AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Graham
Mom and I have recruited my brothers to get one of our cabins ready for Taeli and Caleb. It was a surprise when she called and announced that they would be moving into the old place. I had no idea she was considering leaving Leona’s home.
When I voiced that surprise, Mom shut me down, saying, “She needs more space, and I think it will be good for her and Caleb to have a place to call their own.”
When I saw Taeli and Caleb later that day at the Fourth of July picnic celebration, she asked me to take a walk with her and told me about their plans.
“So, you’re staying in Balsam Ridge permanently?” I asked.
“We’re staying for now. I talked to him and told him everything, and he agreed to give school here a try,” she said.
I wasn’t sure how to react to the news. I hadn’t let myself think about the future between us because until now, I hadn’t seen a future. She explained that she didn’t expect anything from me and that I didn’t need to feel obligated to continue whatever was going on between us.
I didn’t say a word. Not one damn word. I just walked her back to the crowd, and we ate and went to watch the fireworks, like there wasn’t this heavy subject left unresolved.
She was quiet the rest of the evening. Not angry quiet, just unsure.
I hate that I made her feel insecure at all.
I tell Corbin about our conversation.
“What did you say when she told you she was staying?” he asks.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing? That’s not good,” he muses.
“I just needed time to process,” I admit.
“And have you?” Corbin asks.
I look over at him as he checks the chimney in the cabin to see if it is safe for use.
“Have I what?”
“Had time to process?”
“Yeah, I have,” I admit.
“Well, don’t keep us in suspense, bro,” Weston calls from the kitchen, where he’s hooking up the new dishwasher Mom had delivered.
I look between them. “I’m happy they’re staying,” I admit.
Weston’s eyes go round. “Truly?”
“Yeah, really fucking happy for the first time since I lost my wife. I wake up, looking forward to seeing her face. Neither Leona nor I even make up excuses for me to go by the farm anymore. I just show up because I want to”
Corbin smiles at me. “I called it,” he declares.
I raise an eyebrow at him.
“We’ve been placing bets on whether or not you were falling in love,” Morris says as he emerges from the master suite.
“Falling in love?” I ask.
“Yep, Weston and I thought you’d cut and run when it got serious. Corbin and Langford said you were in it for the long haul, although Langford thought you’d try to deny it for a while longer.”
“Nice,” I say as I throw the towel I was wiping the walls down with at him.
“Hey, don’t take it out on me because you went and lost it over a girl,” Morris grumbles.
“At least I have a girl to lose it over,” I shoot back at him.
He huffs and tosses it back but misses me.
“I have several women on the hook, I’ll have you know,” he brags.
“I’ve seen them, and I’d throw them back if I were you,” Weston urges.
“Hey, I have some dope options. You’re the one with none.”
“By choice,” Weston tells him.
“Keep telling yourself that.”
They continue the bickering until Pop walks through the front door, lugging a drum sander behind him.
“Fuck, are we resurfacing the floor?” Weston asks.
“Yep,” Pop answers.
“Why? It looks fine to me,” Morris adds.
“Because your mother said so,” Pop tells him.
All three of them groan.
Pop shrugs. “You either do it or go tell her why you think it’s unnecessary. I dare you.”
Morris walks over and takes the sander from him. “You guys start hauling the furniture out, and I’ll start sanding,” he grumbles.
“I’ll be back with the wood putty and polyurethane,” Pop says before disappearing again.
“Your girlfriend is a pain in my ass,” Morris says as he passes me to plug in the piece of equipment.
My girlfriend. I like the sound of that.
