Page 29 of Embers of You
On my days off,I need to find things to do around the property. I know if I don’t, I’ll just find myself going into town and making an excuse to go to the fire station on the off chance I’ll catch a glimpse of Sutton at the building next door.
Or I’ll end up bringing Duke to be bathed, even if she says he doesn’t need to be. Any chance I can see her, I want to grab a hold of.
Instead, I’m busying myself in every way I can. I start with the horses, feeding them, sneaking them treats. I clean out their stalls after turning them out into the pastures and then I work with Jasper. After that, I find different odd jobs to do, trying to make sure my mom doesn’t notice because I know she’ll yell at me if she does.
I’m working on one of the dead tractors we have, trying to see if I can get it to run again when I hear someone approaching me. Since they don’t immediately start scolding me for working, I know who it is before I even look up.
When he doesn’t say anything for several minutes, I decide to break the silence.
“Can I help you?”
He doesn’t answer right away, and when I finally face him, he’s standing in the opening of the shop with his arms folded. “What’re you doing?”
“Trying to get this old thing to run again.”
“I’ve tried, it won’t.”
“Then why’s it still here?”
“Haven’t gotten around to getting rid of it.”
“If I can’t get it to run, then I’ll take care of it.”
“Don’t.”
I narrow my eyes at his sharp tone. “Why can’t I help?”
“You wanted to leave, but now that you’re back you want to be helpful?”
I toss the tool in my hand down, standing up to face him. “Do you want me to apologize for getting out of here? For seeing what else is out there? Ma was never upset about it. She was happy for me. Why can’t you be the same?”
He doesn’t say anything, his jaw tics and I think he’s going to storm away, but he doesn’t.
“What is it? What is the reason you can’t be happy that I tried to find a life outside of this town? Why can’t you just be happy that I’m back?” I try again, attempting to get to the root of his resentment.
Instead of answering any of my questions, he grinds his teeth. “If you’re just going to leave again, don’t come back.”
He walks away, and I drop my head back looking up at the ceiling, frustrated at the divide that we have. And even more frustrated because I don’t think there’s anything I can do about it.
CHAPTER 15
Sutton
It’sthe day of the rodeo; Bailey drove us the short distance to the fairgrounds and I’m a little surprised at how big it is. We find an open spot on the bleachers where we both can sit not long before the rodeo is supposed to start. I have no idea what to expect, and all Bailey has said is that the whole town turns up and it’s a fun time.
There’s also a festival, which I didn’t expect, but I guess she wasn’t kidding about this being the biggest event this town has.
It’s the Amity Strawberry Festival, apparently.
“Is there a ton of strawberries or something?” I ask as we wait for everything to begin.
“There’s really not as many as you would think.”
“Why is it called that, then?”
She shrugs. “Sounds better than the Amity Nothing Festival.”
I let out a short laugh while she chuckles. I don’t think I’ve seen her genuinely laugh in any of our limited interactions. Sheseems nice but closed off. Except I do know she hates her next-door neighbor, Wes.
