Page 6 of On the Land, We Shoot Straight
Grady hopped down and scanned the darkness but couldn’t see anything. He was beginning to think maybe the boy was sick because he might not know a damn thing about Cole other than him being a foolish man’s youngest boy and a damn good sandwich maker who liked dogs, but he didn’t reckon he was the kind to bail on a job once he was in it.
Lady barked, and her tail started wagging. She and Dog rushed out into the blackness on the edge of the lights.
Grady heard him, that soft way he had of greeting the dogs and making a big fuss over them, then he was stepping into the light with an apology for being late already coming out of his mouth.
“Ain’t late yet,” Grady said even though that wasn’t entirely true.
Grady got his things and came out of the cabin, went to step aside to let Cole up, but Cole stopped him.
“We done after this one, right?”
Grady nodded and stayed where he was between the door and Cole. He couldn’t make out much on his face, and anyway Cole was looking down at his boots, but then he lifted his head and gazed out past Grady’s shoulder into the pitch black of the horizon.
“So, I guess I’ll get a move on after I finish.”
Grady frowned and studied Cole. He was putting a brave face on it, but Grady reckoned the thought of going back out there was worrying him. It was none of Grady’s business, or his problem, but he could use a hand to get the sheep moved, and Cole wasn’t any trouble to have around, even if he made Grady uneasy in a way he couldn’t quite explain.
“If you want,” Grady said and watched as Cole nodded, a slow movement of his head, his eyes still looking out at nothing. “Or I could use you on this sheep run.”
Cole’s eyes met his.
“But if you got somewhere to be...”
“I don’t got nowhere to be.” The words rushed out before he huffed and smiled like he was trying to hide his excitement.
“Good.”
“Good,” Cole repeated around a nod and another suppressed smile.
Grady stepped aside. Cole climbed up, and when he reached to close the door, Grady held it. Cole looked down at his hand bracketing the door.
Grady didn’t know what he was going to say, and Cole was watching him, those big black eyes still defiant even under the relief.
“We’ll take a day off and then get to it Sunday,” Grady finally said.
Cole nodded. “All right.”
“Maybe go into town.”
Cole’s expression shifted. Grady swore he looked frightened, but he closed off fast.
“I don’t need anythin’ from town.”
Grady nodded. “All right. See you back at the house then.”
Cole exhaled. “Yep.” And thatyepwas full of so many words it was set to bursting.
Grady left it alone. He stepped back and shut the cabin door in one movement. He walked out in front of the tractor across the lights, then back into the dark on the other side. He headed for home on foot, leaving his truck for Cole no matter what the boy said.
7
W
hen Grady got backfrom town, the sun had already turned in, and the sky was muted with a yellow glow. The combine and tractor had been returned to the front field and sat like neatly penned laborers, the truck parked out front. Grady was impressed. Not that he’d be mentioning it; it’s not like he couldn’t have achieved it himself, and Cole would know that, so it’d be an insult to say anything even if it was impressive.
Grady tucked the box from Mavis’s grocery store under his arm and pushed the flatbed door shut with his shoulder. He went up to the house and saw the dogs on the other side of the screen door wagging their tails to greet him. He huffed. They danced back on their haunches, tongues lolling out and looking up at him in that way that looked like smiling as he came in. He glanced into the living room, not expecting to see anything, but he drew up short at the sight of Cole stretched out asleep on the couch with a book lying open on his chest. Cole was wearing those worn-out sweatpants again, and some black band T-shirtthat’d seen better days, his dark hair curling around his face like it was drying from the shower.
Grady cracked a smile when he saw the book.Animal Farm. He wondered if he picked it in the hopes of learning something or if he knew it wasn’t going to help shit out here. He kicked his boots off quietly, hung his hat on a nail and went down the hall into the kitchen, the dogs padding beside him. They watched him unload the groceries raptly like they’d never known this was where it all came from and where it all lived, and he guessed they hadn’t. Because they used to live outside. He grabbed a beer and hesitated. He grabbed another one and went back into the living room, stood behind the couch. He wondered if he should wake Cole up. The kid needed to get back on normal time, but watching him sleep, Grady didn’t have the heart to do it.
