AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Your dad said I was pretty?”
Molly pops her head over the banister. “I believe he said you looked pretty in the dress.”
“Tomato, tomahto. I’ll take a compliment when it’s given. Now, what are we gonna do about this place?” I think of all the wonderful ways we can revitalize the castle in the grass.
Molly walks down the stairs. “Nothing. Dad was serious when he said that no one is allowed to come here.”
I look up at the walls and wonder if Rob’s concerns are because it’s structurally unsafe. I mean, it looks old and could very well not be the soundest of structures. I can picture the walls crumbling down on us and a report in the newspaper about a woman and child who perished in the fall.
That visual quickly subsides. There’s something about the way it feels, standing here. It feels solid. Like it was constructed in a time when people built things to withstand the elements, disaster. This feels like it has good bones.
It had a purpose, and I bet the story is absolutely beautiful. Like a film reel in a flashback setting, I can see it. A man who built this for his wife so she could have respite from harder times. Where she could garden and read and escape from the hurt that happened outside these walls. A place that was once deeply loved and then cast aside for one reason or another.
I can relate to this place. A stunningly beautiful tower, slowly growing vines to cover its vulnerabilities from the outside world.
Okay, so when I start comparing myself to buildings is when I begin to worry about my own sanity.
“Yeah, maybe we should get out of here.”
“Let’s make slime!” Molly hops off the staircase and heads out the door.
As we walk away from the structure and into the pasture, I still can’t help but wonder what it once was and what it could be someday.
CHAPTERTEN
My days and nights at the ranch go seamlessly over the next week. It can be a touch boring at times, yet the quiet is soothing for the soul. I get plenty of work done while Molly reads or has iPad time, and we fill the days with games and exploring the land surrounding the house.
It’s an uncharacteristically cool night, so Molly and I open the windows and let a breeze from a recent rainstorm pass through the house as we play a card game. It’s one of those picturesque nights out here on the ranch—that is, until the boys come home.
When Rob and Jesse return from work, it’s with the sound of doors slamming and voices hollering. Molly and I exchange glances from across the living room coffee table, where we’re playing gin rummy. Our brows rise with an equal look ofoh shit, wonder what happened now.
Nowbeing the keyword. Night after night, it’s been the sound of father-son fighting. While the trigger to the fight of the day is always different, the underlying issue is always the same.
“I don’t need to be on your damn leash!” Jesse storms into the house and throws his backpack on the floor. “I have my driver’s permit. Why won’t you let me drive? Every other dad lets their kid drive around. It’s like some rite of passage you’re supposed to want to do with me!”
“Maybe if you weren’t so damn irresponsible, I’d trust you behind the wheel of my truck.”
“I made one mistake.”
“If shoplifting had been your first offense, I wouldn’t be dragging you to my damn job to babysit you every day.” Rob throws his car keys on the counter, his accusing voice stabbing the air. “The bad grades, the bad attitude, the spray paint, the pot—”
“It wasn’t mine!”
“The flood in the bathroom when you were taking a shower.”
“That was because the stupid plastic curtain isn’t big enough,” Jesse counters.
“You’re sixteen! When are you gonna get your head out of your ass and pay attention to life? I can’t trust you alone because you make bad decision after bad decision.”
“I hate it here!” Jesse lashes out.
“Then, go live with your mother.”
“She doesn’t want me either, or did you forget that?” he battles back with contempt that forbids any other argument.
Rob punches the air as he sputters, unable to fight the words from his son. His jaw clenches, and he closes his eyes, gathering his thoughts.
“I never said I didn’t want you. What I want is for you to wake up and live in the real world. What you did today was unacceptable.” His tone still has a bite, yet it’s calmer and pointed.
