Page 16 of Resilience on Canvas

“Wow,” Joe said, running a hand through his blond-brown locks.

As the water in the kettle began to heat, Rose joined them and took a seat right on Joe’s lap.

“He must like you, then,” Rose said before clicking her tongue once. “Robert Davis. Guess that’s why he’s not married.”

“Yeah...” Henry strummed his fingers on the table a few times. “He told me we’re nothin’ more than friends, though. Why’d he even need to say that unless... unless he knew that maybe I had sensed the marmalade thing meant somethin’ more than that?”

“I bet you he’s scared,” Rose said. “I was terrified when I first realized that Emily and I liked each other in a romantic way. ”

“What’s there for Robert to be scared about?” Joe asked as the kettle started to whistle. “Henry is like a little baby Hoover hog.”

“Don’t compare him to one of those rabbits, Joe,” Rose said with a playful roll of her eyes. “Everyone sees them as pests.”

“Everyone except for Henry.”

Rose gave Joe a playful shove before standing up to fetch the kettle.

“It makes perfect sense for him to be scared. How would he know for sure that Henry felt the same way? He can’t up and kiss him out of nowhere. What if Henry rejected him?”

“Well, so what?” Joe said, his brows creasing.

“You know how most people feel about men being with other men.” Rose took the kettle off of the stove. “Robert might think that Henry will run him out of town.”

Joe scrunched his nose. “Oh. Right.”

“Think before you speak, sweetheart,” Rose teased.

Joe stuck his tongue out at her, and Rose retaliated in kind before filling three mugs with hot water. Henry continued strumming his fingers on the tabletop.

“Well, so, maybe I’ll... tell him how much I like him?” Henry said, but the moment the words tumbled out of his mouth, it felt like someone had stuck his organs in a blender.

No, he couldn’t never tell Robert. Not unless he really knew that Robert felt the same way.

Rose hummed like she was thinking this over.

“I wouldn’t. What if he likes you, but he isn’t happy that he likes you?

And so, when you tell him, he winds up being mad that you even know that he likes you?

Or that you know that he likes men? Maybe he’s not interested in risking it.

He could take it out on you for being the one to broach the subject. ”

Henry could see that happening. Robert wasn’t the most levelheaded person .

“God, why’s this so convolted?” Joe said, smacking the table half-heartedly.

“Convoluted,” Rose corrected with a chuckle.

Joe loved learning new words, but he rarely ever remembered them right.

Rose had come from a family with means before she was forced out of her home.

She’d had a bunch of tutors when she was a kid, and as such, she knew a lot of words.

Words that Joe wanted to know, too. Rose found it charming that her husband tried to pick them up here and there.

Truthfully, Henry found it plenty charming himself.

Rose finished stirring in the honey. Afterward, she set two mugs on the table, one in front of Henry and one in front of Joe, and then turned back to fetch her own.

She said, “And it’s convoluted because it’s easier for people to be hateful than to embrace the fact that some people aren’t like them.

People are egotistical. They have trouble conceiving that someone may not have the same desires as they do.

It’s how the world is. At least, it’s how it is right now.

Even in the city, I couldn’t be honest with most people. I had to keep Emily to myself.”

“So, what’s poor Henry supposed to do, then?” Joe asked.

Rose heaved a sigh and sat in the free chair to Henry’s left. She took a sip of hot water. Cradling the mug in her hand, she tap-tap-tapped the ceramic with one of her long, unpainted nails.

“I think you should wait to see if he’ll ever initiate something, but.

..” She reached out and touched Henry’s cheek with her palm, and he leaned into it, relishing the platonic intimacy.

Her hand was still warm from the mug of hot water, and the heat provided some comfort.

“But be careful with that beautiful heart of yours, Henry. Try not to fall for him.”

“Try not to fall for him?” Joe repeated with a light scoff. “Henry has liked Robert for years now. ”

“Yes, but only from afar,” Rose said. “Falling in love with a projection of who you think someone might be is wholly different from falling in love with a person for who they truly are. Because that kind of love risks real heartache. And it’s painful. Trust me, I know.”

Henry nodded and said, “I’ll be careful. At least, I’ll try to be.”

When Rose took her hand away, she sighed in an overly exaggerated manner and said, “Goodness, you really are like a baby bunny sometimes.”

Joe snorted a laugh, and Henry frowned. A baby bunny!

How cruel! But, oh, hell, it was true, wasn’t it?

Henry took his mug into his hands and blew on the hot honey water.

He wished he could figure out how not to be a little baby bunny sometime soon.

Because even though Henry had just promised Rose that he’d keep his heart safe, he still wanted to help Robert and his family.

It would take courage to help them. Henry would try his best not to fall in love with Robert along the way, but, oh Lord, he’d sacrifice his heart if need be.

He’d sacrifice plumb near everything for Robert Davis.

Wanting to change the conversation topic, mostly because trying to figure out how to handle the situation with Robert was making his head spin, Henry brought up the farm.

“How’re you two fairin’ with the, uhm, the crops and such?”

Rose said, “It’s horrible. Our well is running out of water.”

Joe chimed in. “We keep having to figure out whether to water those couple of crops that’re still hangin’ on, or whether we can stretch it a bit more. And, of course, we need water ourselves too.” He shook his head. “I think we might need to leave soon.”

“Leave?!” Henry spluttered. “Do you mean leave Oklahoma?”

Joe nodded sadly. “Right.”

Rose reached for Joe’s hand. “Sweetheart, I’m so sorry it might be coming to that. ”

“I know.”

Henry’s heart sank. He’d hate to think that his friends might be forced to move, not only because he would miss them but also because he knew how much Joe loved Oklahoma. Had it not been for Joe’s fondness for their state, Rose might have wanted to move back to New York.

“Where would you go? Would you move back to New York?” Henry asked.

“Probably,” Joe said. “And wait in those Goddamn bread lines.”

“Maybe we’ll try California,” Rose said. “I’ve heard they need people for work out there, like to pick fruit.”

“Alright, then we’ll pick fruit before waitin’ in the bread line,” Joe said. “Guess it beats starvin’, though. Or pneumonia.”

Henry nodded. Dust pneumonia was becoming a real problem.

Mostly for children, but sometimes other folks, too.

And Rose had struggled with her lungs back in the city, maybe because of the smog, as she called it, or because of the constant stress she was putting on her lungs by being on stage singing.

Or both. Sometimes, Henry worried that Rose might become one of the few “young and healthy” folks to perish from pneumonia.

Joe might have had the same worry himself.

“I won’t come down with pneumonia,” Rose said, patting Joe’s hand. “But if we can’t figure out how to keep feeding ourselves...”

“I can try to bring more food,” Henry said. “I’ll talk to Uncle Bob and—”

“Don’t,” Joe clipped. “Everyone else here in Guymon is in the same situation. Or worse. Golly, some people have kids to worry about. Besides, your uncle, he needs to make money. Rosie and me can’t be pillferin’ no food from his store.”

Henry shrugged and said, “It really wouldn’t be stealin’, but, uhm, I know what yer sayin’. ”

“I want to be fair. Leave the charity to people who need it more,” Joe said. One corner of his mouth turned up to form a small, crooked smile. “Don’t think that means I’m not appreciative of your offer, though. I am.”

“I know,” Henry said, smiling back a little.

His chest twinged with sorrow. Not only for Rose and Joe. But for every person in Guymon.

Everyone brought their mugs to their lips in tandem.

It seemed like the mood had shifted from a mild sort of melancholy to something even more sinister.

Desolation, maybe. Hopelessness. Despair.

Henry closed his eyes and prayed for a reprieve, both from the heavy feeling in his heart, and from the lack of rain.

Rose set her mug back on the table. “So, Henry, I see you brought your pack,” she said, clearly trying to shift the mood. “Anything fun?”

“Yeah, I, uhm, well, I was thinkin’ that maybe I could practice my art here?”

“Oh, I was hoping you’d say that!” She struck a pose, lifting her hand to rest her fingertips on her cheek and batting her eyelashes. “I’d love another portrait. They make me feel like I’m famous. Or at least like I’m back on the stage.”

“Ah, you’re famous to me, Rosie,” Joe said in a teasing tone, though every one of them knew that he was speaking the truth.

Rose was Joe’s star.

She stood up and sat back on Joe’s lap. They shared a kiss, one that wasn’t exactly the kind you ought to share with company present, and Henry’s cheeks began to burn.

He cleared his throat to remind them of his presence, but that only made Rose chuckle while she continued to kiss Joe for a couple more seconds.

Averting his eyes, Henry shook his head and moved to pick up his pack.

He took out the sketch pad and placed it on the table .

He said, “Can I try to draw both of you? I want to, uhm, practice men’s faces too.”

After breaking her kiss, Rose winked and said, “In case you find yourself wanting to sketch a portrait of a certain hotheaded farmer in the future?”

Henry’s face burned hotter. Before he could respond, Joe cut in.

“Ah, Henry, of course you can draw me.” Joe stuck out his chin and smiled a cocky-yet-playful smile. “Try not to fall in love with me, though.”

Henry laughed softly. No, he wouldn’t catch feelings for Joe. Even if Joe wasn’t married to Rose, Henry wouldn’t have managed to like him in that sort of way. Because there was only one man for Henry Sherwood. And that man was Robert Davis.

Good God. Henry was falling for Robert, wasn’t he? It wasn’t no mere infatuation he was feeling. Not since they’d first talked in the store. Henry was falling hard and fast.

He had broken that promise to Rose long before he’d even made it.

And he found himself welcoming whatever pain his love for Robert might bring.