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Or.
Maybe not.
With a groan, he checked to make sure the porch door was propped open in case Grace’s cat came back. He returned to the kitchen and picked up his keys.
Since he didn’t want to pace around her house wrestling with his sudden confusion, he texted Ray and drove over to pick the other man up. Ray came out carrying an athletic sports bag that held the new boxing gloves and shoes he’d purchased recently.
“Aren’t we going to the gym?” he asked as Lincoln drove past the exit on the interstate.
“Yeah, later.” He flexed his hands on the wheel. “I wanted to get out of town and drive awhile. I’ve never seen rural California.”
Ray pointed to a highway sign. “Head over to I-5. I’ll show you rural California.”
Lincoln maneuvered toward the highway that cut down the center of the state.
As they drove, Ray pointed out crops growing in the vast fields—corn, rice, wheat, alfalfa, grapes, tomatoes. He talked about the struggles of the small communities, the rise of industrialized farming, the entrenched poverty of migrant workers, the specific issues facing the schools.
They stopped in a one-road town for coffee and a short walk.
“Do you miss the farm?” Lincoln asked as they passed a feed store.
“I miss having something to do.” Ray shrugged. “Used to be I woke up every morning knowing exactly what I needed to do. And I knew exactly how to do it. Now I wake up wondering how I’m going to fill the hours. Never felt that way before, not even after Jane passed.”
Lincoln glanced at the other man. “Must’ve been difficult.”
“Yeah, but I had to focus on Grace.” Ray squinted at a display of farm equipment in a shop window. “They were close for…you know. The time they had. I hope Grace remembers.”
“I’m sure she does. Did you and Jane start Berry Farms together?”
Ray nodded. “We met in college. She was an econ major taking a class about the Russian Revolution.”
“What was your major?”
“History.”
“Really?”
Ray chuckled. “Seems like another life. I thought about being a teacher once. Then Jane’s uncle mentioned this farm for sale, and Jane had always dreamed of living in the country and off the land…so we took the leap. Never regretted it for a second. Just hard to see the towns struggle, you know? The schools have a huge impact on so many parts of the community. Not enough people realize that.”
“Grace told me she’d tried to spearhead a rural education network,” Lincoln said. “She ever tell you about that?”
“Yeah, but she kept getting shut down.” Ray shrugged. “It was a good idea. I told her to talk to Grant over at the Mousehole. He started a nonprofit food program for rural kids awhile back. Seemed like Grace’s education idea would be a good fit. Grant’s father is the owner of a big tech company, and now they’re working to bring broadband access into rural schools so the kids have more resources and connectivity.”
“You know a lot about it.”
“Yeah, you hear things hanging out at the bar.” Ray shoved his hands into his jeans pockets as they walked back to the car. “Stuff that sounds small, but is probably about the biggest thing a person can do.”
Lincoln tried to ignore the discomfort nudging at his chest. “Hey, you want to head back and stop at the gym?”
“Sure.”
They drove back toward Glendale and turned off at the gym. They’d gotten into the habit of jogging on the track together, spotting each other on the weights, and shadow-boxing in the ring.
After a solid ninety minutes of exercise, he and Ray started to the locker rooms. He spotted Jake and Sam climbing out of the ring, and they all stopped and exchanged introductions.
“You guys leaving?” Jake began removing the tape from his hands. “We were talking about grabbing some dinner, if you want to join us.”
Lincoln glanced uneasily at his brother, but Sam nodded. “Mousehole’s pretty busy on Saturday night, but there’s a bunch of other restaurants we can try.”
