Page 56 of Always to Remember
He laughed, and Meg realized she hadn’t heard a man laugh since the day she saw Clay playing with the twins in the river. The pounding of rushing feet gained Meg’s attention.
Breathless, Helen stopped and grabbed Meg’s arm for support. “I can’t believehecame.”
Meg didn’t have to ask who he was. The red tinge covering Helen’s face and the fire in her blue eyes spoke of a hatred that stretched as far as her husband had journeyed. Meg followed Helen’s gaze and watched Clay climb down from the wagon as the twins clambered out of the back.
“Lucian didn’t come?” Meg asked.
“He’s been here since dawn. He helped Taffy’s father bring the lumber from the mill.”
Briefly, Meg wondered if Lucian was sweet on Stick’s younger sister. She remembered the summer long ago when Mary Lang had suddenly grown as tall as her brother and taller than any of the boys her age. Teasingly, Lucian said she looked as though she’d been stretched out like taffy. Soon everyone was calling her Taffy.
Helen huffed and stomped the ground as though she could cause the earth to open up and swallow Clay whole. “I just can’t believehehad the nerve to come here.”
“Maybe he just wanted to help.”
“We can do without his help, thank you very much.”
Meg watched Clay walk toward the barn. The men had already raised the frame. The hammering stopped, and a heavy silence hovered over the crowd. She wished he hadn’t come, but her reasons were far removed from Helen’s or anyone else’s.
She didn’t want him to get hurt.
Clay discovered that for some ungodly reason it had been easier walking to his own execution than walking toward the men gathered beside the unfinished barn. He could feel the men glaring at him. He wished he had left the twins at home. He didn’t want them to see the beating he figured he was about to receive. He heard someone bellow, “This is neither the time nor the place!” He thought the commanding voice belonged to Kirk’s father. Slowly the men turned their backs on Clay and walked away. Their action should have lessened his anxiety, but it didn’t. By the time he reached the side of the barn, Lucian was the only one who remained. and the hatred that his brother directed his way was palpable.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Lucian asked.
“I heard strong backs were needed. I’ve got a strong back.”
“Strong enough to support a yellow streak, but that’s not exactly what we need here.”
“The Wrights asked the community to help them build a barn, and I’m part of the community.”
“But we don’t want you.”
Clay met his brother’s hard glare. How simple it would be to turn around and go home. “I’m going to help build the barn.”
“And what’s that gonna prove?”
“To you, probably nothing. To me, everything.”
Lucian shook his head. “Stay if you want, but don’t expect me to stand by your side.” Turning on his heel, he walked away.
Clay gazed down on the twins’ anxious faces. He gave them a smile that he figured probably looked as hollow as he felt. “Well, reckon this is our side to finish up.”
“All by ourselves?” Joe asked.
“Reckon so.”
“Lucian ain’t even gonna help us?”
“Reckon not.”
“You ever wonder if maybe Lucian ain’t family?” Josh asked. “I’m thinkin’ maybe somebody left him on the doorstep ‘cuz he was so ornery they didn’t want to put up with him.”
“I thought all babies was left on the doorstep,” Joe said.
“Heck fire, no. There’s some kinda magical bird that drops babies down the chimney. Ain’t that so, Clay?”
Clay had little doubt that Joe believed babies were left on the doorstep, but he was certain that Josh, with his chailenging grin, knew the truth. “I think we’d best see to getting our side of the barn finished.”
