Page 10 of Buddy System

“It’s good you’re rested, and I hope you guys are up for it. I called my parents and let them know I was back in town, and my mother insisted we all head over there tonight for supper. She knows I need to buy groceries, and she said this way I could do that tomorrow and still feed you like a proper host.”

Levi smiles and shrugs, looking at me. He still seems a little groggy, so I tell Skyler, “How nice of her. We’d love to. Thanks, Skyler. And tomorrow, I can help you with the shopping.” I start to grab some of our stuff and say, “You were right about this area. It’s breathtaking. How does anyone ever leave?”

“Well, not everyone is cut out for small-town living. But lots of folks leave and eventually come back like boomerangs.” He smiles broadly, and frankly, it’s devastating to see. Those sparkling hazel eyes of his seem to see right into my soul. “Come on, I’ll show you guys to your room.”

Levi picks up his guitar and music. I’m glad he isn’t trying to carry anything heavy and stress his hip. Skyler also seems to be carrying big things with his left arm only. At least they aren’t trying to be overly macho despite their injuries.

Skyler leads us through a truly beautiful house with gleaming wood floors and comfortable, colorful furniture. Between the large windows, art and photographs line the walls, and some of the drawings and paintings have the name “Skyler” scrawled in the corner. A few of those are clearly from his childhood, and I have to believe it’s what his grandparents hung on the wall. Butthere is a progression of talent that shows he’s been working on his art throughout the years.

I stop in front of a magnificent landscape and gasp. “Skyler, you didn’t mention you were an artist. This is amazing.” It has a modern, almost impressionistic quality to it—only edgier with more detail. You can feel a storm brewing and wind picking up, even though the scene is idyllic.

He shrugs his left shoulder and answers in a way that sounds deceptively blasé, “Thanks. It’s just something I did. Before. I can’t control a paintbrush too well now.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I hope you get your strength back enough to keep painting. Do you ever sell any of your work?”

“Not for a while now.” He turns away abruptly and continues through the house. Levi and I look at each other, and Levi gives me a look that says he clearly understands how Skyler is downplaying his sense of loss. It’s no wonder these two creative guys were so drawn to one another and became such great friends. I hope they can both reclaim that creativity once more. I also thank God they both still have all of their limbs.

Skyler leads us into a ground-floor master bedroom that is airy and bright. There’s a big king-sized bed and an en suite bathroom. It’s positively gorgeous.

“You’re not giving up your room for us, are you?” Levi asks. “I can try to make it up the stairs…”

Skyler chuckles and answers, “Nope. There are a bunch of bedrooms upstairs, but my grandparents wanted a big suite on the ground floor, so they built it this way many years ago. My room is similar, and it’s right next door to this one. We share the master bathroom, so I hope you’re both okay with that. The toilet is private, but you may catch me brushing my teeth if you barge in.” He smiles. “Pawpaw would never admit it, but they ended up in separate beds a lot of the time due to his snoring. No one wanted to sacrifice their comfort.” He smiles again. “At first,it made me wonder how on earth they’re getting along now on their big adventure.”

Levi furrows his brow quizzically, and I have to ask, “What big adventure?” I thought they’d passed away, and that was why Skyler ended up with this great house, but that seems like a funny way to describe the hereafter.

“They wanted to see the country while they still have their health, so they sold a huge chunk of land to a company that built a corporate retreat camp and protected the environment with their project. This gave my grandparents more money than they knew what to do with. They put this house in my name, handed me the keys, and bought themselves an amazing tricked-out motor home. And before you worry about my eighty-two-year-old Pawpaw out on the open road, they also hired themselves a full-time driver whose wife does their cooking and is sort of a housekeeper for their home on wheels. From what I hear, they’re having the time of their lives. I asked Granny how she manages Pawpaw’s snoring in close quarters, and she said age has its benefits. He probably still sounds like a motorboat, but she just removes her hearing aids and sleeps like a baby.”

I exclaim, “How wonderful for them. You must have a terrific family, Skyler.”

He laughs and says, “You’ll be able to determine that for yourselves tonight, I guess.”

“Maybe I’m off-base, and I hope I’m not being rude when I say this, but this isn’t the picture I had of Appalachian living,” Levi adds.

Skyler chuckles. “We get that a lot. Honeybee Hollow is unique to say the least. I hope you can grow to love it here.” He winks at Levi, and my tummy does a little dippy thing for some reason. I hope the guys don’t see that I’m blushing.

After a tour around the house and grounds—about five acres of magnificent creekfront land—we all have showers and dressto meet Skyler’s parents. He ushers us into a snazzy new and obviously very expensive car he unplugged from an outlet next to his truck. I’m getting a completely new picture of Levi’s country-boy buddy. The gardening business must be booming.

“Why didn’t you drive this on the trip to our place?” I can’t help asking.

“I didn’t want to draw attention to myself around the base,” he answers simply. “No one pays any mind to a work truck.”

I’ve never been in an electric car before, and the silence is odd. It’s even odder though when Skyler punches something into the dashboard screen, sits back, and lets the car drive us most of the way to his parents’ house without his intervention. We get there just fine even though it freaks me out a little.

The house is reminiscent of Skyler’s with its porch and general appearance, but it’s smaller and there’s a basketball hoop by the garage and a large treehouse that looks more like a raised, covered deck about five feet above the ground in an enormous tree with a sturdy staircase going up to it. The tree is festooned with cheerful strings of lights, and the whole thing makes me smile.

As soon as we get out of the car, we’re surrounded by three shiny black Labradors with big doggie grins and tails waging so hard, their bodies sway with them. “Sit!” Skyler commands them, and they all obey immediately. “Good girls! The one with the gray on her muzzle is Martha, the taller one is Eleanor, and this little sweetie is Mamie,” he says by way of introduction. “They’re good dogs, but watch your food.” He laughs as he bends to pet them and scritch their ears. Their tongues loll out of their mouths in pleasure. It’s a happy sight.

A lovely blonde woman comes out of the house to greet us, and I can see immediately she is Skyler’s mom. They have the same expressive eyes and smile. She hugs her son and turns to us. “Welcome, Levi and Brooke! We’re so glad you both decidedto come for a visit and hope you plan to stay a while. I’m Tracy Colfax, and my husband Mike is around back fiddling with his grill. I hope no one is a vegetarian.” She leads us into the house and into a huge country kitchen where she has Skyler pour drinks while she sets out a tray of appetizers.

A smiling, barrel-chested man comes through the backdoor wearing an apron that proclaims, “My meat is delicious!” I try not to snort my drink out of my nose. He grabs Skyler in a hug and then shakes Levi’s hand. He has a booming voice when he says, “Levi, we are so happy to know you and your beautiful wife.” He smiles at me and looks back to Levi saying, “I think the Lord put you on earth for a special reason, and that was to save the life of our son. We seriously can’t thank you enough for your service and your bravery.”

I can see tears welling in everyone’s eyes, and I have to steady myself so I don’t lose it. Skyler and Levi came so close to not coming home, and when I think about it, I can barely breathe. I can imagine Skyler’s parents feel much the same way.

Instead of dwelling on this topic, Mike Colfax just asks, “How does everyone like their steak? I tend to go with medium rare, but if you want anything different, speak up.”

I’m thrilled to find out we’ll be having dinner in the treehouse. What fun! There is a dumbwaiter contraption with a manual pully system that they use to take the dishes and food up and down. The treehouse is screened in to keep the bugs out, so we have a wonderful, mosquito-free evening and a delicious meal with Skyler and his parents. They are so warm and inviting, it’s easy to see how they raised such a caring, thoughtful son. We’re all pretty tired from the long drive, though, so we don’t stay terribly late.

The last thing his parents tell Skyler is to take a couple of weeks off from the garden center. “You need the time to spend with your friends and relax,” his mom tells him. “And the heightof the planting season is past, so we can easily spare you now. Take as much time as you all need—the rest of the summer if you want to.”

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