Page 86 of Forever Finds Us
“Shit.” My knees went weak, and I leaned on a dog. The silly beast stood next to me, guarding me and giving me strength.
“Yup. That about sums it up. You know, there’s a program for the families of addicts. Al-Anon or Nar-Anon. You oughta look into that.”
It had become painfully clear to me in the last two minutes that Dixon’s disease hadn’t only affected him. It had done a number on me too.
“These dogs, what are their names?”
He pointed at the dog still by my side, and I sank my fingers into its fur, letting its body warmth reach inside me.
“Your new best friend there is Tilly. She’s a good dog. And Short Attention Span over here is Zephyr. They’ll be good guardians for some farmer, but they’re nowhere near ready yet.”
“I want them. When they’re trained and ready, I’d like to bring them to the ranch. We’ll need dogs.”
“I can’t give ’em to you. They’re not mine to give. I’m just the trainer.”
“Who do I need to talk to? Brenda?”
He nodded. “Yeah, and her husband, Brooks.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Brand
We left Tilly and Zephyr locked behind the gate, and they yelped and whined their displeasure at being left behind, but then they spotted a rabbit across the field and raced after it like fluffy, white bullets again. I hoped the rabbit had a safe place to hunker down until their attention waned.
“Listen,” Dixon said. “I know I’m askin’ a lot, and I heard you when you said keepin’ my secret was tearin’ you up, but can you keep it a little longer?”
“Dix—”
“Please, Brand. I wanna tell Bax myself about Stu’s mama. And I need to have my shit together before I see Merv. She and I have a lot we need to talk about. I’ve been workin’ with my therapist on it. My plan was to come home in the new year. It’s only a few more months.”
“Therapist?”
“Yeah,” he said. “It’s one of the Coulters’ stipulations to stay and work here. I gotta go to therapy once a week and to AA or NA every day. There’s a group that meets in Mad River four days a week that me and a couple of the guys here go to. The other times, I borrow Brooks’s truck and drive over to Bridgeville. It’s not far.”
“I’m proud of you, Dixon.”
Shrugging, he mumbled, “Thanks.”
“You know,” I said, trying to dismiss the feeling in my gut that he was playing me again, “you’re like a tank now. How’d you get so damn big? I don’t remember you bein’ this fuckin’ tall.”
I wanted to believe he was on a healthy path, but history had jaded me. He had always been good at saying what his family wanted to hear.
He chuckled. “I got a lotta downtime these days, and usually, I’d drink or get high to pass it, so now I work out. Do odd jobs for people around here. There’s lots of farms in the area, and it seems I picked up a few skills from the son of a bitch who raised us. I’m makin’ money. Savin’ it up for Stu.”
He looked me over. “It’s been a long time since I really looked at you. I was wrong before. You do look different.” He cracked a smile that showed hints of the little boy he used to be. “Have you always been this ugly?”
“Oh, you’re gonna pay for that,” I said, and I had to jump to get my arm around his shoulder, but when I did, I bent him over and gave him a nuggie. Just like old times.
“He’s not ugly,” Roxanne said as she stepped onto the Coulters’ back porch with a cup of steaming tea in her hand. Brenda followed, along with a tall, skinny man with salt-and pepper-hair, who I assumed was Brenda’s husband, Brooks.
“Roxanne!” I yelped as my brother took me to the ground and sat on my legs so I couldn’t move. “This is my baby brother, Dixon. Arrest him for bein’ a pain in my ass!”
“Wait. Shit,” Dixon said, out of breath. “You didn’t say your lady was a cop.”
“Deputy, actually,” Roxanne said. “And sorry, baby, I have no jurisdiction here. Guess you’re screwed.”
Brenda was smiling, but she said, “Get up outta the dirt. Get cleaned up and come on inside for dinner. Roxi says they can stay.”
