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His cheeks colored as his voice dropped off and some of the tightness in my chest eased. “That’s what?” I asked.
Beck avoided my eyes as he pretended to focus on getting the gauze pad in the perfect position over my injury. “That’s…interesting,” he finally said.
“Liar,” I whispered and Beck’s eyes shifted to mine. He smiled shyly and then went to work wrapping my hand with a bandage.
“What’s his name?”
“Nathan.”
“Does he live around here?” Beck asked.
“No.”
Something in my voice must have clued him in that it wasn’t a great topic for me because he paused in what he was doing and looked up at me. “Brody, wow, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize-” he began.
“It’s okay,” I said with a shake of my head. “I’m not used to talking about it. I keep trying to tell myself that that part of my life is over, but I guess when it comes to family, it’s not so easy.”
“No, it isn’t,” Beck agreed as he began wrapping my hand again. We were both silent a moment before Beck said, “Why construction? Are you thinking about quitting your paramedic job?”
“No, definitely not,” I said. “I’ve always liked working with my hands so I wanted a business I could start in my spare time where I could be my own boss and earn a few extra bucks at the same time.”
“How long have you been doing it?”
“The construction work or being a paramedic?”
“Both, I guess.”
“I worked in construction when I was younger…during summers off from college. I finished my paramedic training about six months ago, and took the job out here a few months ago.”
“So you didn’t initially want to be a paramedic when you were a kid?”
It was another sticky area for me, but I was enjoying the fact that Beck was even talking to me too much to risk shutting down the conversation.
“I always wanted to be a paramedic, but my parents had other ideas.”
Beck’s pretty green eyes held mine. “What did they want you to be?”
“A lawyer. Like my dad. Like his dad. Like his dad before him…you get the picture.”
Beck nodded. “What made you decide not to follow in their footsteps?”
I debated how much to say and finally settled on, “I met someone who showed me what I was in for.”
Beck seemed to know I was nearing the end of my rope when it came to taking a walk down memory lane because he didn’t ask me any more questions. “What about you?” I asked as he began tearing off strips of tape to secure the bandage.
“What about me?” he asked in confusion.
“You must be heading off to college in the fall.” I inwardly flinched at the reminder of how young Beck truly was.
Beck stilled and I saw the easy expression on his face disappear only to be replaced with lines of tension that seemed to age him instantly.
“Beck, I’m sorry…”
“No,” Beck said. “It’s okay. I’m just…I guess this is the stuffI’mnot used to talking about,” he murmured, reminding me I’d made the same statement about talking about my family. Beck began carefully putting the tape on the bandage as he said, “I kind of missed the window on applying to schools last year. My parents mentioned taking a few classes at a community college this fall, but I’m not really sure I can take any more school right now.” Beck’s gaze shifted to me for a brief moment. “It’s hard to focus sometimes.”
I nodded in understanding. “What about just entering the workforce?”
Beck secured the last piece of tape and then began repacking the first aid kit. “That’s probably what will happen. A couple of my uncles have each offered me jobs in their businesses, but…”
