Page 5 of If It's You

But if he was being honest with himself, he’d been excited to come. The city had become claustrophobic. Out here there was nothing but open spaces and beautiful views, even if the air smelled like cows.

“I don’t know.” He groaned and wiped at his shirt but it was hopeless. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

“Just throw up over the grate and it will wash right down,” Jayce said.

“I hate you.”

Jayce only laughed and put the scrub brush in Christian’s hands.Looks like I’m cleaning after all.

By the time the barn was spotless, Christian was ready to start walking the three hundred miles back home.

Jayce led him to the farmhouse, and Christian had his shirt off before he even made it to the door. It used to be his favorite shirt, but now he’d have to burn it.

“Young man, you can’t run around a farm half-naked.”

Christian jumped at the older woman just inside the doorway.

“Sorry, I didn’t—”

“Grandma, this is Christian.” Jayce interrupted, stepping forward and giving her a hug.

The older woman pinned Christian with her dark brown eyes and bright smile. She was tall. Maybe it was just a stereotype, but every grandma Christian had ever seen had been short. Jayce’s grandma looked like she could have dunked a basketball in high school.

“The shower is the last door on the right. We can’t have Grandpa getting a complex. He knows he can’t compete with you boys anymore.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I’m Grandma. To Jayce and everyone else, including you,” she told him somewhat sternly.

“Sorry, Grandma.” He offered her a smile. “I’ll wear clothes from now on.”

She laughed and left with Jayce back to the kitchen. Christian trudged through the house and shut himself inside the small bathroom.

He turned on the shower and studied himself in the mirror. He barely recognized who he saw anymore. The guy in the mirror was a fake and a cop-out.

This farm only proved it. He didn’t belong here. He was just using it as a distraction to hide from everything that mattered.

His dad would be so disappointed in him.

He stood under the burning stream of water for the next forty-five minutes. He might not have any skin left, but the smell and feel of the dried manure on his arms was finally gone, and the familiar pain in his chest was now a persistent dull ache.

“How’s the first day on the job treating you?” Jayce’s grandpa asked when they sat down for dinner.

“Good,” Christian lied.

“By the time you leave, you’ll be dying to stay,” Grandpa said, taking a seat at the head of the table.

Christian held in a scoff. That wouldn’t be happening.

“Dinner is served,” Grandma said, placing two dishes in the center of the table. Roast and potatoes.

“I thought you guys would be vegetarian,” Christian said.

Grandma snorted and Grandpa spat his mouthful of water over his plate.

“Why on earth would you think something like that?” Grandpa asked, laughing so hard tears sprung from his eyes.

Christian swallowed. “You guys take care of the animals. I just assumed you wouldn’t eat them.”