Page 107 of Spencer and the Younger Girl
“Why do more of them like you?” Spencer held onto Stammer possessively.
Damien grinned. “Because they’re smart?” He laughed. “What are you doing out here anyway? Moping?”
“Thinking.”
“I miss her too.”
When Spencer didn’t respond, Damien continued. “Hadley is pretty much the coolest girl I have ever met. We’ve been struggling on this farm, and it’s like her presence brought life back to it, allowed me to love it again.”
He didn’t say it, but her presence allowed Spencer to love life again.
Love.
“I told Mom and Dad today I’ve decided to stay and help turn this place around.”
Damien stared at him a moment before a grin overtook his face. “Really?” He choked on the word. “You’re not leaving?”
He hadn’t realized until that moment how much his brother needed him. Not because he needed help coming out to his parents—the reason Spencer came back in the first place—but just because they were brothers.
“Is it because of Hadley?”
Spencer thought on that for a moment. “I love her.” It was the first time he’d said it out loud. “It’s improbable and fast, but I can’t walk away from that. Damo, I also love you. And Mom and Dad. I’m staying for all of you.”
Damien’s eyes shone in the dark. “Awww, Spence. We love you too. Even Stammer, though, he’s totally team Hadley until you go apologize to her for being a jerk.”
“Yeah, I’m working on that.”
* * *
Roman:She’s okay.
Spencer:Are you sure?
Roman:Dude, if you want to be with her, like really be with her, you have to show her. Just… not today. We just got Jack home, and she’s asleep. I swear, I don’t think she slept the entire time he was in the hospital.
Spencer glancedup at the ceiling of his sparse room, his eyes skimming the pine boards. Dishes rattled from the small kitchenette, and he rolled from the bed.
Gabe stood at the stove, stirring something in a pot.
“Couldn’t sleep?” Spencer’s words made Gabe jump and drop the wooden spoon.
“Oh, hey.” He threw a look over his shoulder. “Just hungry. I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
Spencer peered into the pot. “Mac and cheese?”
“Yeah, and none of that homemade crap. Boxed all the way, even down to the powdery cheese that no one wants to know the actual ingredients of.” He spooned some into a bowl and held it out for Spencer.
His mom would kill the two of them for eating Kraft when she was the queen of everything homemade. “Heck yes.” He took the bowl and shared a smile with Gabe as if they were doing something wrong.
Troublemakers, the both of them.
Taking a seat at the two-person table along the wall, Spencer dug in. “Just what I needed.”
Gabe joined him. “Well, you had a busy day with the goats and all.” He smiled as he stuck a fork in his mouth.
“Laugh it up, man. I know how ridiculous I looked.” After Damien found him early in the morning with the goats, he’d left them only to return throughout the day. Whenever he thought of things he needed to say to Hadley, he spoke the words to Stammer instead.
It was the only way he could give her the space both his mom and Roman said she needed. He’d been ready to storm the hospital until learning her grandpa was okay.
