Page 1 of The Run Home
CHAPTER ONE
Boon
Past (8 yearsold)
“I hate ’em,”I grumbled under my breath, kicking a pine cone as I walked along our property line.
My brothers had kicked me out of their basketball game when I threw an airball on my first try. They’d laughed their butts off, calling me names that would have made Mom order them to their room if she’d heard. It wasn’t my fault I was smaller. I was younger than them, I was supposed to be smaller! Warrick was four years older than me, Colson two.
It sure wasn’t easy being the youngest of three boys.
A muffled giggle hit my ears and I lifted my head, stopping in my tracks. I didn’t dare walk beyond our property, not when the sun was dipping low in the sky. It would be dark soon, and even though I’d never admit it to my stupid big brothers, I hated the dark.
I crept forward, making sure to step over any sticks that could rat me out. Hiding behind the huge live oak that borderedour property and the Fletchers’, I slowly peeked around the giant tree trunk.
Shae, the girl who lived next door, sat at an aging picnic table in a bright pink dress with ruffles and frilly stuff on it. She looked ridiculous, but also kind of magical, like maybe she might be a Disney princess. Three teddy bears sat on the bench with her, each with a plastic place setting in front of them like they were having tea with the queen of England.
Shae stood up and poured water from a miniature teakettle, murmuring under her breath as she filled each of their cups. Her dark red hair looked almost like red-hot lava with the last rays of the sun behind her. I leaned a little closer, wanting to hear what she was saying. Without a sister, I was curious how girls played. Us boys had never had a tea party. Ever.
She put the teakettle down and sat, immediately throwing her arm around the bear closest to her. Her voice was as soft and sweet as the honey sitting in the middle of the picnic table in a squeeze bottle. “Don’t be scared, Henry. I’ve got you. I’ll be by your side the whole time.”
My shoulders fell away from my ears. In that moment it felt like everything in me yearned to be that teddy bear, Shae’s arm around me telling me everything would be alright. And then it hit me I was longing to be a little girl’s imaginary friend.
I reared my head back, face screwed up like Warrick when I borrowed one of his shirts. Shae was so annoying. She was a year younger than me and always following me around. I didn’t have time to wait for her short legs to catch up. I was already trying to catch up to my big brothers. And now she was talking to teddy bears and making me wish she’d say those words to me? Ridiculous.
My back foot crunched down on a dry stick, the snap echoing off the tree trunks. Shae’s head whipped around and her mouth dropped open into a little round “o” that annoyed me. Angerbubbled up in my chest and my legs were pumping before I knew what I was doing. I reached her picnic table and swiped at the teddy bear she’d had her arm around. He tumbled to the dry leaves below, his teacup spilling across the picnic table and soaking the tablecloth.
“Boon, no!” Shae cried, pretty gray-blue eyes instantly welling with tears.
There. Now she knew what it was like to be picked on. It wasn’t all roses and teddy bears and tea parties. Someone had to toughen her up or she’d get eaten alive at school.
I stuck my tongue out at her and ran away as fast as I could, my lungs heaving at the effort along with a strange sense that I’d kicked a sweet little puppy dog. I wasn’t proud of myself.
In fact, I decided right then and there to avoid Shae Fletcher at all costs.
Past (13 years old)
“Go out thereand help her, son.” Dad clapped his big hand on my shoulder, jarring my teeth and scaring the crap out of me. I hadn’t heard him come up behind me.
“Who?” I asked, feigning confusion.
Dad’s mouth tipped up into a ghost of a smile. “The girl you’ve been staring at for the last ten minutes.”
I grimaced. “I’ve been looking at the stupid cow.”
Mom had come home with a milking cow last week, shocking us all. She swore Pearl would be the perfect addition to our family, but I wasn’t so sure. Seemed like a lot of work to feed her and house her, most of which Mom made me and my brothers do.
Dad’s smile only grew. “If you say so. But Shae needs a partner to bump around with. You should go help her.”
I crossed my arms across my chest, willing to argue with Dad if it meant getting out of spending time with Shae Fletcher. “Why? She’s a girl.”
“Exactly why you should go help her.”
I threw out my hands. “But she didn’t ask for help!”
“Son, we don’t wait for a woman to ask for help. We go in there and offer it. See a need, step in to help. That’s the kind of men we’re raising around here.”
I was desperate to get out of it. “Why don’t you have Warrick help her?”
