REACHING INTO HIS truck bed, Luke pulled out a case and set it on Carly’s porch, then approached the front door. He raised his hand to knock but paused when he heard Carly’s voice through the window of the guest room.
“Dustin, you don’t have a choice,” she said. “You haven’t been in school since sometime last spring and you’ve got to go.”
“Why? I hate school. I’ve been to ten and I hated all of ’em. If I gotta stay with you, then let me work around here. If I wanna learn something, I can read a book or…or I can figure it out myself.”
She sighed. “It’s true that you’ve showed real aptitude for picking produce, but you can help me after you’ve spent a full day at school.”
“Ah, come on, dude,” Dustin whined.
“Child Services made it very clear that you can only stay here if you’re in school.”
There was no response from Dustin.
Luke crossed the porch and bent to look in the window. Dustin lay flopped on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Bags from Dyle’s Clothing Store were piled beside him. Carly stood over him, clenched fists on her hips, face full of frustration.
“She’s right, Dustin. It’s the law. You’ve got to go to school until you turn sixteen.”
“That’s four years from now!” Dustin started and whipped around to see Luke at the window. He propped himself on his elbow and glared. Luke noticed that the boy also had a fresh haircut, so he didn’t look quite so much like a wild child.
“That’ll give you plenty of time to make your plans to drop out.”
“Luke!” Carly gave him an exasperated look. “I thought you were supposed to be helping me here.”
Dustin rolled onto his back again, crossed his arms over his chest and resumed his furious examination of the ceiling.
Carly stared at the boy for several seconds while Luke watched emotions flicker across her face—frustration, annoyance and then humor.
She pulled a pair of scissors from her back pocket. “Use these to very carefully cut the tags off your new clothes so we can wash everything.”
“I didn’t need new clothes. Mine were okay.”
“Oh, please, Dustin. The jeans you said were your favorites have more holes than they have denim—which may be fashionable, but not suitable for seventh grade. You can keep them to wear when you help me in the fields.”
He didn’t respond, so she turned and left the room. Luke stepped back, out of sight, but peeked around the corner. As soon as he thought Carly was gone, Dustin glanced out the window to make sure he was unobserved, then jumped up, dumped the bags out on the bed, and began gleefully holding up shirts and pants, a dark blue hooded sweatshirt and a jacket.
Chuckling to himself, Luke walked away and met Carly at the front door.
“How’s Mrs. Salyer?” he asked when she stepped outside.
“Better.” Carly hurried across the porch. “I’ve got to get to work. I can tell you all about it if you’ll… What’s that?” she asked, pointing to the large case he’d set on the porch.
“Water testing kit. I’ve got to check your well.”
She shook her head. “Why would you need to check my well?”
“Data collection. I’ve got to establish a baseline on all the minerals in the water in case…”
“In case you contaminate my well water.”
“That’s right.” He looked at her steadily. There was no point in trying to deny it.
Carly looked tired, but that was no surprise. She’d been up most of the night and spent the day riding herd on an angry boy. Still, she looked beautiful. He let that thought settle into his brain. Yeah, he’d always thought she was beautiful, with her strong profile, full lips and dark brown eyes. That hadn’t been what had first attracted him to her, though. It had been her attitude toward life. She had been outgoing and full of plans and ideas. Most of all, she’d been happy. At least, until she’d married him.
“All right. I guess that would be a good idea.” She hurried down the steps and turned toward the shed.
He picked up the kit as he called after her, “It’ll only take a few minutes. Then why don’t I cook us some dinner?”
Carly rocked to a stop. “Cook dinner?”
“Yeah. I got stuff for hamburgers and a few side dishes from the deli at the Mustang Supermarket. It’s in the cooler in the truck. You’ve got a grill, right?”
“Um, yes.” She paused and looked around. “Did I fall down a rabbit hole? Enter an alternate universe? You can cook?”
“Yes, Omi taught me, made me try out recipes. She said she couldn’t stand the thought of me eating out every night or having doughnuts for dinner. So, are grilled burgers okay?”
“Yes, okay. That would be nice. I’ve fed Dustin four times today and he’s still hungry. We stopped at the grocery store and loaded up on snacks, and, of course, I’ve got fields full of food, but he is terrified of being hungry.” She shrugged. “Rightly so, I suppose. I’m guessing these past few weeks with his grandmother aren’t the first time he’s been hungry. He can really pack it away.”
“Making up for lost calories. I’ll make big hamburgers.”
Carly shook her head in wonder. “He does dishes and laundry, and he cooks. What a difference twelve years makes.”
Luke grinned as he headed for the well.
* * *
HE ALSO MADE a mean guacamole, Carly thought as she dipped a tortilla chip into the delicious avocado dip and savored another mouthful. Although the evening was turning chilly, they had decided to eat outside at the picnic table by the grill.
The table was one she’d found at an estate sale, cleaned up and painted a sunny yellow. It was big enough for eight people, far larger than she needed, but the benches had backs on them that could swing up and lock in place, as well as padded cushions. She’d had many offers from people who wanted to buy the set, but she was keeping this one for herself.
They weren’t eating by candlelight, but by a row of Mason jars she’d lined up on the table and stuffed with strings of battery-operated fairy lights. A few of them twinkled like trapped fireflies. Dustin seemed mesmerized by them, staring at the jars as he stuffed olives, carrot sticks and tortilla chips into his mouth. She would be worried about him ruining his dinner if she hadn’t already seen how much food he could consume at one sitting and be hungry again in twenty minutes.
She was really enjoying this cookout. The only people who cooked for her occasionally were Gemma and Lisa, and now that Gemma was married, she doubted the three of them would be having very many occasions for a girls’ night in.
“These burgers will be ready in about five minutes,” Luke said as he flipped the hamburger patties and adjusted the flame on the grill. “So, Dustin, tell me how your grandmother is today.”
Dustin looked up from the mound of chips he was devouring. “She’s okay, I guess. She was awake, and she could talk to me.”
“That’s good. What did she say?”
Dustin narrowed his eyes as if he couldn’t quite believe Luke wanted to have a conversation with him. “That I can stay with Carly.” He held up his hand. “But just till she gets better.”
“After she gets out of the hospital, she’ll be in a care center for a while, receiving physical therapy,” Carly added. “She’s very weak. It’s going to be a while before she’s well.”
Luke nodded and changed the subject. “So, you’re starting school, when, Dustin?”
After that afternoon’s battle, Carly braced herself, but Dustin gave a put-upon sigh and said, “Monday,” as if it was a day of doom. “I hate new schools.”
Conversation petered out after that. Carly had gone to school in the same district, with the same people, from kindergarten through high school. She had no idea what Dustin had gone through.
After Dustin finished eating, Carly told him he could watch television or a movie.
“I’d rather draw.” He jerked his head toward the guest room. “In that pink room,” he said, “I saw some paper and stuff.”
“Um, sure, Dustin. Help yourself.”
He went inside and Carly told Luke, “He was pretty upset when we saw Era at the hospital, but he calmed down when she said she felt better. It’ll be a long road until she’s well, though.”
“Does he know about his mother wanting to hand him over to the state?”
“I don’t think so. He didn’t ask about her. He’s only concerned about his grandmother.”
“Since he ran from his mother to his grandmother, I think it’s pretty obvious where he wants to be.”
Carly nodded, took a sip of her soft drink and said, “Era said she hadn’t seen Dustin in two years when he showed up at her door. She hid him, avoided people, so no one would know he was there. She even lied to the deputies, although she said she felt really bad about it. Anyway, she wasn’t sure what she was going to do, and then she got sick, started having bouts of vertigo, which meant she couldn’t do any of her chores or gardening.”
“How’d they survive for four months?”
“Remember the empty canning jars?”
He nodded.
“As we thought, she had quite a stock of frozen and canned food, but they ate it all. Then, of course, Dustin was supplementing their diet with the fresh produce he took from me. She did know what he was doing but couldn’t tell me for fear of losing him to his mother or to the state.
“It started in the spring when he brought in some blueberries. She thought I had left them, but when I brought more later that day, she knew Dustin had sneaked out and stolen them. She didn’t stop him because she was desperate…and…not thinking right. The bouts of vertigo have been so bad for the past month that she couldn’t even drive to town for milk—”
“But you still wish she had called, right?”
“Of course. It hurts that she didn’t trust me, but I guess it’s understandable if she was afraid someone would take him.”
“You’re a good neighbor, Carly.”
“We all have to look out for each other out here in the country.” She paused. “I’ve never asked, Luke. Where do you live in Dallas?”
“An apartment building. No place special. Why?”
“I just realized that in the past couple of days you’ve come to learn a lot about my life, but I don’t know much about yours.”
His grin as he held out his hands was inviting. “Ask away. I’m an open book.”
She hesitated because she’d asked a question she shouldn’t have asked. It meant she would have to take a step she wasn’t ready for. Instead of asking another question, she said, “Apparently you can’t tell me what I want to know.”
He looked at her for a few seconds then changed the subject. “Your new foster son is quite an enterprising young man, but if Mrs. Salyer hadn’t cut her arm, there’s no telling what might have happened. On the other hand, if Jay hadn’t caught Dustin stealing melons, there’s no telling what might have happened.”
Carly grimaced. “That crazy plan he and Owen concocted actually saved Era’s life. I’ll have to tell him tomorrow even though it means he’ll never let me forget it.”
“Yup.”
They fell silent, thinking about everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours, until Carly said, “Luke, I don’t think Era will be able to stay on her own out here. She needs to be in town, so she can get help quickly if she needs it. Even when the infection clears up, and she’s had intensive physical therapy, there’s still the problem of her vertigo.”
“So you might have Dustin for a long time.”
“It looks like it.”
“You’re not thinking of keeping him permanently, are you?”
“After one day? It’s a little early for that.”
Carly knew that twelve was a rough age, especially for a kid who’d had the kind of life Dustin had, and the tough attitude he showed would probably get worse as he entered his teenage years and tried to find his way. She liked him, though. He loved his grandmother and had been very sweet with her today at the hospital. He was obviously resourceful and he seemed bright. She was hoping, in spite of his sketchy school attendance and all the weeks he’d missed, that he could still be enrolled in the seventh grade to be with kids his own age. Looking after him was going to be tricky, though.
“Carly, there’s something else you need to know.”
She looked up, meeting Luke’s gaze, which had turned solemn. “My dad is here—at Tom’s house. Probably be here for a few days, at least, or until he thinks his office can’t run without him. I wanted to let you know in case you ran into him.”
Carly’s heart had sunk into her gut, but she nodded. “Thanks for telling me. I doubt I’ll see him, and I doubt he’d have anything to say to me if I did. Why is he here?”
Luke tilted his head toward his job site. “Still trying to control this project.” He told her about Robert’s encounter with Shelby, when she’d refused, point-blank, to reveal anything about the process she was developing.
“I wish I’d seen that. She didn’t seem very…assertive to me.”
“You’re no threat to her or what she’s working on. Dad is. But apparently she handled it.”
“I would have given almost anything to have seen it,” Carly said wistfully.
“Me, too.”
They exchanged a laughing look and their gazes held. His eyes still crinkled at the corners when he smiled. In another time and another place Robert had been their common irritant, if not their foe.
Luke must have been thinking exactly the same thing because his smile faded into a regretful look and he said, “I’m sorry my dad was always between us.”
“He was only one of the obstacles.” Carly took a slow, deep breath. Even after all this time, it was hard to talk about it.
“Carly, I—”
“It’s okay,” she insisted. “There’s really nothing to be said after twelve years.”
“I disagree.”
She surged to her feet. “I’ve got to get the kitchen cleaned up. There’s lots to do. The grand opening of Upcycle is Sunday afternoon and there’s a million things to do to get ready.”
“I’ll help with the dishes. And tomorrow, I’ll take Dustin to see his grandmother.”
She would have protested, but she realized she was simply too tired to fight.
He left shortly after the kitchen was cleaned up and Carly headed toward her bedroom. She stopped to check on Dustin and found that his room was dark and he was huddled under the covers with one bare foot sticking out. She crossed the room, tucked in his foot, then stood looking down at his face, free of the emotions, mostly anger, that had battered him all day.
She couldn’t help thinking about her own child, letting the memory of his tiny face, his shock of black hair, slip out from the place where she kept it locked away. What would he look like now? What kind of person would he be? An even bigger question was what kind of parents would she and Luke have been if they’d managed to overcome their differences and stay together?
That question would never have an answer. They had been too young and too different. And Robert Sanderson had driven too great a wedge between them with his demands that Luke work for him and his insistence that Carly wasn’t right for Luke.
And now Luke was back, and so was Robert. If there was any mercy in this world, she wouldn’t have to see her former father-in-law, but she couldn’t think about that right now. She closed Dustin’s door and went to her room.
* * *
THIS WAS A busy place on Saturday, Dustin decided. He’d awakened early and, after he got dressed, visited the pantry to load up on food. Now he was outside exploring. There hadn’t been time yesterday since Carly had taken him to see his grandma and then dragged him through the barbershop and the clothing store. She’d even taken him to get the rest of his stuff at Grandma’s house. Now, he wanted to look the whole place over. In case he needed to plot escape routes. He’d promised his grandmother he’d stay there, but he never knew when things might change.
Far down one row of the garden, Carly was loading pumpkins into the small trailer she had attached to the back of her four-wheeler. She’d left him a note telling him to get whatever he wanted for breakfast. He didn’t have to be told twice. He’d chugged a glass of milk, then grabbed cereal bars, a banana and two packages of toaster pastries, which he’d eaten cold. They weren’t as good as Carly’s pancakes, but they filled the hole in his gut.
When there hadn’t been much food at Grandma’s, he’d tried not to think about it. Now that he had plenty of food, he couldn’t get enough.
Biting into a cereal bar, he wandered into one of the greenhouses and out again. The tiny seedlings growing in there weren’t as interesting as the full-grown veggies outside. He’d been in the gardens before, but not during the day. When he’d been looking for food to take home to Grandma’s, or to take into town and sell to the managers at the supermarkets, his visits had always been at night.
That had been okay, until Grandma had gotten sick and he’d been caught by those two dudes. He was still mad about having that giant guy tackle him and slam him to the ground. Dustin’s ribs, right knee and cheek still hurt.
The sound of a motorcycle slowing and then pulling into the drive had him turning to see who was coming. His longtime habit of not wanting to be seen before he was ready made him slip behind the oak tree at the corner of the yard and watch the bike and rider who stopped beside Carly’s truck. When he stood and pulled off his helmet, Dustin realized it was the dude who had tackled him. Carly had called him Jay.
“Jerk,” he muttered.
When the guy went into the shed, he crouched and scurried into the house, then into the pink bedroom. Better to pretend like he was still asleep than to face that guy again. He got out the paper, pencils and pens he’d found in the desk and began drawing what he could see from the window.
One thing he saw was Jay standing in front of Carly, waving his arms and pointing toward the house. Dustin had seen many arguments, many about him, so he suspected that’s what this was. After a few minutes, Carly got into her four-wheeler and left the guy standing where he was, shaking his head.
Lost in his art, he didn’t hear anyone in the house until someone knocked on his bedroom door. Hastily, he shoved everything into the desk drawer and stood.
“Yeah, come in,” he said then waited warily to see who it was.
Of course, it was the last person he wanted to see. “What do you want?” he asked the big dude who filled the doorway.
“Carly said for me to come find you and introduce myself, even though we’ve already met. My name’s Jay Morton.”
Dustin didn’t say anything. He was busy studying the way the guy stood, blocking the way out. Dustin instantly decided he could go through the window if he needed to, but he wasn’t sure what his chances were of getting away since he already knew how fast this guy could move.
Jay looked him over and Dustin straightened, wanting to make himself look as big as possible.
“She says you need to get up and come outside.”
“I’m up.”
“Then come outside.” Jay stepped back, but Dustin moved around him warily, never actually turning his back to the big teenager.
“You should know, though, that I’ll be watching you. I think Carly’s making a big mistake keeping you here, but she wants to help Mrs. Salyer. I think you’re a thief and a sneak, so I’ll be watching you,” Jay repeated.
“Yeah, I heard you the first time.” Dustin finally turned his back on Jay and hurried out the front door, putting as much distance as possible between them.
Carly drove up to them and gave them both a wide smile. “Good morning, Dustin. Did you get some breakfast?”
“Yeah, so what if I did?”
“Hey!” Jay yelped. “Don’t be dissing her, you little punk.”
Dustin scowled at him as Carly appeared to bite her tongue and continue. “So, if you’ve had breakfast, that means you can help out at the produce stand today. Halloween is coming and we want people to buy their pumpkins from us. Sheena can’t come in today because she’s sick, so I’m recruiting you to help.”
Dustin wrinkled his nose. “Nah, I don’t wanna work at a—”
“I’ll pay you, of course.”
He stopped and looked at her. He liked money. He’d gotten a little from selling the produce he’d borrowed from Carly’s gardens, but in the past, he’d mostly taken it from his mom’s purse. Maybe earning it would be better.
“How much?” He nodded toward Jay. “I want as much as he makes.”
Jay made a sound of disgust but before he could say anything, Carly went on. “I can’t pay you as much as Jay makes because he has experience.”
“He’s got experience,” Jay pointed out. “At least in picking produce.”
“Jay,” she cautioned and then looked back at Dustin. “Five dollars an hour, and you’ll earn raises as you learn how to do the various jobs around here, but you really have to work, not stand around or disappear.”
Dustin thought about it. It sounded good to him, but he didn’t want to seem too eager, especially with his enemy standing there, watching and listening. At last he said, “Okay, then. What do I have to do?”
She gave him a brilliant smile, like she was actually glad to have his help. It made him feel weird inside. He had to remind himself that he’d taken stuff from her to help his grandma, not because he’d wanted to. Not because he was a real thief—not like some people said.
“We’re already getting a late start so I want us to get the stand open as fast as we can.” She waved a hand toward the four-wheeler. “I’ve picked the last of the melons and some pumpkins. We’ll take those down to the stand and you can open up, start helping customers. Do you know how to make change?”
He shrugged. “I dunno. I guess.”
“I’ll show you.”
“You’re gonna trust him with the cash box?” Jay squawked.
“I ain’t a thief!” Dustin yelled.
“Yeah, right.”
“I was gonna pay for what I took.”
“Uh-huh,” Jay said.
That skeptical attitude only made Dustin madder. “You remember that note I left when you were trying to catch me but you fell asleep and your snoring scared all the animals?”
“Hey!”
“Well, on the back, I was keeping track of everything I harvested so I could pay for it.”
“Harvested, huh? Well, it’s time for you to start paying, but I don’t know why Carly wants to hire you.”
“Jay,” Carly said, “this is my decision, and my business. Why don’t you go get the other four-wheeler and start picking more pumpkins?”
Dustin was happy to see she was getting mad, but not at him.
Jay gave a wave of his hand as he stomped off. “Whatever.”
He looked up at Carly. “I’ve gotta go in the house a minute, then you can show me what I hafta do.” He ran inside. This was going to be epic, he thought, but he had to be quick.
* * *
CARLY GAVE DUSTIN a dubious look. He was suddenly way too happy about helping her out, and she really hoped it wasn’t a terrible mistake to give him the cash box. Still, what was he going to do? Tuck it under his arm and run down the road? Besides, she needed to begin building trust with him sooner rather than later.
“Dustin, I’m believing in you to do your best and to be completely honest,” she said as they lined up the pumpkins on top of the counter.
“I will.” He gave a nod, even a smile.
This was the most cooperative he’d been since she’d met him.
She showed him how to make change, then he helped her affix the sign advertising the pumpkins on each side of the booth so drivers could see it whether they were heading north or south.
“I find it’s easier to sell these if I go by size rather than weight, so we set prices by small, medium and large. People around here don’t care how much it weighs, they mostly want a certain size jack-o’-lantern. And don’t try and lift the largest ones. Let the buyers do that.”
“I can do it,” he insisted. “I’m strong.”
Seeing she’d hurt his feelings, she quickly said, “I know you are, Dustin. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I won’t.” He looked away sullenly.
“Okay, okay.” She pulled a ledger from beneath the counter. “I like to keep a record of how many I sell each year, so that I know how much to plant next year. So, when you sell one, make a tally mark and we’ll add them up at the end of the day.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier to do this on a computer?”
“Probably, but we’re only making tally marks right now.”
“So, when do I get paid?”
“Every Friday.”
“I gotta wait almost a week?” He gave her a put-upon look. “You’re gonna take me to see Grandma today, right? I wanna buy her some flowers.”
Touched by his thoughtfulness, even if he only showed it to one person on earth, she said, “Oh, of course. That would be nice. I’ll pay you before we go.” Carly looked toward the four-wheeler and thought about all the work that needed to be done before she could go into town. “So, you’ll be okay here, right?”
“Yeah. I’ll be okay.” He turned away, rubbing his hands together and then cracking his knuckles as if he was getting ready for a big job.
Something about the way he said it made her nervous, but she closely observed his face for a few seconds and decided it would be all right. Besides, she needed his help, and Jay would be here pretty soon with more pumpkins.
Less than half an hour later, she glanced toward the road and saw that several cars had stopped. Dustin must be doing a good job of selling. Maybe she would give him a bonus before she took him to see Era. He might like to get a little gift for her.
A few minutes later she was coming out of the shed with the wheelbarrow when Luke pulled up in his truck. She gave him a quick glance then looked again when it seemed he was struggling to get his door open. At last, it flew outward and he tumbled out, barely catching himself from falling. He was laughing so hard, he could barely stand.
“Luke, what’s going on?”
“You…hoov…you’ve got to see…see this.” He bent at the waist to catch his breath and wiped tears of laughter from his eyes.
“See what? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, but things are going to get pretty hot in a minute. And, yeah, I know, I shouldn’t be laughing about this.”
“About what? Luke, what are you talking about?” She stared at him in frustration. In spite of his amusement, she had a bad feeling. “Luke, answer me.”
He pointed up the lane, where Jay was driving toward the road, hauling more pumpkins out to the stand in the small trailer attached to the four-wheeler. “Too late. I don’t think we can head him off.”
That didn’t sound good. She dropped the handles of the wheelbarrow. “What’s going on?”
“Get in the truck,” he instructed. “You need to get down to the produce stand.”
“Why? I can walk there.”
“Too slow,” he said, dashing around the front of the truck and opening the passenger door for her.
She scrambled inside and he burned gravel as he made a 180-degree turn to follow Jay.
Luke sat forward in the seat, leaning over the steering wheel. “We can’t get ahead of him, but at least we’ll arrive at the stand when he does.”
“Why would we need to?”
“Just wait. I’d tell you, but I want you to get the full impact.”
That really didn’t sound good.
Luke was trying desperately to keep his expression under control. Puzzled, she stared ahead to see that Dustin had made a few changes to the signs on the produce stand. He’d turned them around and written new ones in thick black marker.
Out loud, she read, “‘$8—Pumpkins as big as Jay Morton’s butt. $6—Pumpkins as big as Jay Morton’s head. $4—Pumpkins as small as Jay Morton’s…’ Oh, my goodness! Dustin!”