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“Actually, yeah, I had something I thought you might be able to help me with.”

“What’s that?”

“You know Mr. Pratchett? The old man who owns all that lakefront property by the park?”

“Yeah, of course,” Owen said. “I helped him rebuild his shed last year.”

“We’ve all done something as a favor for him,” I said. “He was one of Dad’s best friends. Luke makes sure to take care of him, and he’s done some stuff for us too that he’d never, ever brag about.”

“He has?”

I nodded.

“You’re too young to remember, but Mr. Pratchett helped save our hides a few times in the days right after Mom passed. Same with Dad. I don’t think Luke would have made it without him and Mr. Caudle.”

“Oh, wow.”

“Anyway, I was going to head on up to see him. I wanted to get in his ear about something, and I thought he might appreciate a couple of us going and taking care of any yardwork or upkeep he needs done. If there’s more than just one of us, it won’t take all that long.”

“Sure,” Owen said. “Let me get my boots on.”

I headed up the stairs and out of the gym we’d created out of the old playroom we’d had as kids and got in my shower to rinse off. By the time I got out, Owen was waiting in the living room with Collin, both looking ready to get to work.

We piled into Collin’s truck, which was the nicest of all of them being that it was brand new and he went in for all the bells and whistles. It was the one thing Collin seemed to not have any issue spending money on. He always said he could be frugal everywhere else, but there was no sense in being frugal when it came to your car, not when you needed it as much as we often did.

Mr. Pratchett’s place was about twenty minutes out, and while we traveled, we listened to some radio country, much to my chagrin. When we arrived at the house, I was more than happy to hop out first and try to physically shake the generic earworm out of my skull.

“Howdy, boys,” Mr. Pratchett said as he came out onto the porch before we all made it out of the truck. “What can I do you for?”

“Hey Mr. Pratchett,” I said. “We came to see if there was anything you needed doing. I also had a couple questions for you, but that’s beside the fact.”

“Oh, well, thank you, boys. Come on in. I got some cold beer in the fridge, and the only thing I need doing right now is some yard work if you got the time.”

“We sure do,” Collin said. “I brought our stuff to hit the hedges and the bushes. Is your riding mower still in good shape in the shed?”

“As far as I know,” he said. “Had that Bronson boy out here to mow couple weeks ago.”

“I’ll get the grass, you get the hedges?” Collin asked Owen. Owen shrugged. He was taller, so it made sense for him to get the big bushes and stuff anyway.

I headed in after Mr. Pratchett as my brothers began working on the yard. I didn’t feel too bad letting them get to it while I talked to him, since the last couple of times I’d gone down there alone. Mr. Pratchett led me into his living room, offering me a seat on one of his chairs while he grabbed us a beer. When he sat down, he made that little groaning sound I associated with all old men who’d done physical work all their life.

“So how are you, Jesse?” he asked. “I heard about all that terribleness with Oland. Glad to see you up and about.”

I nodded. That was about as much sympathy as he was going to show unless I milked the situation. He was a hard man—kind but hard, and knew that other men of his type didn’t take well to sob stories over recent injuries. As far as his generation were concerned, you didn’t bitch about an injury until it was a decade old or you’d gotten it in a war.

“I’m a lot better, thank you,” I said. “Glad to be walking.”

“By God’s grace,” he said, almost like a verbal tick rather than an actual thought that ran through his mind.

“Indeed.”

“So you said you wanted to talk about something?”

“I did,” I said. “I heard from the Eads that you were thinking about selling your land out by the lake and moving back to Odessa.”

“Yeah,” he said, taking a deep sip. “I got my brother out that way, and he don’t get around too well. His kids help him out a lot, and we both thought it might be nice for us to be closer, so we can all help each other. Besides, if I sell all that land, I might get enough that I can build us a good little place out that way so we don’t have to go to a home in a few years.”

He laughed, but I knew there was a truth behind that.