Page 75 of Resilience on Canvas

“Maybe every mornin’, too,” Henry said with a happy hum, but when Robert pulled back, Henry’s small, wistful-looking smile faltered. “Or... uhm...”

“What is it?”

“Will we really be livin’ together? I mean, I would have to tell my folks I can’t stay with them no more. Not that they’d want me to now. But Clara... what, uhm, what’ll she think?”

“Oh.” Robert’s stomach tightened. Would Henry be upset that Robert had been honest with his sister? “Clara knows now.”

Henry’s eyes widened. “She knows that we—”

“Yeah, I-I told her. After my pop passed. Actually, she kind of guessed that we liked each other in a romantic sort of way.” Robertsqueezed Henry’s hand. “I’m sorry, Hen. I promise she won’t be mean or nothin’.”

Henry’s face pinched, and he recoiled a little. Before Robert could say something to reassure him that Clara was supportive of the two of them, Henry let go of Robert’s hand and rolled onto his back, covering his face with his palms.

“Oh, Robert, I think you might hate me, but I have to tell you somethin’.”

Robert’s muscles tensed. “What is it?”

“I told Clara I liked you weeks ago. I swear I never said that you liked me back, but maybe that’s how she figured everything out. Gosh, I feel so bad.”

Tension easing, Robert sat up on his elbow and tried to pry Henry’s hands off of his face.

“Don’t worry.” He kissed Henry’s soft lips. “I ain’t mad.”

But Henry’s forehead stayed creased with worry.

“I sort of told Rose and Joe, too,” Henry said. “I even told them what happened with the, uhm, the marmalade?”

Robert snorted. “Jesus, Hen, will you be runnin’ a story in the paper next?”

“I know, I know!” Henry groaned. “But they’re my friends.” Henry’s voice became tight as he eked out another two words, like maybe he was on the verge of crying. “I’m sorry.”

Affection unfurled in Robert’s chest. He ran a hand through Henry’s hair.

“I’m teasin’ you, dummy. It makes sense that you’d want to tell yer friends. Not that I’d know. I’ve been a mean bastard for so long, nobody else in Guymon has the courage to talk to me, other than to buy my pitiful little vegetable hauls once a week or so.” He kissed Henry’s cheek. “Except for you, Hen. You were brave enough to have a little crush on me, even when I wanted to kill you for not marryin’ my sister.” Henry laughed softly, and Robert continuedto kiss and nuzzle him. “I know that you probably can’t see it yet, but you, little wolf, are the bravest son of a bitch in Guymon.”

“Robert,” Henry said through a laugh. “Don’t make fun of me.”

“It’s the truth. And I swear to you, I will make you believe it someday.”

“Sure,” Henry said, his voice thick with sarcasm.

Robert rolled his eyes. Even though he kind of wanted to keep arguing his point, it was nearly lunchtime. Him and Henry needed to eat something and then head over to retrieve Robert’s family from the Sherwoods. Which probably meant that they wouldn’t be having no more sleepovers for a while. Son of a bitch.

Letting out a sigh, Robert flopped backward on the bed.

“Dammit, I can’t believe we won’t sleep next to each other again for a while.”

Henry turned his head toward him. “Why won’t we?”

“Don’t you still want to travel with yer parents on the train? Ain’t they still payin’ for yer ticket? We can’t be... flauntin’ none of this in front of them. Not if you want yer parents to pay for some of the train fare.”

“Dang.” Henry frowned. “I wonder if they’ll even still pay for me now that I kind of hinted what we were to each other.”

“Guess we’ll need to factor in the cost of yer ticket, too, then, with the total of what we’ll need to make it to the coast.”

Henry rolled onto his side and kissed Robert’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Robert.”

“Nah, it’s fine, Hen. I’ll sell my car and my tractor, like I said. We’ll have enough.”

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