The Homecoming Benefactor

15 | the shine

Nick's house was located at the end of a winding dirt road, about half a mile or so from the pond. It was a large ranch house with a dark wooden exterior and a wraparound porch. I could see who appeared to be Nick's mother and oldest sister in two of the rocking chairs. In the grass nearby, two young boys were starting up an ATV. We parked off to the side of the house next to another truck, which looked like it had to have been at least twenty years old.

"Well, look who it is!" Nick's mom stood up from her chair and walked into the grass.

She was wearing a slip dress with no shoes, and her long dark hair was pulled back in a braid. I thought she looked to be in her late thirties; she was definitely younger than my parents. Nick's sister, Reese, who he had talked about a good deal before, was now a senior in high school. Reese's best friend was the one who Bryce had leaked pictures of. That realization became more intense when I saw Reese, and I had a sinking feeling about how stupid I had been these past two weeks.

"This must be Francie," Nick's mom said, shaking my hand. "I'm Nick's mama, but you can just call me Jamie. He's told us a lot about you."

"Maybe don't say it like that," Nick interrupted, scratching his head awkwardly.

Reese piped up from the porch. "You called us every week!"

"Anyways," Jamie deflected, leading us up onto the porch. "Let's get y'all settled in before all your friends show up. I cleared everything out of the barndominium so they can put air mattresses down and what not."

The inside of the house looked like something off of HGTV. A large open concept area held the living room and kitchen at the front of the house, and it was decorated like one of those modern farmhouses. I faintly heard Kenny Chesney playing from an old radio on the counter. Jamie led us down a hallway with several doors, an offshoot from the side of the living room. Nick's room was the last one on the left, and, unsurprisingly, it was decorated similarly to his dorm room. We set our bags next to the bed.

"I see where the deer in your dorm came from," I said, pointing to four other taxidermied deer on the wall.

"Yeah, I'm just that good," Nick jested, walking over to a tall shelf. He motioned at the trophies and medals inside of it from various sports and competitions. "And not just at hunting. I've got baseball, football, fishing, perfect attendance..."

Jamie sighed, folding her arms. "First borns, am I right? Some of those are from when he played tee ball in kindergarten."

We walked back out into the kitchen, and all the kids had come inside. Donovan, Nick's dad, was washing his hands in the kitchen sink. Nick introduced me to his other four siblings: Jackson, who was fourteen, Landon, who was twelve, Isaiah, who was nine, and Opal, who was six. The only reason I was able to catch on quickly was because Nick had already talked about them before.

"Timmy just texted me, they're almost here," Nick announced, walking toward the front door. "Francie and I are gonna go wait for them at the barndominium."

We went outside and got in the same ATV that Landon and Isaiah were on when we arrived. He fastened a large cooler to the back of it, which I would later find out was full of alcohol. It was about a five minute ride to the barndominium, and we couldn't really talk because of how loud the ATV engine was. This was one of those four-seater ATVs with a roof and a windshield; we at least weren't being smacked with dirt and rocks.

The barndominium was a large metal building that looked like a mix between a regular barn and a shed, but it was renovated inside to have a small kitchen and a loft. There had been more furniture in it before, but that had gone to storage to accommodate the near dozen people staying in it this weekend. Shortly after we parked, I saw Timmy's truck and another car pull in the drive, presumably Mattie's. Hazel, Devi, and Bridget had gone with Timmy and Araceli somehow, all crammed into that truck.