“Tell me about where you’re from,” Christian asked.
Sheldon thought about that. Could he really say he was from somewhere? Maryland felt like a lifetime ago.
“I could tell you the history of Maryland, but that would be boring.”
Christian laughed. “Tell me about where you lived before you came here.” He looked up at Sheldon as if he was ready to hang on every word.
“Before coming here I’d lived in a lot of places. But I’m from Maryland. I lived on a farm there. We called it the Kendall.”
“It was named after you?” Christian sat up straighter as he asked the question, impressed that someone could have a farm with his name on it.
“Not after me. I come from a long line of Kendalls. The farm was named by one of those long-ago relatives.”
“I’ve never seen a farm. I mean never been on one. We drove by farms when I came to live with my grandma. But I don’t really remember any names of them.”
“It wasn’t a farm that grew anything except grass.”
“Grass?” Again he screwed his face into a frown.
“It was a horse farm.”
“Horses!” This caused a huge smile to replace the frown. “How do you farm horses?”
“We bred them, meaning we raised the horses from the time they were born. We boarded them, let them live in a long stable.”
“Did you get to ride them?”
“Every day,” Sheldon clarified. “Horses have to be exercised so they don’t get fat and have problems with their legs.”
“Like I have to go to gym in school.”
“Exactly.” Sheldon smiled at his comprehension.
“Who’s exercising the horses now?”
Sheldon frowned. “I had to sell the horses before I left.”
Christian thought about that for a while. Then he perked up and looked Sheldon directly in the face. “I suppose you couldn’t leave them alone. Someone would need to give them food and water and exercise them.”
“Exactly,” Sheldon said. At that moment the washer finished its cycle.
* * *
SHELDON LISTENED TO their footsteps as he and Audrey walked from the theater later that night. They’d gone to the movies. He’d taken her on a date. He hadn’t been out with another woman since Laura died.
“Christian told me you told him about your farm in Maryland.”
“He mentioned his camp project. I gave him some information to share.”
“That was nice of you. He’s been talking about horses since you mentioned them. He asked me to take him to the library so he could get some books.”
Sheldon smiled.
“You’re a good influence on him.”
“Thank you,” Sheldon said. “I wasn’t a good influence on my own brother.”
“Life gives us second chances,” Audrey said.
“Is that written on a card in your classroom?” he asked.
“It is,” she said. “That doesn’t mean it’s not true.”
“I have a letter from Jason,” he said.
Audrey stopped on the street and faced him. She seemed too surprised to speak. “Why didn’t you tell me? You said it like you were asking to pass the butter, when contacting him has plagued you for months.”
“I haven’t opened it.”
“Why not?”
“Fear.” He paused for a long time. “I don’t know what’s in it. He doesn’t know me now, doesn’t know where I’ve been and what I’ve gone through. The letter could tell me to never contact him again.”
“It could,” she agreed. “But you’ll never know what it says if you don’t open it.”
“I realize that.”
“How did he find you?” Audrey asked.
“I sent a letter to the Kendall as you suggested. I never expected to get a response from Jason.” Sheldon thought he might get a reply from the owner of the farm, but seeing Jason’s handwriting and the return address on the envelope, it nearly burned his hand. “I assume he lives at the Kendall. He must be doing well if he could return to the Kendall and support the farm.”
“Don’t jump to any conclusions. You only know that Jason used the address.”
“How many people are you aware of who would allow you to use their address if you didn’t live there?”
She nodded, understanding his point. “But when you left, you said the place was run-down.”
“It was, but someone bought it. A woman. I have no idea what it looks like now.”
“It could have been sold to your brother,” she suggested.
“Which means he’d have to have enough money to purchase it.”
“That’s beside the point, isn’t it. You’re not interested in his finances. You want to contact him for different reasons.”