Emmerson's Heart Page 3

  I just had to wait until tonight. And tonight would change our lives, be the beginning of something new, something so much more than we ever thought could happen. And honestly, I had my baby brother to thank for letting her steal his lunches.

  Chapter 2

  ****Past****

  Day after day, I knew right where I would find him. Once again, he was shoving his face full of food in the loft of the barn. Every day. Every damn day. Only when he was full was when I could actually get some damn work out of him. With Marcus staying in Billings at college, I needed Will’s damn help around here. And with winter coming in early this year, we all had to bust our asses to prepare.

  Why he was starving after school was a question I would like answered. I saw the lunches Mom was packing him. My lord—two sandwiches, the big bag of chips, and about ten cookies just to get him through the school day. Like that wasn’t enough. I’m not talking just little sandwiches either. Nope, she doubled everything on them, filling them full to accommodate his growing appetite. With what she was packing him now, he should have been ready to work when he had gotten home.

  It wasn’t like my youngest brother was big, like Marcus and I who were over six foot and over two hundred pounds. Will and Rob had taken after Mom with the shorter fame as it was. Still, when I was fourteen, I wasn’t that hungry either. There had to be something else going on. There was some reason why he was in the barn sneaking more food after school. Maybe it was those damn Andrews boys. They were nothing but trouble, always starting fights with us because of the feud between our fathers, and that one boy was probably stealing Will’s lunch just to be a jerk.

  “I need to get this stuff done. We need to get ready because it’s going to be a bad winter.” Plopping down on the square bales of hay, I kicked out my legs as I began to feel the exhaustion hitting already. With getting up at six in the morning every morning, seven days a week, when the two got home from school the help was needed. And it was as soon as they got home from school I needed them out there in the barn and getting to chores. Not sitting in the barn stuffing their face.

  “I’ll be ready in a little bit. Just give me five minutes.” When his eyes wouldn’t meet mine, I knew there was something going on. Being the oldest, I had to protect my brothers. That was how we were. That was how it always was. If the two younger ones needed something, we were right there. With Marc living in the city now, it left me in charge. Still, we were all pretty damn tight and shared everything, no secrets. If there was a problem, they all knew that they could come to me. This was something that Will was keeping from all of us.

  “If you have an issue with the Andrews, you can tell me. I will have a talk with them if they are stealing your lunches.” When wouldn’t I like to talk to the Andrews boys? There were three of them and all three of them were vicious just because of the constant feud with our fathers. Something else not one of us boys understood, but we knew enough to stay the hell out of it and not ask questions. But the sons of George Andrews had taken the feud to a whole new level, one that I was getting tired of having to solve. And it wasn’t that they were bad guys, they were just like their dad…..Stubborn and tightlipped. But I guess since their mother ran off with a boy half her age a few years ago, I couldn’t get too hard on them.

  “They aren’t; just leave it alone.” Hearing the anger from him, I knew this was something that Will had been hiding for a while and making damn sure no one knew. Hell, I was pretty sure that Mom hadn’t even known that he was grabbing more food when he got home from class. Still, he could trust me if there was something happening at school. I could talk to the Andrews boys and just let them know to stop messing with Will.

  Letting my dark eyes close, I let myself relax in the warmth of the barn before I had to get up and start working more. With Rob out with my dad checking fences, we still had some time before they got back. Having Rob go out with Dad was better, anyway. This whole food thing was getting to me already and I had to figure it out. “What’s going on, Will?”

  “Nothing, okay! Just drop it!”

  “I can beat the snot out of you if you would like.”

  “God, just let it go.” Shoving the slapped together sandwich in his mouth, he packed his cheeks tightly. “I’m letting her steal my lunches.”

  My heart jumped hard. Her? Andrews didn’t have a girl and I hadn’t heard of any girls that were bullying Will. I hadn’t seen any on the days that Rob had to stay for practice while basketball was going on. “Who; and why are you letting her steal your lunches?”

  “I leave my bag open for her to take them.” His voice softened as his eyes studied the bread that had the lunchmeat hanging out the sides as if he suddenly lost his appetite. Hell, he had a few seconds to slap something together and no matter what, it still looked disgusting. But this her and letting her steal his lunches was really bothering him.

  “I can go and talk with her if you need me to.”

  “No! She….” His eyes finally met mine as I could see something deep inside of them. With Will, it was easy to read him when he actually made eye contact with me. Will was the softest one of us brothers and the one who got in more trouble caring about others than what he needed to be doing. He was the one that turned out just like Mom. Just like her in looks and attitude. “She wouldn’t do it if she didn’t need to. Please, just don’t say anything.”

  Nodding, the muscles in my chest tightened as I just looked at him. What could I say? I wasn’t about to jump on his ass for eating if he was letting someone take his lunches who needed the food. It was more than what I ever would have done. When I was in school, my lunches were my lunches and that was it. I had a ranch to work. I needed the fuel. Call me selfish, but hey, a growing boy has to do what a growing boy needed to do. “Tell me about her.”

  “I just think that her family doesn’t have much money. I picked the seat right in front of her and all I could hear was this growling. So, one day, I went up to ask my teacher something and when I got back to my seat, my lunch was gone and the look on her face, the guilt that was there. Paul, she was practically in tears.” Letting his head hang low, he swallowed the ball of food in his mouth hard. “I just…I knew that she had taken it and I didn’t want to say anything.”

  “You could have asked if she wanted to share your lunch.”

  “No; I didn’t want to scare her off. If she knew that I knew, she wouldn’t come to class anymore. She was really ashamed of it. And since I’ve been letting her steal my lunches, she’s looking a little better and I’m not hearing that growling anymore.” A little smile blushed across his face as his eyes drifted over his sandwich. “She’s paying attention.”

  “What class?” A girl breaking down to stealing someone else’s lunch? Maybe this was something that Mom and Dad should know about. I knew girls and how they were. I was his age once, thinking about girls and those awkward feelings that were coming about. It could be as simple as a girl just playing Will to get his lunch or something could really be up with this girl. I could see a family not having financial means, but around here, there was a lot of help out there. There were plenty of families around that were more than willing to help someone else that were down on their luck. My parents did it before. Some people just needed a little help to get back up. But if Will was being so adamant about this girl and saying that she was looking better and paying attention with food in her belly, maybe I should just find out some more about this girl and keep an eye on her.

  “Business Ed. We have a project where we have to work together on it and Donnie keeps hounding me to partner with him, but I was thinking that if I partnered with her, then I can make sure that she gets the lunch.” Shrugging, he picked at the rest of his sandwich; taking the meat out and sticking it into his mouth. “She’s actually kind of cute now that she’s got some color.”

  If that girl was that sickly over being starved, maybe this was something that needed to be looked into. If a child was that ghastly looking and so hungry they weren’t paying
any attention in class, wouldn’t a teacher notice?

  An annoying ache pinched my side. My gut tightened as I looked over his haphazard sandwich. Something about this girl wasn’t right. Maybe Will was just over exaggerating. Being a teen in high school, hormones had a way of forcing you to think you see something that you really don’t. It could be that he just liked this girl and didn’t want to admit to it.

  “No one talks to her. They all pick on her and talk bad about her. I feel bad. I mean, she doesn’t have anything that looks new or clothes that don’t have stains on them.” Guilt pooled into his cheeks as he tossed the rest of the sandwich aside. “I tell them to stop, but they just pick on me instead, but I don’t mind. I can take it. I just feel bad for her.”

  At least he wasn’t like the other kids in his class that were picking on her. Apparently, her family didn’t have the money like the others and were just making ends meet. There wasn’t anything funny about a family that hadn’t the means to eat. Still, the families here helped one another. Just one word and the family would get the little bit of help they needed just to get started. It wasn’t like any of us didn’t have things we could go without. In my closet alone, I bet I had ten pairs of jeans I hadn’t touched in years and a few with tags still on them.

  “I like her. I try to talk to her, but when I do, it’s like she just wants to cry.”

  “Well, just keep being nice to her and if you think that she needs your lunches, let her take them. If there’s anything else that you notice about her, you better tell me.”

  “Like what?”

  “If she has strange bruises on her or anything that you don’t think is right. Don’t you dare hide anything like that.” Managing to get to my feet, I ran a hand through my dark brown hair while letting everything sink in. This was a lot to take and I could see why Will was letting her steal his lunch. That was something I didn’t want to do anything about, but still, that wasn’t any reason to steal. I hoped that was all that was wrong with the family, the lack of food, but something inside me clenched tightly.

  “I was going to see if she wants to be my partner for the project. Do you think that Mom and Dad would hound her if she were to come here to work on it?”

  “They might question you about her, but I don’t think that they would question her.” Perhaps that would be a great idea. Having the girl come around could be for the best. If this went beyond just a family that hadn’t the means to afford sufficient food, then my parents would be able to take a step in. Who knows? Maybe the family was just down on some luck and having her become friends with Will could get her parents friends with our parents and we could help them out. If it was just food, we had plenty and my parents would be more than willing to help out another family.

  Still, just something about what Will said about the girl was nagging me. If she was that sickly being hungry, what if something else was going on? There had been a few new families that moved into our smaller town, but the joys of living in a small town were that people talked. Something would have been said if there was something strange about this family. How could something such as a hungry family go unnoticed?

  Nodding, he gathered his garbage and shoved it into the bag making damn sure he had all his garbage. “I think that I am going to. Maybe she would like to have a good home cooked meal. I’m sure that Mom wouldn’t mind the extra company.”

  “You’re a good kid, Will. Next time, just come to me and talk to me.” Walking out, I sucked in a deep breath. I could feel the temperature dropping. If we had enough time to prepare for this winter, I would be shocked. It was bad enough that we had a lot to do in order to prepare for this winter that was approaching fast and early, but now I had the thought of that damn girl in my mind. Like I really needed that on top of all the shuffling of the cows, fencing that needed to be fixed, and the hay that needed to be shifted that still had to be done before it just got too damn cold.

  “Are you going to talk to Mom about this?”

  “Nope, but just keep me informed. Like I said, if you notice anything different, you better tell me right away.” I swallowed hard. Man, we were damn lucky to have what we had. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to go without food, to have to go through school that hungry every day, or to be that desperate as to steal another kid’s lunch. Hearing that, seeing how good my brother was being to this girl, made me proud to be related. Our parents were the best, raised the best kids there were, and we needed to remember that the next time that we got mad at them.

  Getting down into the horse barn, my stomach knotted and twisted. I was damn glad that Will was cared enough to partner up with this girl and work with her on the project. He may not see anything that would send alarms, but we could. And I know that Mom and Dad could pick it out in a heartbeat if there was something other than the lack of money going on with this girl.

  If he could get her here, get her comfortable with us, if there was something going on, she could come to us for help. And if she didn’t, we could make sure something happened to where she could get the help she needed.

  And knowing myself, I could help keep an eye on things in town. If I was able to see what her parents were like, I could keep an eye on them and see if there was anything that didn’t look right there. Just because we lived in a small town didn’t mean that bad things didn’t happen. Some things have gone unnoticed before, but then again, some people were damn good at hiding. And that one new family that came in at the start of this school year, no one knew them, talked to them, or talked about them. They were certainly ones who kept to themselves.

  The times I went to town, if it was just to run into the small corner store or to pick one of my brothers up from school, I never saw the family out. The curtains were pinned to the windows and the glass in the front was still taped together where some kids, probably one of the Andrews clan, had broken it when the place sat abandoned. Not a very good house, but at least it could put a roof over someone’s head who didn’t have the means to have the life of luxury as we did.

  Maybe I would stop in and pay old man Wiggins a visit. At least he lived close enough to the fallen down place to know if there was anything unusual going on there. As for the other neighbors, there wasn’t much around that house. The church was kitty corner and there were two empty lots on the other side. No neighbors were to the back and the church parking lot and park were on the block across from the house. It could be the perfect place to hide something, anything with most of the town’s residence on the other side of the town.

  Whatever it was, I would find out. If Will was that keen on this girl and willing to help her out, maybe I could too. Just because I was blessed with my dad’s temper, looks, and attitude didn’t mean I couldn’t at least change a little bit. As for the few things I learned about this girl and the feelings it was starting to give me, I needed to. I needed to pay attention. Something wasn’t right. Something was….different.

  Chapter 3

  ****Present****

  Every mile back to the ranch brought more pain pressing down on my heart. I was gone all day, leaving the chores to Will, Rob, and my dad. I had to. I couldn’t be there as much as I usually could with Emmer home from school for the weekend. Like a coward, I left before she got up in the morning and I was home late when everyone was in bed already. Ten o’clock and I was in the clear. I had to be. I needed to just avoid her for right now.

  Every damn weekend, she was on her way home after her late class let out and it was getting to me. I hated it when she pulled into the drive and I hated it even more when she left again on Sunday night. Each time she left, it pulled me in a way I never thought was possible. Watching the tailgate of her truck going down the dirt road cut a piece of my heart away each time. The best thing was to not even see her at all if possible.

  By not seeing her, it was the only way I didn’t have to look at her, to talk to her, or to even be around her. I had to leave and stay gone on the weekends. Just seeing her opened the fresh wound again and
again. But it was what I had to do.

  Taking the dirt road out back of my parents’ house, I felt the sinking pit of my stomach fill in with the contents of the bag sitting in the shotgun seat. It was the bag that was supposed to make me get my head on straight and start thinking of what I should be putting my focus on instead of her. It was the bag I spent all day in the city for. The bag with the engagement ring in it.

  For hours, I went to store after store, looked at ring after ring, but nothing. I came up with nothing every time. This should be something great in my life. This moment should be something I wanted and looked forward to, happy about, but I wasn’t. This was what I had to do and that was to make things right with Becky.

  Becky had always been there, always been the girl I chased after, and the one I spent a while with before that damn Emmerson changed everything. With Emmerson at college, this should have been easier. Having her gone was too damn hard, but in a sense, having her gone should have made this decision so much better, easier, and happier.

  But it didn’t. It didn’t because of that girl. Because of Emmerson. It was her fault, anyway, that I was in this predicament. What did she expect me to do? Sit and wait for her forever? Sit there and put my damn life on hold for her? Wait and wait just to find out she didn’t want me anyway, not like how I wanted her.

  It was a mistake. All a mistake. I was torn up when Emmer left for college. Heartbroken, barely able to function, but I had to step back and let her go. Her going to college was my father’s rules. So, I got plastered that night. I got so drunk, there was no way I was going to be able to drive home. And what did I do? I called the one woman I knew who would help me recover. Becky. My loyal, sweet, and perfect Becky Harrisburg.