Free Long Road Home by Joann Ross

another peanut. Chewed. “She wants me to invite you to dinner Friday at the New Chance.”
    “I thought Heather said you guys were going to Ashland for the weekend.”
    “We are. This would be earlier in the evening.”
    “Why?”
    He shrugged. “Who knows a woman’s mind? I’m guessing the anniversary has her feeling sentimental about our wedding. God knows she’s been talking about it enough. She took a selfie last night wearing her old wedding dress.”
    “She still has it after all these years?”
    “It’s obvious you’ve never been married. We guys don’t make a big deal about what to wear to a wedding. Most of us just do what our women tell us. We rent a tux and take it back after the ceremony is over.
    “But to the female of the species, a wedding dress falls into a strange category of sentimental keepsakes. Like I told you the night of the party, we’re living in a frigging construction zone while Brody Ames remodels our house, and every day some new ‘must-have’ pops up.
    “Last week Heather decided that we needed two walk-in closets in the master bedroom. So, I took my life into my hands and dared to ask her why, if we weren’t going to have enough closet space with the one ginormous walk-in already on the plan, she was keeping a dress she’d never wear again. One that just happens to take up the entire back of the closet we’re currently using.”
    Sawyer took a bite of the hot wings and felt his tongue burst into flames. “What did she say?” he asked after cooling it off with a long drink of beer.
    “She told me it was still sentimental and important to her. Especially since she made it herself.”
    “That makes sense. Remember that ground dummy practice calf I made in shop class back in high school?”
    “Sure. It was as good as the store-bought ones Fred sells at the Feed and Seed.”
    “Well, Dad kept it all the time I’ve been gone, and I’m bringing it over to Green Springs with me.”
    “Okay.” Tom blew out a breath. “If you ever tell Heather I said this, I’ll call you a damn liar, but that calf’s a helluva lot more functional than a dress. But that’s okay, because I figured that she’d eventually decide it can go to the thrift store. Like maybe sooner rather than later and save us some remodel costs. But she says she expects her feelings to grow even stronger as the years pass.”
    “Huh.”
    “Well said. And now maybe you can see why I didn’t interrogate She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed on why we’re inviting you to dinner.”
    Sawyer thought of the frozen Hungry Man meatloaf in that old gold fridge’s freezer and decided there was something to be said for a dinner with friends. “Sounds like a plan.”
    “Great.” Tom nodded. “She’ll call you to give you a heads-up on the time and stuff.” He paused for a moment, looked inclined to say something else, but grabbed a wing instead.
    There’d been more times than Sawyer could count that his life had depended on reading people. He might not possess superpowers like his brothers claimed women did, but he could tell when something was off. He lifted a brow. “What else?”
    Tom held up a hand as he finished off the wing. Then he swallowed, took another long pull on the bottle, and looked as if he wished he were anywhere else.
    “Nothing. Now there’s another thing that hasn’t changed,” Tom said, glancing over at the mechanical bull that had sent a lot of drunken cowboys and tourists flying onto the sawdust-covered floor. “Maggie wanted to get rid of it because she said it didn’t fit the decorating time period and could be a liability problem. Everyone revolted. When was the last time you rode a bull?”
    “Probably not since the summer after my junior year of college. And as a diversionary tactic, that one’s pretty lame. What aren’t you saying?”
    “Hell.” Tom rolled his eyes toward the ceiling, as if seeking divine inspiration. Which didn’t seem to come. “Okay. Here’s the deal. I’m