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I sat in the middle of the front seat between Rex and Grayson in the big truck. The view up here was great, but I didn’t like not having a window seat. This unexpected ride out into the country would’ve been a dream come true if Grayson had just traded spots with me and rolled the window down. Then I could’ve ignored the tension between them, stuck my nose out into the fresh air, and played a game of ‘guess that smell’.
“All I can say”—Grayson gripped his knees like he needed something to hang onto—“is this had better be good.”
Rex said nothing for a while, which was unusual for him. We flew over a series of hills, around several corners, down into a wooded valley, then back out onto a wider road that extended straight ahead for miles, flanked by fenced pastures. Just as I spotted a herd of cows and scooted over to crowd Grayson to get a better view, Rex finally broke the silence.
“I’m going to say something you might take as impolite, but I’m an honest man, so I’m going to put it out there.”
Grayson drew a hand over his eyes. “Here goes. Out with it then.”
Rex glanced sideways at him. “When you came here—to this little one-horse town—did you kinda see us all as—how do I put it?—unsophisticated? Like this place was lacking in amenities? Like we had less education and skills than the folk you were used to brushing elbows with?”
Grayson swallowed. “It’s not what I was used to.”
“That isn’t what I asked. Be honest now.”
He blew out a breath, nodded. “I suppose so. It’s a... a very different way of life.”
“There are a lot of different ways of living. We folk here like things wide open, not so busy. We like to get to know our neighbors. We help them out. Sure, sometimes we gossip about them. We can be guilty of a little schadenfreude, too. But if your coworker’s cousin falls on hard times because their spouse is drug addicted, you pitch in and donate a baby swing for their little one. You offer a ride to the doctor to your ageing neighbor, frankly because you know they shouldn’t be behind the wheel and there’s no good way of saying it. You help the farmer down the road round up his wandering goats when a storm takes the fence down.”
“People in New York help each other, too. We help absolute strangers. Like during 9-11.”
“So do we. So do we.” Rex slowed to a stop, checked left and right, then turned onto another road. “Our way of life is every bit as good and valuable as what you were used to. We just focus on fewer things at a time, so we can give those things and people the attention they deserve. More of a minimalist approach to life, I guess you’d say.”
“And your point is...?”
“My point is I know it was probably hard for you to get used to. You wanted to unload that farm and those horses so you could get back to all that glitz and glamour and leave us simple folk behind. But then, things changed for you. You found a dog. You met a gal... And then you didn’t know which was better: going back to that old life you knew—or starting a new one.”
Something hard seemed to break inside Grayson. Fractured down the middle. He turned his face to the window and slid lower in his seat, only the belt buckle stopping him.
Rex gave him some time before continuing. “One thing I learned in my business is how to read people. I may talk a lot, but I also pay attention—something you might be well advised to do yourself. It matters just as much how people says things as it does what they don’t say at all. Me—I’m a straight shooter. I say it like it is and then some. You, on the other hand—you weigh every word. You keep most of them inside, afraid of what might happen if you let them out. Afraid, even, of the feelings behind those words. So when you came barging into my office today, guns a-blazing, I knew she meant the world to you. Hell, I knew it when we stopped to visit her. At the sight of her, you grinned so big I thought your head was going to split in two.”
Grayson sat up straighter. “Oh, come on. How did you know? I didn’t even know for sure—not until I got that job offer from Attovan, anyway. How could you possibly tell?”
“Son—can I call you that? It’s not short for Grayson, in case you’re wondering. Around here, it’s what we call anyone younger than us.”
“You probably only have ten years on me, Rex. But sure, call me ‘son,’ if you want. It beats ‘Gary’. Anyway, how did you know?”
“How? All I had to do was pay attention, just like I said.” Rex pulled into the parking lot of a long brick building and parked. It was one of many brick buildings on a sprawling property surrounded by swaths of manicured lawn and perfectly spaced spruce trees. It sort of looked like the neighborhood I used to live in with Brandy, only with virtually no traffic. Rex winked at me. “Right, girl?”
I barked. Because I wanted out, so I could figure out why we were here.
As soon as Rex opened the door and the scent hit me, I knew. She was here.
—o00o—
––––––––
“Brandy, hi.” Grayson stood in the doorway, his feet fixed to the welcome mat on the front steps. He looked past her, like he was searching for something—or someone else. “Why... why are you here?”
Rex gave him a gentle shove from behind, and we all piled inside. It was like a little house, only with wide doorways, no steps, and very little furniture. The living room, kitchen, and dining area all ran together. I bounced to Brandy, gave her fingers a few licks, and wandered off to explore, sniffing. Mostly, it smelled of cleaning fluids.
Behind Brandy’s wheelchair stood a man I didn’t know. He had hair the same shade as hers, although only a fringe of it from one ear to the other around back. The top of his head was bald and shiny, and he had wire-rimmed glasses.
The man extended his hand to Grayson, regarding him with a hint of suspicion. “You must be Brandy’s friend, Grayson. Hello, I’m Paul Anders, Junior, Brandy’s older brother. PJ for short.”
“Hello.” Grayson shook his hand. When he tried to pull it back, PJ held onto it for a moment, like he was sizing him up. Grayson turned to Brandy. “Can we talk alone for a few minutes?”
Before Brandy could answer, Rex hooked an arm around PJ’s. “Say, driving in here, I saw some of these places have a back patio. Mind showing me?” He guided him toward a set of double doors, but then lingered as PJ continued in that direction. Rex pointed at Brandy. “The whole story, mind you. Don’t leave anything out.”
She nodded.
When the two men had gone outside, Grayson crouched in front of Brandy to be on her level, like he did with me sometimes. “Okay, tell me. Why are you here? Rex wouldn’t tell me anything on the way. Isn’t this a retirement home? And why didn’t you answer my texts or calls? I showed up in Lexington for a visit, and you’d cleared out of there without a word. Cherise wouldn’t give me any details. Just said you left with your brother, so since you’d been talking about moving in with him, I just figured, well... that you’d gone to Texas. Then I read your letter about needing to make choices and how you thought Sooner was better off with me. Honestly, even though I knew I’d miss her like heck, I was looking forward to the day she could go home with you.”
She rolled her wheelchair back, turned it, and moved to sit in front of the big picture window in the front of the living room area. Grayson followed her and sat in the middle of the couch across from her, but beyond arm’s reach. Like he was keeping his distance for the moment.
“I didn’t know what to do, Grayson. I’d already decided to leave Sooner with you. I figured it was best for her—and you.”
“But she’s your dog. You’ve done so much with her. Sooner loves you.”
There was confusion in his voice, and it worried me. I trotted over to him, then laid my muzzle in his lap.
Brandy shook her head. “I can’t do those things anymore. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to again. You two... you need each other.”
He sat back. Studied her hard and long. “You’re afraid of what I might do if she’s not around?”
“Maybe... I don’t know.”
“Brandy, I’m not in that place anymore. I don’t think I ever will be again.”
“You don’t know that.”
“So that’s why you left and didn’t answer me? You don’t want to be around if...” He stood up, paced a circle around the room, hands in his pockets. “You, of all people, should understand this is why people don’t talk about depression.”
She expelled a sharp breath. “Oh, Grayson. I think we’ve gotten off on the wrong track. I’m just saying it can happen to anybody at any time. And before you condemn me for running away because I couldn’t face that part of you—I didn’t. This is where I live now. Because I wanted to stay nearby.”
“I don’t understand.”
She sighed in the same way Grayson did when I didn’t get what he was trying to tell me. “When you left the room last week, Rex asked about my prognosis. I told him what I knew at that point, but mentioned you’d never really asked about it. He asked if I thought you were afraid of me being discharged and moving away. Until that moment, that hadn’t really occurred to me, but when he asked that, well, a lot of things made more sense then. That snowballed into him hinting he could tell you liked me, as in liked-liked me, in a girlfriend sort of way, so I told him I felt the same way. That as much as I wanted to accept my brother’s offer, I’d been wanting more time to see where things went between you and me, but I was having a hard time gauging how you felt. I knew if I moved to Dallas, it could get too comfortable there for me in my brother’s house. So I told Rex I’d rather stay nearby in Kentucky somewhere if I could, but I hadn’t looked into it yet. That’s when he told me his wife worked here at Fox Hollow, and said he’d check on openings for me.
“As luck would have it, after you left, Dr. Capelli told me I could go home in a few days. No one was more surprised than me. The next day, Rex let me know there was an unexpected opening here. It was like everything was just working out the way it was supposed to. Things moved so fast I didn’t have time to get in touch with you. There were a lot of details to take care of. A lot. It was exciting and scary and overwhelming.” Drawing in a deep breath, she went on. “Just before Peej and I left this morning, I had a meeting with Dr. Capelli and had my phone on silent. Then I put it in my suitcase and simply focused on the fact that my life was finally moving forward. We also went to see my dad. I’m not sure he even knew who we were. But we stayed for two hours and I told him all about the past few months—even about you and Sooner. So, you see, I wasn’t intentionally ignoring you. But those were all things I had to do on my own—for myself, by myself. You have no idea what it’s like to feel so dependent on others.”
He resumed his seat on the couch. “You’re right. I don’t. But... why here? I mean, I understand there was an opening, but isn’t this a retirement community?”
“It also has units devoted to people recovering from traumatic medical events like strokes, amputations, or accidents. People like me. I have my own space here, but there’s also help if I need it. Which I will. For a while, anyway.”
“What about your job?”
“I made arrangements with my employer to work from home, as long as I can make it to meetings once a month. They have a van here that goes to Lexington weekly. It works out perfectly.”
“Still, why here when you could be in Lexington somewhere?”
She sighed. “Because of you, Grayson. You. Because of us. Or what could be ‘us,’ actually.”
As if struck by shyness, he dropped his head. “Oh.” A long minute later, he raised his eyes. “So Rex didn’t tell you about Attovan?”
“I don’t know what Attovan is.”
“You don’t?” Something in his demeanor shifted—lightened, almost. Like an anger he’d been clinging to had suddenly been snatched away. He glanced toward the sliding glass doors, beyond which Rex and PJ could be seen immersed in conversation, then back at her. “Attovan is a big loan company. They called the other day, offered me a lucrative job back in New York. A really good one. Right before we came up to see you that day.”
A blank expression on her face, Brandy shook her head. “Believe me, he didn’t say anything about a job offer.”
Grayson flattened himself against the back of the couch. “I owe Rex an apology—a big one.”
“I think I missed something.”
“Never mind.” He waved a hand in the air like he wanted to redirect her. “It’s not important. I’ll explain later. Brandy, would you—?”
The glass door slid open, and Rex popped his head in. “You two kids done yet?”
Grayson glared at him. “Get lost, Rex.”
“Hint taken. Carry on.” He slid the door shut.
Grayson scooted to the end of the couch, reached out, and took Brandy’s hands in his. “Brandy, would you like to go on a date?”
Weaseling my way between them, I poked my head up so their arms were encircling me.
Brandy laughed. “Do we have to take the dog?”
He grimaced. “I think we should—the first time, anyway. She is what brought us together, after all.”
“All right. Yes, I will. On one condition, though.”
“That being?”
“That you’ll tell me what’s on your mind. Every little thing.”
He smiled. A big smile. “Okay, I’ll start right now. You know what I’m thinking?”
“Not a clue. Tell me.”
“I’m thinking we’re pretty good together—and that I’m lucky I found you. The luckiest guy in the world, maybe. All because of a dog.”