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“Thank you.”
We wandered over to the chicken yard and I opened it, leading him inside and heading toward the coop. “What did you do after that?” I asked, not looking at him as I rummaged around in the coop for eggs.
“Lived with the Coopers until I turned eighteen.”
“And then?”
“Moved back to our place.”
“By yourselves? How old was Jake?”
“Fourteen.”
“Who took care of you?”
“What do you mean? I did.”
“You raised your teenaged brother from when he was fourteen all by yourself?”
“Bruce and Ellen were three doors down.”
“But they didn’t live with you, right?”
“They were there if we needed them. Jake was struggling a lot and we figured he would feel better living at home. So that’s what we did.”
“What did you do for money?”
“Worked.”
“What kind of work?”
“I’d been mowing lawns since I was twelve, so I just did more of that, adding on different services until it paid enough for us to live off. I mean, the house was paid for.”
I was utterly fascinated. I simply could not imagine being eighteen years old, responsible for a rebellious, grieving younger brother, trying to earn a liveable income to support two people while figuring out how to even be an adult. “Then how did you get your qualification?”
“Lots and lots of night school.”
“I think that’s really amazing.”
He shrugged, like it was nothing. I wanted to say more, ask more, know more, but it didn’t feel right to pry more than I already had, so I went back to hunting for eggs.
“Are you feeling okay, Allegra?”
“Um, yeah. Why?”
“Because that’s the most civilised conversation we’ve had since I met you.”
“Well, that’s your fault for suddenly being so interesting.”
There was an awkward pause. “Anyway, it’s rude of me not to introduce you to the ladies. You can’t take their eggs if you don’t know their names.”
“Sounds fair. Who have we got?”
“This is Hennah.”
“Hannah?
“No, Hennah. And that white feathered beauty with the black bits on the sides of her head is Princess Lay-a.”
