but thank you.”

“I can call the park ranger if you’re sick,” he offered.

“No, we’re fine, honest,” Emma told him.

“All right, then.” He nodded. “Y’all have a good day.”

“Yes, sir.” Emma tried to smile, but it didn’t work. “You too.”

Sophie pushed her tangled blonde hair away from her wet cheeks. “He must think we’re a couple of crazies, sitting in the gravel like this.”

“Well, you do look a little insane. Your hair is a fright. You’re not wearing a bra, and those paint-stained pajama pants aren’t exactly in vogue right now.” Emma threw an arm around Sophie’s shoulders and hugged her tightly. “Do you really give a rat’s tiny butt what anyone thinks of us anyway?”

“Not really,” Sophie answered.

“That goes to prove we aren’t either one like Victoria, now doesn’t it? We’re both going to be fantastic mothers if we have kids,” Emma assured her.

“Promise?” Sophie hiccuped.

Emma held up her little finger. “I pinkie promise, and if I see you doing something stupid like not letting your kid go to public school, I’ll whip your ass.”

Sophie locked her little finger with Emma’s. “Why would I do that?”

“Oh. My. Gosh!” Emma untangled her pinkie finger from Sophie’s.

“What? Is it a snake?” Sophie began to scan the ground. “Or a scorpion?”

“No.” Emma shook her head. “Where would my children go to school if I never intend to move away from the trailer park?”

Sophie giggled and then chuckled and then broke into guffaws.

“What’s so funny?” Emma asked.

“We’re talking about my guilt and me being a horrible mother, and you—” She wiped her eyes and got the hiccups. “You are suddenly worried about where our kids—that we don’t have—will go to school.”

“Well.” Emma shrugged. “Where would they go?”

“They’d attend Big Bend School over in Terlingua. Last time I checked, it had about a hundred students, and that’s pre-K through twelfth grade. Are you and Josh that serious? Have you already named your firstborn? Do we need to have the talk about birth control?” Sophie got tickled all over again.

“No, but he kissed me one time and I didn’t panic,” Emma said. “And it’s not funny.”

“It kind of is.” Sophie stood up.

“No, it’s not,” Emma said. “Let’s get back in the SUV and find this Cottonwood place. Josh said he packed us a couple of sleeping bags. Is there a place where we roll them out, or what do we do?”

Sophie got to her feet. “I hope he sent a tent, or we might be in trouble with the bears and javelinas.”

“Hav-a-whatus?” Emma got behind the wheel and started the engine.

“They’re kind of like a small feral pig. That’s why we don’t leave food of any kind out on the picnic table or in the tent. We’ll keep everything in the SUV except when we’re cooking or eating.”

“Are they dangerous?” Emma checked the rearview mirror to be sure there was no traffic, and then she pulled out onto the road and started driving.

“If you provoke them, they are, but they’ll run away from loud noises most of the time. Just grab a pot and bang on it. Stop!” Sophie yelled.

Emma slammed on the brakes. “What is it?”

“Lord, woman! Don’t do that. You about slung me through the windshield,” Sophie said.

“Well, don’t yell stop at me,” Emma shot back. “Why did you tell me to stop?”

“Right there.” Sophie pointed. “That’s a javelina. A mama and her two babies.”

“Ugly critters. Do people eat them?” Emma’s nose curled.

“I’ve never been that hungry. Go on now. Turn left about a quarter mile up the road and we’ll be at the campground. I usually rent an RV when I come here, but as you know, I didn’t have time to plan this trip.”

“Bathrooms?” Emma made the turn.

“Outside toilets, but they usually don’t smell too bad. Biggest problem is that they run out of toilet paper pretty often,” Sophie answered. “There. See those two little adobe buildings? Those are the bathrooms. At least when I rescued you, I brought you to a nice trailer with a flushable toilet.”

“I’ve never used a potty that didn’t flush in my whole life, but it will be an adventure,” Emma said.

Sophie pointed to the right. “That’s our spot right there, and there’s an RV in it.”

“I’m bush broke, as Rebel used to say,” Emma laughed. “After we went to the cave, I managed to hold it until we got back home, but before that, I did have to cop a squat behind a bush a couple of times. And I did check for snakes and scorpions.”

“Why’s an RV in our reserved space?” Sophie stared at the vehicle like it was an alien spaceship.

“I guess the proper thing would be to knock on the door and ask the folks,” Emma said. “Or we could just pitch our tent. Maybe back there by the table, and we can share the space with our neighbors.”

Sophie whipped around to stare at Emma. Surely she was hearing things. Emma didn’t like to be around strangers, and she sure wouldn’t want to share a picnic table with folks she didn’t know. Where was her Emma, and who was this strange woman occupying her body?

“Well, Miz Social