Page 22 of Family Forever
Chapter Seven
Dylan, Marissa and Luke loaded into his truck as Cole, Aric, Braden and Nate loaded into Cole’s car and headed off to the annual church picnic. The picnic was much like a mini-county fair in some ways. They always brought in a few little kid carnival rides, set up a little petting zoo, and provided musical entertainment under a big tent. But this year, unlike last year, people wouldn’t need to cram under a tent due to rain, because this year there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the bright sun had already warmed the air to nearly eighty degrees.
Dylan parked on the grass lot. Cole parked next to him and the doors of his car flung open as quickly as if his brothers were embarking on a Chinese fire drill. Nate and Braden took off running to meet their friends, evidently not realizing they needed their tickets to get their hands stamped so they could participate in whatever activities they chose. A chuckle escaped Dylan as they halted and looked back at him. He waved their tickets in the air. They ran back to him, plucked their tickets from his hand and took off again. Cole and Aric snatched up their tickets as well, yet walked leisurely with him, Marissa and Luke to the grounds.
He held Luke’s hand as he walked, and watched as his little brother reached up and snatched Marissa’s hand with his other. She smiled lovingly at Luke.
The entrance attendant took their tickets and stamped their hands. Aric mentioned something about eating first, before looking at any of his brothers’ contest entries. Aric’s priorities were not a surprise. All the kid ever did was eat. The boys’ entries could wait, they hadn’t been judged yet anyhow. Luke had entered a colored picture in his Sunday school class’ art contest, Nate had entered a ceramic bowl he made in school, and Braden had entered a small wood carving of a dog. Aric thought he was too old to participate in the contests, though there were age brackets suited for high school students. And Cole entered some of his photos in the adult bracket.
Aric led them to the food booths where you had your choice of hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, and corn on the cob. Aric and Cole went for the pizza, nearly clearing out what the poor pizza vendor had prepared. Dylan grabbed a couple of burgers and corn on the cob for himself and Luke, and Marissa opted for just a burger.
They took a seat at a long table under the big tent by a couple older ladies Dylan had come to know through the years. In fact, he and Cole had gone to school with some of their grandkids. The ladies were finished eating but sat there chatting as they sipped on their coffee.
Dylan unwrapped Luke’s plain hamburger and handed it to him, then sprawled out the wrapper on the table before setting his butter-drenched corncob on the wrapper. “The corn is still hot, so be careful.”
Luke nodded at him.
Cole disappeared to the beverage booth and returned moments later with sodas for everyone.
Marissa chatted with the ladies next to her. She had come to know them over the past couple of months, through attending church with Dylan and his brothers.
“So Marissa, I hear you’re headed off to college this fall,” Mrs. Moore said. “UW Green Bay, I heard,” the kind woman added.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good for you, dear.”
“Green Bay, huh, that will be nice, you’ll be away getting the college experience, yet not too far away from your family,” Mrs. Jome interjected as she shot Dylan a strange look, accented with a wink.
What did she mean by that? Surely she knew Marissa didn’t have much for family, especially after her dad abandoned her a couple months ago. Her uncle did call on occasion but even those calls were getting to be too few. There were no secrets in this small town.
Dylan glanced at Marissa who was still looking at the ladies who sat to her left.
“Yeah, on one hand, I can’t wait to go,” she leaned right until her shoulder touched Luke, then she put her arm around him and kissed the top of his head, “I’ll miss them while I’m gone.”
Her bright blue-eyed gaze ran over Aric and Cole who sat across the table from her and then swung back and landed on him. The intensity of her gaze rendered him breathless.
She glanced back at the ladies. “I feel so blessed to be part of this family.”
Dylan’s heart hammered in his chest. Little did she know how blessed he felt as well. He didn’t know what he was going to do without her. She’d become such a help with the boys and around the house. Before she entered their lives, between the farm and caring for his brothers, he was on the verge of stressing out, drowning in life. At least now he was able to come up for air every now and then. Yeah, he paid her a fair wage to help with the cooking, cleaning, and carting the boys around, but what he hadn’t expected was the incalculable depth of emotional attachment he and the boys, especially the younger ones, Braden, Nate, and little Luke, would come to know. Was it a benefit though? She would be leaving soon, then what? Had he made a mistake, bringing her into their lives? He mentally sighed. Why did his life have to be so complicated?
A short time later, Braden and Nate appeared looking for money for food, and then they all went to check out the contest booths. It came as no surprise to Dylan to see that Luke had scored a first place on his colored picture of a sheepherder and some sheep grazing in a field. The kid was artistically inclined. First place not only landed him a big blue ribbon but also a five-dollar cash prize. Braden’s dog carving had scored a second place and Nate’s handcrafted ceramic bowl had garnered an honorable mention. Ribbons only for Braden and Nate, no fun money. Luke offered to share his with them.
Dylan would be sure to place all his brothers’ entries in the built-in display cabinets in the kitchen just like their parents had done with his, Cole’s, and Aric’s items in the past. Sadly, his three youngest brothers hadn’t the opportunity to share many of their creations with their mom and dad during the short time they actually got to spend with them.
Next, they moved on to check out the two photos Cole had submitted. Much to Dylan’s surprise, one of the photos was of him bottle-feeding a newborn calf. Judging from the Carhartt bibs he was wearing, his brother must have taken that photo when he was home last Easter. The large bottle he held for the calf was nearly empty. Milk ran down the sides of the animal’s greedy mouth as it stood there with its legs spread awkwardly wide. Dylan loved feeding the newborns. The other photo was a bright orange sunrise spanning the length of the barn. Based upon the color of the sky that photo had to have been taken in spring as well. The morning was the best part of the day.
Marissa pointed at Cole’s pictures. “Cole, you sure have an eye for capturing beautiful moments.”
She was right, his brother was talented. Both Cole and Luke were gifted in the arts—music, drawing, photos, all of it. He, Aric, Nate, and Braden, not so much.
Cole smiled at her compliment. “Thank you. But that one was so easy. I remember it, the sky was so vibrant that morning. The camera nearly took the picture itself.”
“Yes, that photo is nice but I was talking about this one,” she said as she pointed at the other photo. “You can actually see and feel the love Dylan has for animals in that shot. How do you capture that? If I had taken the photo you’d see Dylan feeding a calf, but you were able to make it come to life.”
Marissa stretched out her arm and ran her fingers over the photo, over him. “It’s like it’s three-dimensional or something.”
Dylan’s heartbeat picked up pace. He imagined her soft, small fingers touching him as she touched the photo. His cheeks warmed where her fingertips rested on the photo. Good Lord, what was he thinking? What had he gotten himself into? This arrangement with her was temporary. She needed a place to go and he needed help. That was it, period.
