Page 21 of A Shared Mind

“Here. Put your number in. I’ll find him and let you know he’s okay.” She handed me her phone.

Later than night, I got a text from Eve, telling me Justin had gone to St. Louis to see his parents. But I knew for a fact that his parents were buried at Willow Creek Cemetery in Kansas City, not too far from where my Hunter had been laid to rest.

What the hell was going on?

The rain came exactly as predicted on Monday morning. A slow, steady shower that lasted all day was what we needed in Sterling City, which put my plans in motion for staying in Kansas City on Tuesday night. I went into the house after I finished checking the combine so it was ready to go on Thursday morning after the dew burned off.

“Mama?”

“I’m out here, Clay. Take off those muddy boots. I just mopped the kitchen.”

I did what Mama said—just like always—and hung my damp John Deere cap on the back porch coat tree where I left my boots. I stopped in the kitchen and grabbed a cup of coffee before I went out on the front porch where Mama was sitting, watching the gentle shower.

“I packed the boxes you brought me. Can you get the other boxes back from Vera so I can load those next?”

I glanced across the road to see something in the woods, but I couldn’t figure out what it was, so I turned to Mama. “Sure. Do you care if I stay in Kansas City tomorrow night? I’m having dinner with a friend and I plan to have a few drinks.”

Not surprisingly, Mama turned in her rocking chair and smiled. “Do I know this friend?”

As a thirty-three-year-old man, it was funny my mother still thought she should know everyone I knew. “No, Mama, you don’t know him. He works for Steve. We’re getting to know each other.”

“Well, now, that’s nice. Do you think I’ll get to meet him?”

I could tell she was hesitant to ask many questions about it for fear of triggering my grief reflex that had developed after losing Hunter, but I had the feeling if I talked about Hunter more, she’d see I was doing better. Hell, just having a date with Justin spoke volumes to my healing.

“Maybe. If things go well with our date, I might invite him to come out for a weekend. We’re still getting to know each other, but I’d like him to see the place. He’s helping with the financial plan for the farm, and I’m hoping if he sees the place he’ll get a better feel for what I’m trying to do here so he can make some smart investments for us.”

I took a sip of coffee and studied the woods across the road. It looked as though there was a bear hiding there in the trees, and while I’d heard some folks say they’d seen black bears in the area, I didn’t think there were too many of them. I seriously doubted they were in the woods across the road.

“So, this young fella works for Steve? Is it wise to date your financial planner?” Mama gave me a crooked smile. She knew I’d already stewed over the prudence of mixing business and pleasure.

“It’s just a business dinner, really.”

“Right now. Is there the possibility of it becoming more?” The woman was shrewd—or maybe I wasn’t good at hiding how excited I was at the possibility of something more.

I sighed. “I don’t know yet. He’s a little nervous and I’m not sure why. We need to talk more.”

Mama stood up and stepped over to the rocker where I was sitting that used to be Pop’s. “Take your time, Clay. You’re a good man, and you deserve a good man to love you.” She took my empty coffee cup and went inside, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

The rain had mostly stopped, so I took off through the yard in my socks. Mama would have a fit, but I needed to go home and pack a bag. I was sure I could get a hotel without a reservation if things didn’t go the way I hoped with Justin.

I’d need to stop on my way to Kansas City and pick up some supplies because I didn’t have anything at the house—well, some lube because sometimes a man had to do what he had to do, but I didn’t have condoms, and I didn’t know if I’d even need them. Better to be safe than sorry.

I stopped on my back porch and stared into the woods. I had a better view from my house than Mama’s. There was something in the woods. I went into the house to grab my boots and my pellet gun. I wouldn’t intentionally hurt an animal, but a pellet would hopefully scare it away. It wouldn’t break the skin. If it was a cow as I suspected, I’d call the sheriff to find out who it belonged to so it didn’t get hit on the road or get into my already mowed hay field and make a mess. There was no fence on that side of the road.

I grabbed another ballcap since I’d left my other one at Mama’s and pulled on muck boots as I headed out the back door and around the side of the house. I walked quietly through the woods before I crossed a little further down the road where I couldn’t be spotted by the cow and slowly walked through the brush. I had my pellet gun behind my back in my belt, so I stopped to retrieve it in case it was a bear.

“Easy, Damnation.” That was a man’s voice, which was unexpected.

I heard a growl behind me and turned to see the biggest goddamn dog I’d ever seen. It wasn’t advancing, but the animal was certainly keeping an eye on me.

“Uh, whoa,” I croaked out. The thing was damn near up to my shoulders.

“Get over here,” the man demanded, but I didn’t know if he meant me or the dog. He had another one next to him that was just as big, though it was pacing as if it were waiting for him to sic it on me.

The big dog behind me walked around me, growling as it went by. The guy snapped his fingers, and the dog heeled beside him, both of them sitting on their hind feet and staring at him and then me.

“Uh, sorry, but this is private property. Are you camping out here?” It wasn’t my land, but I leased it from Old Man Wagner to give him supplemental income. I cut down some dead trees on the land to keep it from becoming overgrown and maybe catching fire during a lightning storm. Besides, Mama and I both had wood stoves in our living rooms, so it was nice to have a place to get wood for us to burn.