Page 75 of Saving the Halfback

He ran across the yard, the grass so saturated with water it splashed up with every step. Ethan stopped in front of an old beat-up dryer and pulled a black duffel bag from it. We walked to the truck in silence, the rain pelting down heavier than before. As soon as we were in the truck, he spoke. “Just drop me off at Grand and Henry.”

Grand and Henry? “The church?”

He nodded. “The pastor keeps some cots in the back room.”

I put the truck into drive, my hands tightening on the wheel as I mulled over what he was saying. He had a duffel bag…hidden outside…for emergencies. It was obvious he had used the cots at the church before. He knew the officer—I wasn’t sure how—but it was plain to see they had some sort of relationship. He was used to this, and though there was some bad blood between me and Ethan, mixed emotions, he was Ethan. My friend was still in there, deep down. I was a crappy person for not seeing this earlier. For avoiding him in the halls for years, when this had been going on at home. “I told the officer you were coming home with me.”

“Ken knows better—he’s my cousin. He knows where I’ll be tonight.”

I let that sit for a moment, not sure what to say until I finally blurted out, “No.”

I slowed for the red light, and Ethan’s head whipped around to me. The blood from his nose had been washed away from the rain, but some remained on his cheek. His lip looked sore. “I don’t need your pity,” he growled, his eyes hard, tough. The brick wall he’d spent his whole life building held strong. But I knewthat brick wall. I had broken it down once, and I would do it again. “I can handle this on my own.”

A phrase my mom uttered often jumped into my head and left my mouth. “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” I sighed. “Ethan, I don’t pity you. You can keep pushing me away, keep putting distance between us, but you know that I’ll be back. That I’ll keep coming back and that I will absolutely refuse to leave you.”Again. I kept that word to myself. What I had seen tonight had my vision turning red, my heart shattering. I refused to allow this to happenagain. “Or I can just come with you. How comfortable are the cots?”

Ethan slumped back into the seat, silent. I interpreted his defeat how I wanted, and once the light turned green, we were on our way to the farm.

As I pulled down the long drive, Ethan sat up, holding the strap of his bag tight in his hands. The porch light was on, and through the rain, I could see Dad sitting in his chair with a tea in hand. He looked exhausted, and I instantly felt guilty for not helping out more. Truth was, he refused to tell me what needed to be done around the farm; he wanted me to focus on school and football.

“Hey, Dad.” I stepped up on the porch and out of the rain. “Ethan needs a place to stay tonight.” He was beside me, barely out of the rain.

Mom came through the screen door, drying her hands on a dish towel, like she had quickly washed them and ran out here when she saw us. Her eyes ran over Ethan’s face, taking in the damage. I could see the gears in her mind working, thinking of what she could do to help him. “Of course,” she said quickly. “We have the guest room.”

“Ethan.” Dad stood up and shook Ethan’s hand. He didn’t allow his gaze to linger on Ethan’s wounds, though. I could tell he had questions, but he held back. “Been a while, son.”

Ethan winced, but only slightly.

“I just have a few chores to do, and then I’ll be back,” I told Ethan.

“I can work.” Ethan dropped his bag. “Thank you, sir.”

“Bailey,” Dad called out as I stepped back into the rain. “Give Buckley some of that oil. His leg has been acting up again with this rain.”

“Will do!”

Ethan was silent as we entered the barn, but he stayed close to me.

I started my chores by grabbing the hose and sticking it into the bucket of the first stall. While that filled, I went down the line, feeding all the horses in the stalls. Titan had a blanket on, and I didn’t know why, so I went in and promptly took that off. I didn’t have to say anything to Ethan. Once the bucket was full of water, he took the hose out and put it in the bucket of the next stall. I went into the stall filled with hay bales and began carrying a few flakes to each horse, dropping it into their feeders.

When I went to get another bunch, Ethan stepped in front of me. “I’ll get it.” His voice was low, his chest brushing against me as he squeezed past to get into the stall. I stood and watched him for a minute, not exactly sure what to say or do.

In school, Ethan was intimidating—he used his body to his advantage and kept everyone away—but here, right now, I didn’t find him intimidating. I found him calming. I hated doing chores alone in the barn, always looking over my shoulder, anticipating someone sneaking up on me. With Ethan around, I found myself more relaxed.

I went to work giving the horses their grain and supplements, and by the time I was finished, everyone was watered and had fresh hay. Then I went to work scooping out their stalls. Ethan stood in the doorway, watching me. Once I finished one stall, hetook the fork and wheelbarrow from me and went to work on the other stalls.

I pulled my phone out, surprised at how quickly everything was getting done. All the horses were already in because of the rain, so I didn’t have to go out into the field and get anyone. I wandered around the barn for a moment before finally finding another fork and walked back to help clean out the stalls.

That’s when I saw Ethan in with Titan. He kept his eyes on the horse as he cleaned, not turning his back to him, which was smart, since they didn’t know him. But he wasn’t scared of Titan; he was relaxed. “Hey, buddy,” he said in his raspy voice. Titan continued munching on his grain, resting his body with one foot up, an obvious sign he was at ease. Ethan moved to leave, but Titan stopped chewing and followed him to the stall door. Then Ethan did something that shocked me. He reached up and stroked Titan’s neck. The horse enjoyed it so much, he tilted his head and leaned into Ethan. “There. I’m not so bad, am I?”

I smiled and walked over to the next stall, getting to work. I was practically humming with contentment when Ethan stood at the doorway, waiting for me to be finished.

“Where’s Marley?” he asked.

I froze, a fragile piece of my heart shattering at those two words.

“You okay?” Ethan walked over to me, looking as if he was about to reach out, but stopped and dropped his hand.

I cleared my throat and picked up the wheelbarrow. “Yeah, she…” Damn. I could see her—the large mixed dog the guys and I had found abandoned years ago—plain as day in my mind now, an image I fought to forget. She had long tan fur with black markings, and she was everything to me. I owed her everything. “She got hit by a car.” I cleared my throat.

---