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“Everything is fine. Nothing to worry about.”
“You don’t like to talk about yourself, huh?”
“Other people are more interesting.”
“But friendships work two ways. I talk about me. You talk about you. I’ve known you for two years, and I think it’s your turn.”
“He just had something to take care of.”
It was nowhere near the full story, but it was more than I’d usually give, and Mr. Buford knew that.
“It seemed like he was in a rush ... like it was an emergency.”
“It kinda was, but not really. My life wasn’t in danger or anything.”
“So it was you?”
“Yes, but I’m fine. Levi was there and handled it. I’m lucky to have a guy like him.”
“Good men are rare.”
I huffed out a laugh. “You’re telling me. When Gram was alive, she would tell me about the guys from her youth. She had multiple men break her heart. And then her husband was ...” I paused when I saw Mr. Buford had stopped weeding. “Sorry, I can leave you to your work.”
“No, please don’t.” He slowly turned to me. “You just don’t mention her much.”
“My gram?”
“Yes. It’s nice to hear about someone so important to you.”
“She was more than important to me,” I said, rubbing my head. “Did you know her?”
“Of course I did. I lived next to her for fifty years. I didn’t get to talk to her as much as I wanted to. She didn’t like me very much.”
“Why wouldn’t she like you? You’re so nice.”
“I was an idiot young boy. And she was smart enough to stay away. You’re seeing the much more mature side of me.”
“It might not have been you. After getting burned so many times, she hated men as a whole.”
“I’m happy to hear that you don’t have the same fate. But ifanyboy does what happened to your gram, tell me. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
I imagined Mr. Buford swinging his cane at Levi’s head and laughed. “That would be a sight.”
He huffed a chuckle of his own before he turned back to his garden. His hands were still and he let out a sigh. “All right, my hip is telling me I’ve had enough.” He moved to get up and I grabbed his arm to help him. He tried to wave me away.
“How can you tell me to ask for help when you won’t?”
“Do as I say not as I do,” he said. “That’s my motto for life. Have a good day, kid. Hope you feel better.”
He ambled away, and I slowly headed back into the house, eager to refill my coffee cup and return to reading. As I walked in, Levi came around the corner, eyes wide.
“Hey,” I said. “Everything okay?”
His eyes landed on me and he made a beeline, stopping right in front of me. “I woke up and you were gone, so I ...” He gently grabbed my shoulders. “How are you feeling?”
“Mostly back to normal,” I said. “I got up and made coffee and read a bit.”
He let out a sigh of relief and his shoulders slumped. “Thank God. But you didn’t drink too much caffeine, right?”