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I didn’t want to be the one to tell him that I had basically forgotten my bag and had then realized that laundry was important to do on the one day or so I was home each month. It was embarrassing. The less he knew about the situation, the better.
“And the renter situation?”
“She’s all moved in, and it’s been… well, it’s been tough,” I admitted. “She doesn’t understand my need to get away from everything. Wanted to talk last night. Just… just talk.”
“Well, what do you expect when you’ve moved someone new into the home?” My father gave me a look. “Jesse, I could have told you that no matter who you let move in to give you that rent, you would have been taking the risk that they wouldn’t beable to understand that you’re not that much of a talkative guy. Though, I might also say that talking to someone every now and again certainly wouldn’t kill you. Sometimes your mom and I worry that you’re getting too isolated, only talking to family or your work colleagues. Most people need friends too, you know.”
I gave my father the largest frown I could muster.
“I swear, all four of you picked careers that jaded the lot of you,” he said, shaking his head. “I can’t understand why you would do that to yourselves, but if those are your passions, then I have no ground to stand on. Your mother and I were the ones who told you to be sure to find something to do that would fulfill your dreams.”
“We just all like tohelp,” I clarified. “What comes from years doing it comes from interacting with the stupidest of the people around us because, more often than not, they are the ones making the trouble that everyone needs to be rescued from.”
My father shook his head. With that, I went to help groom the horses. I needed to be able to do something with my hands that wasn’t holding a water hose spurting water out at such speed that I could feel the hose vibrating.
It wasn’t but a couple of hours later that I heard my phone going off in my pocket. I soothed the horse I was working with before walking away to climb the ladder. It continued to ring, so I knew that it was not a text. I wondered who could be calling. Quietly, I prayed it wasn’t Jade.
When I reached the top of the loft, I answered my phone, not taking time to see who was actually calling.
“Hello?”
“Jesse, finally!”
The voice of my superior at the fire station came through. This was odd. The only time he ever really called me was to see if I could fill in for someone before I left to go out of town for my days off. I wondered what he needed now because, as far as Iwas aware, everyone on the crew coming in after me was healthy right now. No one was ill. Not even a headache plagued that crew.
“What do you need, sir? Did I forget something at the station?”
“No, Jesse. We need everyone to come in for a meeting tomorrow morning. Don’t worry; it’s not about performance or anything. It is important though. I thought I’d give you a heads-up today so that you’re not panicking about trying to make the drive back and arrive on time from wherever you go when you’re not on duty here,” my boss said.
I managed to hold back a groan.
“All right. I’ll get back to town tonight then,” I said. “I hope this is worth the drive I have to make. I wasn’t planning to return until Saturday.”
“Well, I’m not sure I can say anything more other than we need everyone there,” he said. “Thanks for understanding.”
With that, I hung up the phone. I held it tightly in my hands, wishing that I could just chuck it over the loft railing and watch it shatter. Unfortunately, that would make it difficult for Jade to get in touch with me if something were to go wrong, and it would mean I’d have to get a new phone.
I took a deep breath, put it back in my pocket, and climbed down the ladder before continuing with the work so rudely interrupted.
The rest of the day went by far too quickly. I spent most of the day working with the horses, which was truly my happiest place on the ranch. Working as a firefighter was my way of emulating what my elder brothers had shown to me and what Dad had once shown in his work. It was a way of giving back to the community around me, even though now it had started to wear on my soul.
At dinner that evening, I could hardly eat anything, as much as I appreciated that my father had gone through the trouble of making burgers.
“You’re picking at your food, Jesse,” Mom said as I took a bite slowly. “Is something wrong?”
“I have to leave after dinner,” I said. “I got a call from my supervisor, but he didn’t give many details. I’m just tired, and I’d rather stay here.” I shrugged, “but duty calls.”
My father raised an eyebrow. “You were just telling me this morning about how happy you were to be here. Do you really have to go tonight?”
“I need to be at the fire station tomorrow morning. Depends on how long the meeting is but I’ll let you know if I need to stay in Lantana longer than that,” I said. “I’m sorry, but I’ll need to leave after dinner.”
My parents exchanged a look. I don’t think they were happy about it either. But we chatted a bit and finished our burgers, and I hugged my mom before re-packing my bag and heading out to the truck.
The drive back to Lantana didn’t feel as though it took nearly as long as it took to return to the ranch, and I always wondered if it was because I wanted to get things over with in Lantana or if it was because Lantana was technically home despite still having a bedroom at the ranch.
Once I arrived home, my stomach started to growl. Again. It seemed I hadn’t gotten enough food at the ranch, and I had completely forgotten that I had wanted to stop on the way home.
I heaved a sigh as I got out of the truck. Jade was going to have afield daywith me, and I was going to have to endure it as I got dinner together. That’s when I noticed that Jade’s car wasn’t in the driveway. I figured she must have gone out for the evening. If I left my truck in the driveway, she’d know that I was back, but she would also be less likely to block me in.
