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“This is my house.” My voice shook as the volume of it rose.
“It was Bryce, yes. But now it’s my home and soon when Jason and I get married it will be our home. Not that you don’t have a place here but…”
Throwing the cookie I had been enjoying down on the plate in front of me. Shoving the chair back, the feet scraping on the floor. I remembered that exact sound every time grandpa and Devin would have a disagreement.
“I take it back. I’m not going to help you out at all.”
Storming toward the door she called after me. “Bryce, I’m not saying you can’t be here. Don’t be like this.”
“My family needs me. My real family.”
I knew Kelly didn’t have any family around. It was something she had told me a few times. That was why she liked having me around. She said she considered me her family. It was all bullshit. She didn’t care about me. That was fine. I didn’t need her either. There were plenty of other things I needed to do that didn’t include her.
By the time I ran back to the farm I was out of breath and the anger inside of me had built with each footstep.
“Hey Bryce why aren’t you at Kelly’s?”Evan rounded the side of the barn, dirt covering most of his clothing.
“Why are you so dirty?”
“You missed it B, Luke was being a smart ass to Hunter and they got into it. Apparently Hunter has a new girl. Luke caught them making out in the barn. Grandpa is going to be so pissed they’re both majorly behind right now on their chores.”
I looked back at him trying to figure out how that explained my brothers state of disarray. He looked like he got thrown into the pig pen after a good rain. Noticing that I wasn’t connecting the dots Evan continued.
“Apparently calling Hunter a ginger chaser gets you thrown in the dirt. Totally worth pissing him off. Think you can help me finish clearing out the horse stalls?”
He flashed a grin, hopeful I would finally say yes. Which I did, because I had nowhere else to go.
That’s how the next few months went. Someone would ask me to do something and I always said yes. Even if it was something like shoveling manure. My brothers tried to ask why I never went to Kelly’s anymore. I just ignored them and took on another task.
That was until Claire went and asked Kelly. I should have known my sister wasn’t going to just be grateful that I was home and helping. Bursting through my bedroom door she didn’t bother knocking before she started in on me.
“Bryce Alexander Gregory why did you not tell us she said you can’t come by anymore?”
“Jesus Claire, it doesn’t matter that’s why.” I turned back to my her, unwilling to allow her to see that I was bothered by Kelly’s words.
“B come on. Talk to me.”
Saved by my phone buzzing I looked down at my phone.
Hunter: if you’re free the tractor needs an oil change
“There’s nothing to talk about. I don’t give a shit. Hunter said the tractor needs an oil change, I need to go.”
*****
Present Day
For some reason pressing the screen twice as hard as necessary I waited impatiently for Evan to answer his phone. Straight to voicemail. Alright, fine I’ll call Hunter. Again, voicemail. The same results for Luke. I wasn’t going to call Claire. She would probably just tell me that I was being an idiot. That or she would expect me to open up and discuss how I felt.
That was one thousand percent not an option. I didn’t want or need to discuss anything. Opening my social media I clicked on Hannah’s page and started scrolling back. If Jason was her brother there had to be pictures of him with Kelly. I hadn’t seen her in so long but she probably would look the same. It had to be a mistake. There was no way that my Kelly was the same one that married Hannah’s brother.
Opening the album labeled Jason’s wedding I started looking through photos. There with a flowing white princess gown was Kelly. She looked so happy. Shutting the album I scrolled until I found a newer one. There she was snuggling a little baby. She had a son. Clicking through I found one from when the baby was born.Julian Bryce, my sweet boy.The caption stilled my breathing. Hannah never said her brother had a kid.
Bryce: who knew?
The family group text was the quickest way to get answers. Five minutes passed and finally three little dots showed up.
Luke: we didn’t know until right before she told you
