Page 8 of Truck Off

I love my family and my brothers, but I’m thirty years old. We’re all way too old to still live at home. I get why we do. We all like being close to the business, and I think there’s a huge part of each of us that relies on the safety our closeness provides. We are each other’s ride or die for life. Nothing gets between the Mutter brothers.

But at some point, we all have to do what our brothers Warren and Garret did. Maybe not Warren. He moved to another state and makes it home so infrequently it feels like we never see him anymore.

But Garret put his inheritance to use. He may have moved to his tiny house for all the wrong reasons, but he was still brave enough to take the plunge.

It’s not like he went far either. He built his house on his portion of the land. We all get several acres to do with what we please. But Garret is the only one out of the seven of us to do it. Mac is talking about building now that he has Sophia, but he hasn’t actually done it yet.

I use the farm as an excuse. I need to be close, but I don’t need to live in the big house.

I also worry about Christian. I can’t leave him. Not until I’m confident he’s truly beaten his addiction and has found peace in his life. He’s not there yet.

As the oldest Mutter brother, Liam gets the big house. Grams signed that over to him years ago. Even though Liam manages the garage and I manage the farm, we all co-own both businesses. The land encompassing the businesses was placed in a trust that is divided between the seven of us. No one can make a decision that affects it without the consent of all seven.

I stare at the stables—my new home—and smile.

As stables go, it’s really nice. More than half the ground floor contains several stalls that house the large animals—horses and goats. That’s also where my office is located, plus several storage rooms for feed and tack and a small bathroom.

We have a barn that houses all the farm equipment. It’s not as nice and looks like a typical old barn you see scattered across these hills.

The fact that we already have plumbing running to the stables made it a logical choice to convert the unused upstairs to an apartment.

It’s sturdy and large enough—close to two thousand square feet—that I could have put up walls and divided it up into several rooms. But I opted to keep it mostly open for now. That’s something I can always do down the road if I change my mind.

I’ve been excited about my new home for a while, and today, I get to move in. That thought alone makes my smile feel more real.

I started working on these plans months ago without telling anyone. I didn’t want to get my family involved until I knew for sure that I could make it work. Once I pulled the trigger, the conversion moved along quickly.

I hear my rowdy brothers before I open the door to the stairs. They may be pains in my ass most of the time, but they’re also the first to help when I need it. Today is a perfect example.

I had a few minor things that needed to be finished before I moved in, and every one of them showed up to help. Except Warren since he’s in North Carolina. The jobs were small enough that I could have done them all myself, but they insisted.

Even Mac’s girlfriend, Sophia, and Clara, a lifelong family friend and Sophia’s roommate, came to help. Mac is my youngest brother. He and Sophia started dating toward the end of last year. It really threw Mac for a loop. One look at Sophia and he was a mess until he finally sorted out his feelings and accepted love into his life.

Dating and women have been a struggle for all of us Mutter men. So far, Mac and Garret are the only ones who have found love. Well, and maybe Christian, but he’s not ready to admit that to anyone. Not even to me. I’m not even sure if he realizes I know he’s been seeing someone.

Call it a twin thing or just my ability to read my brother better than anyone, but I know he’s got a girl. He seems to want to keep it a secret though, so I haven’t pushed him on it. One day I will, but not yet.

Pushing any of us about women is a dangerous venture. None of us have a great outlook on women. Not with all the drama surrounding our mothers. Yep. Mothers. As in plural.

Dad fathered seven sons with four different women. All of them except his first—and only wife—are shitty human beings. Liam, Warren, and Garret share a mom. Unfortunately, Susanne died from cancer within minutes of Garret’s birth. Until recently, he blamed her death on himself. Mostly because Dad never recovered from losing her. Garret took Dad’s apathy toward him as blame. What Garret failed to notice is that Dad is apathetic toward all of us.

Next came my mom, Christina. She’s a real piece of work. She abused Liam, Warren, and Garret for the short time she was here. It sucks to say this, but thankfully, she didn’t stick around after Christian and I were born. She had a drug problem back then, and still does. Unfortunately, she lives in town, so we see her regularly. She’s also the reason Christian got hooked on drugs.

Needless to say, I’m not a fan of Mom, but I tolerate her for my brother’s sake. For some reason, he still wants to see her.

After Grams kicked Christina out—because Dad couldn’t seem to do it—he started dating Monika, Ash’s mom. True to form, she left right after Ash was born. She showed up several years later and dropped off a daughter she had from another relationship.

Alvera wasn’t that old then, but she stayed with us for several years. We all took her in like she was our sister. Then one day, Monika came back and took her away. She hasn’t been back here in years, but Ash keeps in touch with her.

Last, there’s Heidi, Mac’s mom. She stuck around the longest. Then one day, she just left. It really messed with Mac’s head, and it nearly cost him Sophia. But she stuck by his side and helped him work through it. He seems to be in a much better place with Sophia in his life.

With the pizza and beer in hand, I make my way up the stairs. When I reach the landing, my smile is wide and bright. The trim is done. I’d opted to keep rough, unfinished walls. I like the barn look. I still had to put up another layer to insulate the space. Otherwise, the elements would make the place impossible to heat and cool.

The dark hardwood floors I put in are clean and shiny. My bed is up and … Fuck, someone made my bed. With a light blue-gray comfortable and … Are those decorative pillows?

I glance up to see Sophia and Clara grinning at me.

“Surprise!” they call out in unison.

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