Going Home

Chapter Six

"What are you talking about?" Emily forced herself to turn away from him and fidget with the sleeve of her blouse.

Laney caught Emily's hand and stopped her. "He is gorgeous!" she cried in complete disbelief. "I can't believe you've had him under your roof and you never bothered to tell me."

"It's no big deal," Emily explained with a shake of her head. "He's working for me." She caught Laney's hand and began to pull her towards him. "Why don't you come and meet him."

Laney pulled her hand away and took a step back, glancing down at her watch. "No, I've got to get to work. Mr. Timmers will kill me if I'm late again. I'll call you later."

Nate walked towards Emily and away from the slowly dispersing crowd, watching Laney as she hurried down the road.

"Who was that?"

"That's Laney, a close friend of mine. She was going to come over and meet you but she's late for work."

"What did you buy?" He nodded down at the bag in her hand.

"A dress."

"A dress?"

"Yeah, I've been coerced into going to the fall dance."

"You're going, huh?" he asked as he unlocked her door and held it for her. It was strange that he had locked his door, but he passed it off as a habit created by the crimes of the city. Out here in Beaver Hill, there was not a lot of crime. Not much at all. So, there was certainly no reason to go locking your doors. Most folks didn't even lock their front doors at night, let alone their vehicle doors. He missed this small freedom that he didn't experience back in the city. It was nice. Real nice.

"I guess so. The kids will enjoy it." She waited until he came around and climbed into the driver's seat. "Are you going?" she asked. His hand faltered at the ignition and then he turned it, revving the truck to life.

"I don't know."

"If you'd like, you can come with us."

"I'll think about it."

"Alright."

***

As they pulled up near the school, they saw Joe Jr and Louise standing huddled together within a group of older kids that surrounded them, taunting and jeering them. Nate was the first one of out the truck. His steps were quick and determined as he closed in the gap between him and the small crowd. When he reached them, he stood straight and planted his hands on his hips. He felt an anger surge through his veins when he saw the terrorized looks on Louise and Joe Jr's faces.

"What's going on here!" he roared. Everyone froze, including Emily. She had expected to be the one to fix the situation, not him. She watched as each boy and girl turned slowly and faced the beast of a man staring down at them. One of the older boys stepped forward, his fingers pulling at his collar.

"Ah...we was just...ah...havin' a little fun..." the boy stammered nervously.

Nate folded his arms across his chest and eyed him. "Fun, huh?" he mused. He pointed to Joe Jr and Louise. "They don't look like they're havin' fun."

The boy laughed nervously. "Well...ah...I think I hear my mama callin' me," he declared and then he lit out of there like his pants were on fire. The other kids were quick to follow, leaving Joe Jr and Louise standing alone. Louise ran to her mama, but Joe Jr just stood there, staring at the ground.

Nate approached him and bent down on one knee. "You okay, Son?"

"I'm not your son!" he cried before running to the truck and climbing inside. Nate was stunned for a moment and then he rose to his feet, looking over his shoulder at Emily.

"Let's go home," she whispered and she too, turned for the truck, carrying Louise in her arms. Nate followed, realizing that he'd made yet another mistake.

"What am I doing here?" he muttered under his breath before climbing into the driver's seat and starting the engine. No one said a word the whole way home and as soon as the engine was shut off, Joe Jr jumped from the truck and ran to the stables. Nate looked at Emily, Louise now asleep in her arms. Her little face was streaked with tears and it touched him, even though he didn't want it to.

"Would you mind if I talked to him?" Nate asked.

Emily shook her head. "I'll go and put supper on."

He waited until she was inside the house before turning for the stables.

He found Joe Jr sitting on a bundle of hay, his hand resting on Rocky's nose. He looked over his shoulder when he saw Nate, turning away to hide his tear stained face.

"Hey there," Nate called as he stepped closer. "That's a mighty fine horse you got. Is he yours?"

No response.

Nate sighed and sat down beside Joe Jr on the hay. "I made a mistake, didn't I?" he murmured softly. A sniff was the only answer he received. "I'm really sorry about what I did. I just thought that I could help you—"

Joe Jr whirled around, tears falling down his dirty cheeks.

"Only my daddy can help, and he's gone!" he shouted angrily.

It hurt Nate to see how much anger could be stored away in such a small boy, but he remembered all the anger he had held onto back when he had been a young boy.

"I know."

"When's he gonna come back?" Joe Jr whispered.

Nate shook his head. "I don't know."

Joe Jr turned around and faced Nate, his little face marked with sadness. "Doesn't he love us anymore?"

Nate reached out and pulled Joe Jr into his arms, holding him carefully. "I'm sure he does, he probably just needs time to think about things. Adults get scared too, just like you and Louise do."

Joe Jr sniffed again. "'bout what?"

"All kinds of stuff but mostly about grown up stuff. You see, when we grow up and become parents, we have to take care of our kids, but our mamas and daddies don't take care of us anymore, not like when we were young anyway."

"Then I don't ever want to grow up because I would miss my mama too much."

"Your mama's a pretty special lady."

"She's the best mama ever," Joe Jr declared proudly.

"What were those kids saying to you back at the school?" Nate asked softly, watching as Joe Jr turned shamefaced.

"They was sayin' that my daddy's a no-good chicken, runnin' away like he did, and that my mama is a cheater cuz she's lettin' you stay in our house."

Nate nodded. Kids could be so cruel. He'd had his own share of bullying when he'd been younger, at least until he'd walked up to Tommy Barker and punched him right in the nose. Broke it good and clean too. After that they'd become the best of friends. Tommy decided that if he couldn't fight 'em, then he might as well join 'em.

"Do you believe what they said?" Nate asked, knowing that what Joe Jr believed was all that really mattered. If you knew the truth inside of yourself and clung to it, then it didn't matter so much what people said about you.

"No, but it's just hard to hear it."

Nate nodded in agreement. "Maybe they'll leave you alone now."

"Maybe." Joe Jr grinned slightly as he picked at a piece of hay. "You sure scared that Henry Limicker some. I've never seen him run so fast."

Nate chuckled softly. "Well then, I guess we done some good today, huh?" Joe Jr nodded. "Come on, let's go inside and get washed up for supper, okay?" He held out his hand to Joe Jr and the young boy took it quickly.

Emily watched from the kitchen window as the two of them walked towards the house hand in hand. Joe Jr was telling a story, his other hand waving around wildly with a big smile on his face. Nate was laughing. It was so good to see him smiling. She couldn't remember the last time Joe Jr had smiled like he was now. Her heart warmed a little more toward Nate Hill and she grew more thankful for his reassuring presence.