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“Love you back, Aunt Elie.”
“Love you back more, Momma.” Adler shot Tristan a look, and Tristan just pushed him out of the way.
They always played around with who could get her affection the most. Like Tristan said to Stacey, he was treated like a son, and Adler, his brother. They fought and argued like brothers, also. He wouldn’t want it any other way.
“It’s time to get ready for work. Race you to the house.” Tristan was out the door before he finished his sentence. Adler caught up.
Everything to these two was friendly competition and a race. Even before Tristan showed up permanently, they acted like brothers. Adler was born in February, Tristan in June. They were in the same grade at school and played the same sports; they competed at everything but cheated at nothing.
They were neck and neck as they crossed the line.
Yes, a line in the concrete was what they always raced to. It was right in front of the oversize two-car garage attached to the guest house.
Guest house was just a term.
The guest house on the property was a two-bedroom, two-and-a half bath, one thousand square foot pool house. Tristan lived here with his mom until she passed away, then he moved into the main house.
The boys moved to the guest house after college. They paid rent and lived here. It was great. They usually drove to work together and lived on the hundreds of acres which had horse fields in the front and a cattle ranch way in the back.
That’s where they worked.
Adler’s grandfather was a rancher. He owned hundreds of acres in Tennessee and even more in Texas. Adler’s father owned it now, and the boys helped with the day-to-day operations of the ranches and learned about the business.
“Tie,” Adler said, catching his breath.
They both bent over, breathing hard, their faces turned toward each other.
“Fuck.” Responded Tristan. Ties need to be broken. There needs to be a winner. “This is the second time this week our race has ended in a tie. Someone has to win.”
Adler stood up, linking his fingers behind his head. “We did rock, paper, scissors when we were kids. That always worked.”
Tristan’s eyes rolled hard. “We aren’t kids, Warfield. We’re adults.”
“I hear ya, Calhoun. Are you too mature for kid fun? You’ll be a boring dad. I’ll make sure to tell….” He looked up at the sky.
Tristan shoved into Adler as he walked by. “Her name’s Stacey. And that’s a bit premature. There’s no talk of kids.”
Adler pushed past Tristan to get into the house first. “I guess not. There’s got to be sex before kids.” He pushed into the house. “There, I won. Got inside first.” He punched Tristan’s shoulder and ran off to his room.
Tristan sighed and shook his head. Bringing up Stacey made him think of her, so he sent her a good morning text. He was already looking forward to seeing her again.
Tristan drove home from work with the windows down and the radio off. It was a good day, and he kept busy. So busy that he hadn’t seen Adler at all. Who knows what he was up to. Adler was already gone when Tristan finally shut down his computer and left. It was a good thing they drove separately. He wanted to talk with someone, but it was probably a sign that Adler would not be his best bet when it came to understanding.
It was an unseasonably chilly night, and the wind helped him focus on the road while his mind wandered to Stacey.
She was working the next couple of nights, so he wasn’t planning on seeing her, yet he missed her smile and the smell of her perfume.
Maybe he should surprise her after her shift at her house. Would she get angry? Possibly.
He pulled into his driveway and settled on sending a text to see if she wanted to meet later. He’d love to see her, even if it was just for a couple of hours.
Stacey left the room and went to the nurses’ station to fill out her paperwork, making sure it was all completed before her shift was over. She glanced at the clock over the desk.
Shit. She had fifteen minutes before her meeting.
It had not even been a week, and her number had already come up. Dr. Hensley and Nancy had only spoken with one other nurse in Labor and Delivery. She was a part-time nurse, who they offered to give impeccable references to for any other job she wanted to apply for. What could it mean that she was being called as the first full-time RN?
Karolyn sat in the chair next to her. Stacey gave her a small smile as she finished typing her reports, then turned toward her with a sigh. “I have my meeting in a bit.”
