Page 54 of Resilience on Canvas

Henry sighed. “No,” he admitted. “I’d have to talk to my folks about the rest.”

Good Lord, why was this situation so seemingly impossible to fix? Robert wouldhatefor Henry to borrow money from his parents. Heck, Robert wouldn’t be none too happy with Henry paying for anything himself, neither. But Henry had seen those worm-like critters crawling on Raymond’s skin. He had smelled the stench of rotting flesh. It wasn’t wise—nor was itsafe—for Raymond to remain in the house like this. At theveryleast, Henry needed to head back into town and have Mr. Simmons take the body away. And, well, since Robert would be upset with him for that anyway, Henry might as well see to it that everything else would be taken care of, too. He knew that his parents had enough money for these kinds of things. He’d pay them back soon enough. Somehow.

Anxiety churned in Henry’s stomach. Would Robert hate him for this? God, maybe the two of them would lose whatever it was that had started up between them. Maybe Robert would beat Henry to a pulp. And Henry wouldn’t even fault him for it. He knew he would be betraying Robert by paying for Raymond’s burial. But Henryneededto pay for it. No matter what mighthappen between him and Robert, paying for the funeral was the right thing to do.

“Clara, I need to head back to town soon so that I can start the whole process of havin’ yer pop taken to the funeral home.” Henry sucked on his teeth, taking a pause as worry over the horrible, inevitable confrontation with Robert started to percolate in his stomach. But, oh, he had to push past it. He had to make things better for Clara and the kids. “I can’t stand the thought of leavin’ everyone here, though, Clara. What if y’all come with me? We can head over to my house. Gosh, my folks love those kids. I know they won’t mind the company. I’ll take care of movin’ yer pop out of here myself. I’ll even clean the room a little before you come back.”

Clara released Henry’s hand. She began twirling her hair, wrapping a chunk of it around her finger over and over. “What’ll Robert think?”

Henry’s stomach continued to roil. He swallowed hard to keep the worry from climbing up his throat. Otherwise, he’d soon be heaving his breakfast right back up and onto the floor.

“Uhm, Robert might be mad, but... but we can’t let ourselves worry about that right now. We’ll leave him a note. Let him know where everyone is. I bet you they’ll be able to come get yer pop within the next couple of hours. I might not have a chance to clean the sheets or the floor or nothin’ by the time Robert is finished with work, but I can try. It’ll be suppertime soon, though. My folks won’t want me missin’ that.”

“Supper?” Clara shook her head fervently. “We can’t be takin’ food from y’all, too.”

Henry tried a warm smile. “Oh, no, my parents won’t see it that way. I know they like you, Clara. And they like the little ones, too. Boy, they’ll be happy to spend some more time with them. Especially once they learn of the, uhm, the circumstances.”

Clara released her lock of twisted-up hair and sighed. “Alright.”

Well, it was settled, then. Henry would have to spend the bulk of his savings to help bury Raymond. But it would be worth it. Because he wanted to help the Davis family. More than that, though, Henry wanted to help the man he was starting to love.

Love.

Henry’s stomach fluttered from the thought. But not two seconds later, that happy flutter was replaced with a wave of nausea as his fear of losing Robert took over, the flutters transforming into violent waves of upset instead. Would he really lose Robert over this? Forever?

Clara tore him out of his thoughts when she placed a hand on his knee.

“Thank you, Henry,” she said. “I’m lucky to have a friend like you.”

Henry’s cheeks flushed, and he forced what he hoped looked like a warm smile. He couldn’t have Clara knowing how hard this was for him.

“Oh, it’s nothin’.”

“Itissomethin’. And I can’t thank you enough. What a wonderful man you are.”

Henry’s cheeks burned hotter as a small spark of pride ignited in his chest.What a wonderful man you are.Oh, what a lovely womanClarawas. Helping her was the right thing to do. No matter the potential consequences.

Afterward, Clara woke May while Henry left to tell the twins that they were heading into town. Even though there was still one more thing Henry was supposed to tell Clara, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He couldn’t make himself hurt her even more than she was hurting right now. So, Henry would have to break his promise to Robert about that. At least for now. Hopefully sometime that evening, they could tell Clara what the bank said together.

Iftogetherwould even be possible now.

Chapter Fourteen

Robert

ClutchingthenoteHenryhad left for him on the kitchen table, Robert was breathing fast and shallow, rage causing his muscles to shake. He crumpled the paper in his palm. Goddamn son-of-a-bitch Henry Sherwood. Why would he do something like this? Not only had Henry paid for the funeral home owners to take Robert’s father’s body, but he had then prepaid for both the funeral serviceandthe casket? Dammit, now Robert owed Henry a whole bunch of money. No, worse. He owed Henry’sparentsmoney. Owing Henry for the transportation of the corpse from the Davis’s farm over to the funeral home would have been humiliating enough. But, Jesus Christ, this was too Goddamn much.

Robert clenched his teeth to fight back the scream that was threatening to explode forth. Dammit, Robert took care of his family his own self. It wasn’t Henry’s responsibility to chuck his money into the fire like this. And it wasn’t right for Henry’s parents to burn up some of the money they’d been saving for so long, neither. And every fucking penny that either Henry or his parents had spent on the funeral expenses was as good as torched now. Because there wasn’t no way in hell Robert could ever pay the Sherwoods back.

Robert took the now-crumpled note and ripped it in two before inhaling a breath to try to calm himself. Somehow, he’d have to keep himself from boiling over. He’d have to head over to Henry’s parents’ house and pretend that he was thankful for everything. But God help him, the moment him and Henry found some privacy...

Robert wasn’t sure whether he’d kiss him or kill him or both.

Probably both.

Robert took the car into town. By the time he pulled up to Henry’s parents’ house, the storm of fury inside him was barely blowing stronger than a light breeze. After parking, Robert started up the walkway. When he stepped up onto Sherwood’s well-kept porch—which had floorboards that were much sturdier and in better shape than his own—he clenched his teeth to brace himself from the swift flash of envy. And he tried not to think about how much he owed these people now.

Before Robert even had a chance to knock, Henry opened the door.

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