Brody (25 page)

Later in the day, Aiden squealed from under Dolly, an old dairy cow. He’d been given the chance to milk her with permission from Brody’s grandma and the milk squirting out of the pail at him, had taken him by surprise. That squeal had only been marked by a laugh, though, a
laugh
and I watched in fascination at the possibility, the magic of it. A shot of milk hit the pail once more, but Brody was there in a flash to help my nephew get the old cow under control, nothing but a smile on his face as he did. Squatting down, he got beside Aiden in his faded jeans. They were all dirtied up and ripped, like he’d put some work into them before coming here. He also had his messy blond hair under a large hat. His grandma gave us all one for the sun today after we’d broke shortly for lunch.

“Like this, bud. You can’t let Dolly get one on you,” Brody said, squeezing the cow udder. The milk came out in a steady stream and Aiden watched closely, studying. Eventually, Brody scooted aside and let Aiden take things away again. He did it this time perfectly and Brody stood, his hands on his hips as he watched his young protégé with a smile.

I stepped forward and Brody’s blue eyes flickered up, catching me like a stunned gazelle. Just as quickly, his gaze left and something turned in me, something deep, something that hurt. He stood, pointing behind him.

“Gram, I’m going to go ahead and get those bags. The feed?” he said.

And so my stomach flipped again. I didn’t want him to do this, to push himself for no reason. I was sure his grandma would understand letting him take it easy.

Why doesn’t he just ask?

Brody’s eyes connected with mine, staring a hole right through me, and my thoughts of before surfaced. I questioned if he was doing this all, going overboard, because of me, but I couldn’t protest even if it were true. I didn’t feel it was appropriate.

Instead, I let him go. He disappeared around a corner in the back of the barn and I chose to go to my nephew, popping a squat beside him on a turned-over crate. He was where my focus should be.

Him and Elena were the choice I made.

I sat there, rubbing his back, and Brody’s Grandma Rose brushed the brown cow above him, unable to stop her grin as she watched Aiden master her cow. She lowered the brush. “We’ll have milk for weeks at this rate, darlin.’ Keep up the good work.”

And my nephew, in all his cow-milking glory, showed his teeth with pride. He’d done that so many times today. We’d been all over the ranch and Rose had allowed Aiden to do some chores. Not only did he do them, but
loved
doing them. Perhaps, he was feeling a sense of comfort here, too, a love for this place, too, and I was so glad.

Wheels squeaked behind me, and Brody came out with a wheel barrow.

Thank God, he’s at least using that.

He left the barn without a word through the front door. I tried not to let that bother me. Laying the brush down, Rose bent. She exchanged the pail Aiden managed to fill half way. “We’ll have this tonight,” she said, raising it. “I plan on making fried chicken. We’ll use it in the mashed potatoes.”

I didn’t know what excited Aiden more. The fact that we’d be having what I knew to be such a great meal from our hostess or that we’d be consuming the fruits of his hard work.

“Can I help?” he asked her. “With dinner?”

Who was this little boy and where was my nephew? Chores were something I could never get him to do back when I lived with him and my sister, but now the very thought couldn’t keep the smile off his face.

I hugged him, so grateful. I owed yet another thing to Brody, another debt.

Rose patted Dolly. “Of course, sweet pea. I’m getting started on it real soon. Maybe in about an hour?”

“Yeah!”

“So, that’s just in time then,” I said, bringing him close. “For you to go lay down and take it easy for a bit.” We’d been running since early this morning, stopping only to have a quick lunch, so he had to be tired.

He frowned, concentrating on his task under the cow. “I don’t need to rest, Aunt Alex. I’m fine.” But even as he said it, his eyes drooped. Like the very thought made him realize how tired he was.

I nudged his leg. “Just a quick one. You’ve been all over the place today.”

It didn’t look like he wanted to, but he let go of Dolly, standing when I did. Bending down, he picked up Joe. He’d had a front row seat while Aiden milked. Holding the toy under his arm, he faced Rose. “Ms. Rose, can we use all the other stuff we got today for dinner?”

By “stuff,” he referred to all the magic of her garden. He picked all kinds of things today. All kinds of delicious-looking things.

Ms. Rose herself placed her hands on her hips. “Now, I can’t see why not. You have to be careful offering to help me with all this, though, youngin’. I might end up offering you a job as one of my hands.”

The proposal couldn’t have gone over better with him. Aiden looked on the verge of bursting, but my little ranch hand needed a nap first before doing any more heavy labor. I smoothed my hand over his head before taking his palm. “Come on, you little crazy. You can help after you’ve slept.”

He nodded his head of braided locks, that sleep suddenly moving over his face and hazing his eyes. I supposed this all was catching up with him after all. We started to walk away when a body stopped directly in front us.

Elena.

She looked half awake, barely there, and I didn’t miss the anger, the tension wrinkling her brow.

Does she know? Does she know I threw away her stash?

“Elena,” I said, trying to play it off. “Is everything, okay? Are you feeling better?”

Her eyebrows narrowed and honestly, I thought this was it. The bomb was about to drop and she was going to do this right now. She was going to do it in front of her son and Brody’s wonderful grandma. Instead, she grabbed Aiden’s hand. “Where are you going with my kid?”

“They were going inside to rest,” came from my side. Rose. Her hands in her apron, the warmest expression lit her face and it reminded me so much of another. It reminded me because it put me at ease. She smiled. “Do y’all want me to lead you back to the house?”

Elena’s jaw moved a bit and maybe because she couldn’t find a place for her anger in front of his kind woman. With Ms. Rose’s sunshine emanating, it was so hard. Eventually, Elena shook her head, telling her, “That’s okay,” before looking at me. “And I’ll do it. I’ll take him in.”

I let out a breath. “Elena…”

But she was already walking away, taking Aiden with her. He turned, gazing at me over his shoulder, but I waved him on, letting him know it was okay.

Joe went up to his chin and that had been the first time all day he had to have him so close. Eventually, he let his mama tug him forward and the two headed in the general direction of the house.

“You know, I had a sister, too.” It was Rose. It was Grandma Rose again. “An older one, once upon a time.”

“Yeah?” I questioned, watching mine walk away. It felt like so far away.

Rose nodded. “We fought all the time. Like cats and dogs, but things changed. They changed when I made myself known.”

I had no time to let my thoughts even wonder over that with her. Her grandson came in, big and all encompassing. Wheelbarrow full, Brody pushed those heavy bags and if he hadn’t told me about his heart, I never would have questioned any lack of strength. That’s because he didn’t lack any. He never would.

Rose touched my arm. “I’ll make sure they get back to the house okay,” she said, patting my shoulder before going over to Brody. She directed him exactly where to wheel them, but told him not to worry about putting them away. She had people coming in to do that later to feed the cow and the other animals. After that, she left and that left her grandson and me out of sorts. We were out of sorts because we were alone again.

Ten or so feet maybe stood between us, ten short, yet excruciatingly long feet. I felt them in so many ways.

His large hands went into his jean pockets, his brown boot digging into the dirt. “I uh, passed Aiden on the way back. Aiden and your sister.”

My own hands went into the back of my jean shorts. “Yeah. They went in for a nap. She took him.”

He nodded with that. “She didn’t look sick. Is she better?”

Better? No, she wasn’t better. I wasn’t sure she’d ever be. As I couldn’t answer him honestly, I simply shrugged and we stood there with silence, so much silence. The two of us in there so long, I thought Brody might simply walk away.
We’d
walk away from each other and everything else. What I didn’t expect was him to come closer. I didn’t expect him to come to me.

I felt him everywhere, though, he didn’t touch me. His body cast a shadow, a warm envelope that hovered all around me. His fingers went up and I lost my breath, the callused pads choosing to touch my sleeve. He played with the material between his fingertips, not saying a single word until, well, he did.

“Wanna take a walk?” he asked, and I… I said yes.

*

The walk turned out to be one of forever, his grandma’s beautiful property surrounding us as we strode through the abyss of it. We passed ranch hands manning the land. Others took care of the small animals grazing and Brody knew them all, lifting a hand in greeting to everyone. They all seemed happy to be here. I couldn’t blame them because
here
was wonderful.

I pushed my hands in my back pockets, kicking a stray rock ahead. “Your grandma is nice,” I told him. They were the first words I said really and I chose them well. They made him smile.

Brody’s head went back with it. “Yeah, she is.”

“What did, uh,” I started, placing a boot in front of the other. “What did you tell her about us? About where we came from and why?” That’s something I hadn’t asked him, but judging by the nonchalant way she handled us being here, he had to have told her something lighter than…

“The truth,” he said, suddenly surprising me. In fact, he said it so simply and without reprieve that I envied him. I envied his ability to tell the truth. Maybe if I had, things would have been different.
We
would have been different. His hands settled atop a wooden fence we approached, his gaze searching the wide field it incased.

“I tell them…” he started, but his eyes went narrow. They softened, creasing tight in the corners like he caught the high sun in them. The tip of his hat tipped down, the hem lined in a thin layer of sweat. He lifted it, catching a few beads with the back to his hand. “I tell them everything,” he ended up finishing his sentence with. He swallowed, lips tight. “My family. I tell them everything.”

My arm wrapped around the fence post, I studied him. I eyed his stature, slumped, and his eyes lost. This so wasn’t like Brody. It wasn’t like him at all. The appearance of a gentle beast brought me out of my thoughts, as well as ignited some light back into Brody’s blue eyes. The horse pushed its face into Brody’s hands when he lifted them, nudging him for attention. He gave in right away, his thick fingers moving in light strokes between two large nut brown eyes. The caress, the care of it, reminded me of the ways in which he, too, brought me to surrender. He touched me in ways so delicately. He made me feel. He made me
want
to feel.

“You ever ridden?” he asked, helping me escape the conclaves of me mind.

I shook my head, my arm falling down the post. “Not unless the ponies at the zoo count,” I said, laughing a little, and that made magic happen. He laughed, too.

Stepping with he or she, Brody brought the horse my way, a tip of his hat gesturing me to touch her. Reaching out, I was surprised by the silky feeling. I mean, the skin looked soft, but a fine velvet my hand didn’t expect. I very much liked it and turned out the horse did, too, running its face along my hand.

 Brody fell back to the post, letting the two of us have our moment. His fingers tapping against his chest, he seemed to consider something while we did. “You wouldn’t want to…?” he paused, his jaw working a little. He tipped back his hat. “You wouldn’t want to ride her, would you? I can show you how if you want.”

My fingers slid from the horse, not really expecting that. Things had been so weird and awkward between us, but now he was wanting to spend time with me again. Maybe it was fleeting but he did. Chewing my lip, I went to tell him I wanted to, but thought about something as I faced the direction of the house. I faced the weight of my obligations.

“It’s getting kind of late is all,” I told him. The words hurt to even think about, but felt far worse said. I wanted nothing more than to spend time with him, ride with him. I pulled my hat off. “It’s just, it’s Aiden. I probably shouldn’t be away too long. I need to be there when he gets up. And also… I think he’d want to ride, too. I know he would.” The horses were one thing he’d been super excited to see, but we hadn’t made it this far out today. If he were here now, he’d definitely want to ride with us.

Brody’s smile faded a little, which consequently made part of me sear inside. Gazing away, he looked like he’d let it go, but then he turned my way.  “Maybe just a few minutes then,” he said, making me blink, and also blowing me away for the second time in short minutes. He shrugged a little. “A short ride won’t take long. We won’t go far and I’d be happy to take him out tomorrow. Weather is always good for it here. I don’t mind. I love riding.”

He should have given up after I declined. Everything pointed toward that route, but he didn’t.

And I loved him for it.

I never imagined myself to be much of a country gal and heck, no way a horse rider. But once I got up there, up on Delilah as Brody called her, I noticed immediately the air was different. The
world
was different and I got to enjoy it with him.

Brody trotted beside me, a cautious hand ready and waiting to help at any given moment. He’d been doing that the whole ride since the crash course he gave me. “You got her all right?” he asked, passing a look over to me.

With gentle steps, I did. I totally did. I nodded and that hand of his went back; Brody directing us. We went downhill a bit, a dirt trail that took us into another land, another land where the world opened up. There were no buildings, just mountainous land.