Loving Cara(69)
“That didn’t have anything to do with it,” Josh murmurs. “Besides”—he chuckles humorlessly—“it’s not like she’s from the big city.”
“No, but she grew up in town. What could she possibly know about this life? It’s hard for us and it’s in our blood.”
“True. Well, it’s just a good thing it didn’t turn out to be forever.”
I’ve heard enough.
Before I hear another word, I turn silently and walk back around the house where Seth is waiting for me.
What the hell was that?
“There you are!” Seth exclaims as I join him on the back deck. “What took you so long?”
“Nothing.” I shake my head and force a smile for him. “Ready?”
“Let’s do it!” He lifts the poles and pulls them out of my reach when I try to take them from him. “No way, the girl doesn’t carry the poles.”
“That’s very chivalrous of you,” I praise him, and ruffle his hair.
“The girl carries the worms!” He laughs and dances out of my reach as I try to tickle him.
“No way!” I cringe and stick my tongue out in disgust. “You get the poles and the worms, kid.”
Seth laughs, grabs the bucket, and we take off through the pasture to the creek.
“What’s chivelrist?”
“Chivalrous,” I correct him.
“Yeah, that.”
“It means ‘gentlemanly.’ ”
“Dad says that you should open doors for girls and carry stuff for them and crap like that.”
“Yes, your dad is very chivalrous.”
“Is Uncle Josh?” Seth swings the bucket back and forth.
“If those worms come flying at me,” I warn him sternly, “I will beat you with that fishing pole.”
He just laughs hard and continues to swing the bucket. “You will not.”
“Will too. Anyway, yes, Josh is chivalrous.”
When he’s not regretting asking me to move in with him.
“You really like him, huh?” Seth watches me out of the corner of his eye.
“I do.”
“Are you gonna marry him and have babies and all that other gross stuff?”
“It’s early days yet,” I murmur, evading the question. Until about ten minutes ago those things seemed to be a reality, and now I’m not so sure.
“You shouldn’t.” Seth shakes his head firmly.
“Why?”
“Because getting married sucks. It makes you mean and then you fight all the time, and you mess around with strange men who like to beat your kids.”
I stop in my tracks and stare at the boy who is almost the same height as me and is the spitting image of his dad and his uncle.
“Come on!” he urges impatiently, and I fall back into step beside him as we walk past the edge of the pasture and into the brush. I can hear the rush of the creek now, and as we walk just about ten yards farther, I can see and smell it too.
“It’s pretty back here,” I murmur, and take a deep breath. “Damn, Seth, your dad was right. The water is really high.” The water is rushing past us at an alarming rate, deeper than usual because it’s crested the banks, due to the snow in higher elevations still melting.
“It’s not too bad,” he disagrees, and turns pleading eyes to me.
“You stay on the bank, understand? No wading in. This water is too high and running too fast.”
He flashes me his grin and my chest tightens. This poor kid has seen so much more than he ever should have.
He strips out of his socks and shoes, rolls his pants up, and I follow suit. I’m in shorts today, so I don’t have to worry about getting my pants wet, but I tuck my phone in my bra, just in case.
Seth baits the hooks and hands me a pole. “Okay, I’ll show you how to cast.” He sounds so mature and sure of himself as he steps into the edge of the water, just close enough to get his toes wet, pulls his pole back over his shoulder, and flings the line smoothly into the water.
“Your dad is a good teacher,” I mutter with a smile.
“Yeah, he’s not as bad as I thought he was.” Seth shrugs as I also cast my line, and we stand in companionable silence for a long minute until I just can’t stand it anymore and I have to ask some questions. He’s finally talking, it’s private and quiet here, and he’s doing what he loves.
“So, you know that not all marriages are like your mom and dad’s was, right?” I ask nonchalantly.
“I guess,” he mutters, and I can tell he’s not convinced.
“Did a lot of your mom’s boyfriends hurt you?” I cast again.
“Some.” I look back at him to find that he’s looking down into the water, not paying attention to his pole. He suddenly looks over at me with wide hazel eyes. “Why did she let them do that?”