Page 38 of Until Landon
All the way from the airport, we have been talking. It’s good to see Stacy sitting next to me in the truck. My sister is the only one who considers me to be an open person. Communication has always been easy with her. Like we never changed from our kid selves, talking under the blanket fort in the living room. That’s where our imaginations played out and all the childish secrets were spilled. Until we got too old to remember the magic. After the teen years we found it again and it has never left us.
“Dad says you’re into Kim. Is he hallucinating on the pain meds?”
For a moment I consider lying.
“No. But he has big mouth syndrome.”
“Thank God. I’d never hear any of the good stuff if it wasn’t for him. Tell me about the girl.”
I take the exit and Stacy hands me an unwrapped Hershey’s kiss.
“Well, she’s nice,” I say, popping the chocolate.
“Nice? Are you describing your old aunt Fanny? What kind of review is that?”
“A good one. And I’m not finished. She is smart and compassionate.” I pause for effect. “And sexy as fuck. There’s that.”
“Ding. Ding. Ding. She checks all the boxes.”
“I don’t know yet. We only had one date.”
“What are you waiting for? An invitation from the mayor? You better be careful or another guy will appreciate her. Just sayin’.”
One last turn takes us on the frontage road.
“Why are you so interested?”
I feel eyes on me.
“Because you’re my brother. And you’re thirty fucking five. Isn’t that good enough?”
“We’re going to a wedding Saturday so things may get more interesting. I’ll send out a newsletter next week.”
“Ha! I would love having a sister-in-law while I’m still young. Maybe become an aunt.”
I don’t even respond to her ridiculous statement. The honeymoon? That’s a different subject.
Instead of taking the road to the house, I turn left toward the tool sheds, dog kennels, and runs.
“I want to show you something.”
“I haven’t been here in a long time. How many rescue dogs is he taking care of?”
“None right now. And I am happy it worked out that way. If I had to handle more than Biscuit and Barney, it would be too much. We’d have to find other fosters.”
“But he loves it so much.”
“July says he hasn’t taken any in for six months.”
“That doesn’t make sense. I wonder why and why he didn’t tell us.”
I pull the car up to the chain link fence and park. The state of disrepair is painfully obvious without me pointing it out.
“What’s happened? Oh, Landon.”
“I know. It shocked me too. He hasn’t kept things up. The whole property is like this. Worn.”
“Not to Mom’s standards.”
