Page 6 of Return To You

Seeing the need to redirect the general conversation, Dad turns to Haley to discuss some wine making production of some sort that she wants to start on the farm. Turns out, she has a whole business plan, with projections and market research. She also works on the farm and at my brother Justin’s pub in town. I’m impressed by her drive.

Once dinner is over, I stand to clear dishes alongside my siblings. “Thanks for dinner, Ma.”

Mom and Dad follow us into the kitchen. With seven of us, we’re done cleaning in no time. “That was fast. You finally got everyone trained,” I joke, my memory pulling up endless arguments over who was supposed to do what, ended by Dad’s threats that whoever didn’t help wouldn’t get fed the next meal. My joke falls flat, my siblings clearly having no idea what I’m talking about. Or choosing to ignore it entirely.

“I forgot how the days were so long here in the summer,” I say to change the conversation but really end up pointing out how much I’ve forgotten about my hometown. And I’m sorry if it hurts their feelings, I didn’t mean it that way, but I still stand by my choice of living my life on different terms.

Dad stores the broom away. “Makes up for the short season. More hours in the day to fit in the work.”

“Let’s go to the Growler,” Logan declares, maybe to change the conversation, but more probably because he does have an itch to go out. He and Hunter are men now. They were the babies in the family, but now they’re almost as tall as me and just as strong, if not stronger, judging by the work they did on the fairgrounds today. At dinner, they asked me a dozen questions about my job, life on base, and my next steps, before giving Mom and Dad a full recap of everything that should be done differently for the fair and could Mom just talk to the Events Committee about having axe throwing next year?

“I’m out,” Haley says. “You guys have fun.”

“Aww come on, Haley,” Hunter insists. “Let’s go and find you a decent boyfriend.”

“With you as my sidekicks? No thank you.”

I follow up with Dad’s last comment before chiming in. “Need me to do something?”

“Nah. Workday’s over. You go have a beer with your brothers. It’s not like they see you that often.” He doesn’t mean it like it’s a bad thing. He just says it as it is. And he’s right.

“Where’s that place you wanted to go?” I ask Logan.

“The Growler. It’s up in the hills. We can take Justin’s truck.”

“Why don’t we go to Lazy’s?” I’m anxious to see my brother’s pub, but I’d understand if that’s the last place he wants to go tonight. He took the night off, after all. Still, I add, “I wanna check it out.”

“Sure,” Justin says, holding in a smile, while Hunter and Logan shrug their okays.

“You okay, man?” I ask as we climb into his truck. Justin is the closest to me in age—four years younger. He’s also been mostly quiet all evening, except for a couple of questions for me.

He looks at me with a quick smile and shrugs. “Course. Why?”

I wonder if Dad’s insinuations about working on the farm got to him too. After all, he also bailed out of the family business to open the only pub in town, the Lazy Salamander. But I don’t want to get into that conversation with him. It seems useless. “Nothin’,” I answer, and he leaves it at that.

We park on The Green and push the large doors open when we get to the pub. The clatter of dozens of patrons eating and chatting mixed with background music pulls us in. Moose follows us and trots right to the office beyond the bar while Justin guides us to a booth.

Lazy’s is busy for a Wednesday night in small town America, but nothing that Justin’s staff can’t handle. His place is large, with high ceilings and dark wood paneling, yet it feels comfortable and homey. It could be the black-and-white photos of locals on the walls, or maybe the dim lighting from the small lamps next to each table. More probably, because of the easy banter that greets us when we walk in.

As soon as we’re seated, a round of beers appears on our table, and our server leaves immediately. We sprawl on the comfortable seats, just happy to be together.

“Wow, that’s a rare sight.” I look up to the soft-spoken man about my age standing at the top of our table.

Shit! “Noah, man!” I stand and we back slap each other. He tilts his chin at my brothers. Memories of AP Math and cramming together in high school mingle with earlier ones of sharing candy in the back of his family’s general store.

“Saw you roll into town earlier, and I couldn’t believe it. Figured I’d come here to find out.” He pushes his glasses up his nose, and warmth spreads through me at the familiar gesture. Noah was the self-assured nerd among us, but being in Emerald Creek, he was outdoorsy, too, and from the looks of him, he still is. “I’ll let you catch up with your brothers, but before you leave, you better come in to the store and tell me all about your life, yeah?”

I nod. “I will.”

“Cryptanalysis,” he adds with a huge smile. “Damn you.”

I laugh. “I’ll catch up with you, promise.”

The rest of the evening goes by quickly, with people stopping by to greet me and comment about the four King brothers being together.

We get back to the farm around midnight. Hunter and Logan crash right away. Justin lingers, not leaving yet. I take two bottles of beer out of the fridge, making a mental note to go to the store tomorrow and stock up. I’ll have to borrow a car.

Didn’t think about that when I bought the bike.

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