Read Feels Like Home Online Free by Courtney Walsh

But I want it.

And I’m willing to pay for it, no matter how much it hurts my wallet or my pride.

I shut off the engine and open my truck door. The dog stands on all fours now, and I absently wonder if he’s going to let it loose. I stop moving.

“Heard you were back in town,” Rip calls out.

“I’m just as surprised as you are, sir,” I say. “I understand if you want to kick me off your property but I’d appreciate the chance to talk.”

“Bruno, sit,” Rip says, and the dog listens. Then Rip looks at me and nods at the chair beside him.

I walk up to the porch and sit down. I’m quiet for a few long seconds, trying to remember the speech I’d practiced the whole ride out here and a whole bunch of times before that.

“You like my new tractor?” Rip says, then laughs, which turns into a coughing fit. A few too many cigarettes or too much prairie dust, can’t tell which.

“It’s nice,” I say, looking at the piece of farm equipment parked outside a nearby barn.

“You come out here t’ drive it into the lake or do I get to keep this one?” He coughs again, then tosses me a sideways look that seems to tease.

“Nah, my days of troublemaking are behind me,” I say, settling my hands on my lap.

“That so?” he says.

“Yes sir,” I nod, then brush a hand over my chin. “Came here to apologize.”

“Thought you might be.” He looks at me. “Want some lemonade?”

“Uh, sure,” I say.

“Joni!” He looks at the door.

A few seconds later, I hear a woman’s voice coming through the open screen door. “How many times have I asked you not to holler at me from the porch?” Rip’s wife appears behind the screen, stopping short when she sees me. “Oh. I didn’t know we had a guest.”

I take off my hat and stand. “Afternoon, ma’am.”

Her eyebrows go up. “You at the right house, son?”

“Just came to apologize,” I say. “To both of you.”