Page 59 of Nick

He didn’t say anything for more than three seconds, so Lincoln hit him on the arm.

“Yeah, I’m Dustin.”

“Hey, Dustin, I’m Madison. Are you ready to start?”

“Sure. I’ll grab my books.” When he looked at me and gave me a thumbs-up, it made me a little nervous. I watched as he walked to where Madison stood.

“Let’s get something straight first. I’m going to be helping you raise your grades. This is work only. If you think we’ll be fooling around, then this won’t work. Do you agree to let me teach you so you can pass your grades?”

I heard Dustin chuckle. “Yes, I agree.”

“Great, we’ll do this in the kitchen. Are you hungry? I’ll make us a sandwich. I’m starving.”

“Yeah, thanks. I would love one. I’ll help you. It’s nice meeting you, Madison.”

“Yeah, you too. Why do you like playing football? You should join the debate team. You would like debating.”

“Uh… Nope. I’ll stick with football.”

They walked into the house, where I could hear Gabby singing. I think she was writing a new song because she kept changing the words around.

“Damn, I want to live in your house,” Lincoln said, looking over at Gabby’s home.

I laughed. “Too bad I’m staying here.”

“I haven’t seen Dustin smile once since Mom died. He meets Madison, and he chuckles.”

“I told you there was something about Madison. She’s so open, like her mom.”

“Yeah, I wanna live here.”

I laughed as he walked to his truck. “Tell Dustin he can walk home.”

“Where’s his car?”

“It’s broken down again. If he wants that old car, he has to keep it running himself.”

I was in the backyard when I saw Gabby in the garden. Then I heard her call my name. “Ryker, it’s time for me to pull the vegetable garden up. Do you want to grab a basket and pick some of these veggies?”

“Sure.” I picked up the bucket on the deck and walked over to her. George followed me. Mona was lying near the garden, and George lay next to her. “I see your dog is as good of a guard dog as mine.” She chuckled. “Are you going to keep planting the garden every year?”

“Yeah, I love working here. I want you to help yourself to anything in the garden—even the fruit trees. Sometimes I have to go out of town, so no one will be here to pick the vegetables. Now, let me be straight: do I need to stay inside with Madison and Dustin?”

I smiled. “No, Dustin is a good kid. He’s been thrown off kilter since his mom died. Poor kid can’t get over her passing.”

“What? That’s so sad.”

I watched as she wiped her eyes.Is she crying?I allowed her a moment. “It’s been six months, but it was such a shock. She had a heart attack at work. Lincoln, Dustin’s brother, said Dustin is still having difficulties with it.”

“Well, Madison will be good for him. If you haven’t noticed, Madison is a no-nonsense teenager. She’ll help him. So he now lives with his brother?”

“No. Lincoln moved back into his childhood home so that Dustin could stay in the same school district. He’s renting his house out right now.”

We talked some more but mostly with her wanting to know about Dustin. Eventually, it seemed that she was entirely okay with him being at her house.

I picked enough squash and tomatoes to last a few days. “Thanks for the veggies. I’ll see you around.”

“Yep, I’ll see you around.”

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