Chapter Twenty-Three

Jaron knee-walked closer to Trick. He petted the horse's belly and watched as the pause in between breaths didn't end. Jaron held his breath, waiting a long second.

He'd never experienced life leaving a body before. He expected the life to go out of the horse like a boom. One single bomb going off, and the end. Instead, it was a slow trickle, like drips from a water faucet until the tub filled.

Travis had left a few hours ago.

Jaron sat against the stall wall and realized he'd have to deliver the bad news. He hadn't thought that far ahead when he'd volunteered to stay. Not that it would have changed anything if he had, but he should have prepared himself. He should have prepared words. Taking a deep breath, he stood. He reached around the stall door for the latch just as he saw Greg coming into the barn. He opened the stall door. "He…he died. Just now."

Greg nodded. "We'll take care of it."

Jaron stepped out of the stall. "Thanks." His hands shook as he fought the urge to go back to Trick. The thought of leaving him turned his stomach. He hesitated and took a step back inside.

Greg put a hand on his shoulder. "I remember you."

Jaron turned back to him, confusion on his face. "What?"

"The day I got my guitar from my parents' house. You asked me if I needed help." Oh. Jaron had almost forgotten about that and hadn't put the dots together that the scared boy with the guitar had been Greg.

"Yeah." Jaron tried to smile but couldn't muster one. "I'm glad you're here, where it's safe."

"Leonard told me about you."

Well, that came as a bit of a surprise. Greg didn't say it as if Leonard had said anything bad, so Jaron waited.

"He said you came out in middle school."

Jaron nodded. "Not on purpose, but yeah."

"I graduated last school year. Being out in middle and high school sucks but I didn't get bullied. Neither did any of the others. We had a gay-straight alliance, and the teachers do stuff. Like suspend a bully now."

Jaron smiled. "I'm glad you have a different experience than I did."

"Well, I just want to say thank you."

"For what?"

"For coming out when you did. Probably the reason things changed in the schools." Greg shrugged. "The timing works out. Two and two make four, right?"

"Right." Even as Jaron agreed, he had his doubts. Why would things change because of him? No one had paid that much attention back then. Did they?

Maybe he'd had more eyes on him than he had originally thought.

"I got this in here." Greg patted him on the back again.

Jaron nodded, but he went into Trick's stall. He knelt next to Trick's head and petted his long nose. When he stood and exited the stall, Greg still stood in the same spot, watching him. Jaron smiled at him and walked out of the barn.

Jaron made his way up to the main house, entering from the back door, taking his shoes off as he went. He still had on pajama pants and a red T-shirt from last night. Jaron searched for Beverly throughout the house and found her in the living room, reading on her e-book device.

She smiled at him when he walked in, but it quickly turned to a frown the farther into the room he came. "He's gone."

Jaron nodded.

"My Willis would be so sad. He and Travis loved that horse. I think Trick gave them a deeper bond than most fathers and sons have." She set her reader on the couch beside her and stood.

"Travis said Trick was family."

Beverly smiled. "Yes, well, Travis is his father's son. Through and through." She hugged him but quickly let him go. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay. Tired. I feel terrible for Travis."

Beverly pointed a finger in the air. "If you feel up to the drive, you should go to him. He'll want you too. You can take one of the farm vehicles if you'd like. I'll print out directions to his hotel before you head out."

Jaron opened his mouth to protest but didn't get any words out before she headed out of the room toward the kitchen. He didn't have any choice but to follow her. It was as she handed him car keys that he finally spoke. "He wouldn't mind?"

"No. He'd love you for the gesture." Beverly smiled and pointed to the table. "Sit. Let me make you some breakfast. Gloria and I will work out who watches Bobby."

Jaron sat at the table and let her take care of him. "Thank you."

"You're a good boy, Jaron McAllister. Travis' father would say anyone who sits with another man's dying horse has a strong character." She smiled.

Beverly started the coffee.

Jaron wanted to rest before he started the drive. It would take at least three hours to get there, and he probably needed a little bit of sleep before he left. He wouldn't, though. Sleep wouldn't come. Maybe she knew that as well so figured the caffeine of the coffee would benefit him instead of hinder. "I wish I could have met him."

"Travis is a lot like him." Beverly pulled eggs out of the refrigerator. "Willis loved this farm. He worried that Travis wouldn't quit being wild long enough to take care of it when needed. Maybe he wouldn't have if Willis hadn't gotten sick. Who knows how it would have gone?"

"Travis stepped up."

"Every day he makes his father proud." She smiled and prepared to scramble more eggs than Jaron could eat in one sitting.

When the coffee finished brewing, she poured him a cup and put it in front of him on the table with a bowl of cream and sugar.

He smiled his thanks and wrapped his fingers around the warm mug.

"Gloria tells me you lost someone. It's why you came back home."

"Yes. Partly why. I'd been thinking about moving back for a while. I didn't want Bobby to go to school in the city. The one near where we lived wouldn't have given him the best education. And I think I was ready for a slower lifestyle. Tracy dying just made the move happen quicker."

"Was Tracy a good mother?"

Jaron smiled. "She did okay when she wasn't getting high. Those moments were few. She loved Bobby, though. No doubt about that."

"Missing them grows with time, not lessens."

Jaron nodded and swallowed down the lump in his throat. "Today just reminds me of the loss." He didn't want to feel the pain anymore but didn't know how to shut it off.

Beverly held the fork up, pointing it at him. "As it should."

Jaron's head snapped up. He felt as if she smacked him.

"Bobby needs to know her. You're the only one who can tell him. You can't bury her memory just because it's painful. For Bobby's sake."

Jaron closed his eyes and sighed. "I know."