Page 16 of Trick or Tease

GARRETT

I stood there on the gravel driveway, squinting in the afternoon sun as Dad patted the side of their massive RV like it was a prized horse. The thing was enormous. It dwarfed my Mercedes. The damn thing was easily thirty feet long. It was a sleek gray with blue racing stripes.

Mom emerged from the driver’s side door, practically bouncing with excitement. “Garrett, you have to see the inside! It’s got everything—full kitchen, queen bed, even a washer and dryer!”

I had to admit I was impressed. This wasn’t some beat-up camper held together with duct tape. This was a legitimate home on wheels, probably worth more than most people in Greenleaf made in two years.

I was glad they actually splurged on their transportation. It was good to see them treating themselves to something nice.

“Come on, take the tour,” Dad insisted, gesturing toward the open door.

Billy was already climbing up the steps, whooping like a kid at Christmas. “This is incredible! Look at this thing!”

I followed reluctantly, my Italian leather shoes crunching on the gravel.

The interior was surprisingly spacious. Dark wood cabinets lined one wall.

The kitchen was a decent size. Two leather recliners and a couch that they were all too happy to tell me pulled out into a bed.

Just in case I wanted to fly out and stay the night in their RV.

I couldn’t decide if they were serious.

“Three months on the road,” Mom sighed dreamily, running her hand along the kitchen counter. “We’re going to see the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, maybe even make it to the Pacific Coast.”

“It’s nice, guys,” I said. “Really nice. Are you sure you can handle this thing, Dad? It’s huge.”

He grinned. “Son, I’ve been driving tractors and farm equipment since before you were born. This is just a bigger truck with a bed in it.”

I wasn’t entirely convinced, but I kept my mouth shut. Dad had that stubborn set to his jaw that meant arguing would be pointless. I wouldn’t want to try parking the damn thing, but he seemed confident enough. Maybe in thirty years, I would also find myself trying to drive a giant house on wheels.

“We’ve got GPS, backup cameras, the works,” Mom added, patting a tablet mounted near the driver’s seat. “Plus your father took it for three test drives before we signed the papers.”

Billy emerged from what I assumed was the bedroom. “You guys are going to have the time of your lives. This beats the hell out of that cramped cabin we rented at Lake George last summer.”

“Language, William,” Mom chided, but she was smiling.

I glanced around the RV again, trying to reconcile this luxury purchase with the parents who’d raised me to turn off lights when I left a room and patch holes in my jeans instead of buying new ones. The transition from frugal farm parents to RV adventurers felt surreal.

“When do you leave?” I asked.

“Now,” Dad said.

“Now?”

“Well, not this exact second.” Mom laughed. “But we want to get on the road before dinner. Beat some of the traffic heading north.”

Billy suddenly snapped his fingers. “Oh! Wait, I almost forgot. I’ve got something for you guys. A going-away present. Give me two minutes.”

He disappeared out the door, leaving me alone with my parents in their mobile palace. I could see Mom and Dad exchanging one of those wordless conversations that couples have after thirty-plus years of marriage.

“Garrett,” Dad said. It was the tone I remembered from childhood lectures. “We need to ask you something.”

I tensed. “What’s that?”

Mom moved closer, a soft smile on her lips. “We want you to keep an eye on Billy while we’re gone. He means well, but you know how he gets with his big ideas.”

“His head is in the clouds half the time,” Dad added. “And this whole fall festival thing he’s planning with Sabrina is pretty ambitious. Maybe too ambitious.”

I shifted uncomfortably in the cramped space. “Dad, I’m only here for a few days. I’ve got to get back to New York.”

“We know,” Mom said quickly. “But you could check in on him. Call more often. Maybe visit again before the season starts. We feel weird leaving him alone.”

“He’s a grown man, guys. I live in Manhattan alone. No one worries about me.”

I was a little offended they didn’t send a babysitter after me. Not that I wanted or needed one, but it was fucked up they just assumed.

Dad cleared his throat. “And honestly, son, you’ve got skin in the game now too. Half this farm belongs to you. If Billy’s venture succeeds, it’s good for your investment. You might want to help out and make sure it’s a success.”

That was about the last thing I wanted to do. I’d spent years distancing myself from this place, and now they wanted me to be Billy’s keeper. But looking at my parents’ hopeful faces, I couldn’t bring myself to refuse outright.

“I’ll try,” I said. “I’ll do what I can.”

Relief flooded Mom’s features. “That’s all we ask. Family should look out for one another.”

The RV door burst open, and Billy climbed back in, clutching a small, wrapped package. “Okay, this isn’t much, but I thought you might want something to remember the farm while you’re out there living it up in your land yacht.”

Dad unwrapped it carefully, revealing a framed photo I recognized—the four of us standing in front of the old hill house about ten years ago. Billy had his arm slung around my shoulders, all of us grinning at the camera.

“Billy,” Mom whispered, her eyes getting misty.

“Now you can show off your handsome sons to all the other RV folks,” Billy said with a grin.

We spent the next few minutes loading their remaining supplies and double-checking everything.

Mom got all weepy again. “I can’t believe we’re really leaving home,” she whispered.

Dad wrapped her in a hug. “It’s not goodbye forever, sweetheart. Just a little adventure. The farm will be here when we get back. Right, Billy?”

My brother grinned. “I promise.”

I knew I was lucky. Billy and I both were. We had amazing parents. They loved each other. They gave us a good home. And they set a very good example of what a good marriage should look like. Billy had it figured out for the most part.

I couldn’t seem to get it right. I had dated a lot of women. Nothing like Billy. I wasn’t sure he had ever dated anyone besides Lucy. I didn’t know why they weren’t married yet.

“Alright, you two,” Billy said, clapping his hands together. “Time to hit the road before you lose your nerve.”

There was a lot of hugging and more tears from Mom before she climbed into the passenger seat.

Dad walked around the entire vehicle, checking tire pressure and testing the hitch connections. He took one last look at us, nodded his head, and then climbed inside.

We stood in the driveway watching the massive RV lumber down the dirt road. We watched until they disappeared around the bend by the old oak tree that marked the property line.

Billy waved until they were completely out of sight, then let his arm drop to his side with a heavy sigh. “Well, that’s that.”

“Weird.”

He nodded. “Very.”

“Have they ever been gone for more than a day or two?” I asked.

Billy let out a short laugh. “Remember when they went to visit Grandpa Hogan in Syracuse? That was what, fifteen years ago? They were gone for two nights.”

I groaned, remembering exactly where this was going. “Oh God. The party.”

“The party,” he repeated, grinning now. “You were home from college for spring break, and I was still in high school. Mom and Dad left us with that list of chores and strict instructions to ‘be responsible.’”

“And you immediately called half of Greenleaf High School.”

“Hey, you’re the one who suggested we invite some of your college friends up from the city. I was thinking maybe ten people max. You turned it into a rager.”

That was fair. I’d been going through my rebellious phase, drunk on freedom for the first time in my life. Looking back, inviting my fraternity brothers to a house party at the family farm had been spectacularly stupid.

“Thirty-seven people,” I said, shaking my head. “I still can’t believe that many people showed up.”

The whole thing had been a disaster. Someone had broken Dad’s favorite fishing rod.

There’d been beer cans floating in the pond.

Billy’s friend Jake had somehow gotten the tractor stuck in the mud trying to impress a girl.

And when Mom and Dad came home a day early because Grandpa Hogan had gotten better faster than expected, they’d walked into a house that looked like a tornado had hit it.

“Dad didn’t speak to me for a week,” I said.

“Mom cried. That was worse.”

“And they never left us alone again. Not once.”

Billy nodded solemnly. “Even when I turned twenty-one, they’d arrange for Aunt Sharon to ‘drop by’ whenever they went anywhere overnight. Like I was going to throw keggers at the feed store.

“Think they’ll actually make it all the way to California?” I asked.

“Mom’s been planning this trip for two years. She’s got a whole binder. She is not about to miss a single item on her itinerary.”

I felt a little guilty. My parents had spent their lives on the farm.

I lived a pretty good life in the city while they busted their asses day in and day out.

They should have been able to take their trip a long time ago.

I should have sent them money so they could. Instead, I bought myself a luxury car.

Damn.

I was a dick.

“I should probably get back to work,” Billy said. “Are you sticking around for real or were you just saying that for their benefit?”

“I’m sticking around.”

“For how long?”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged.

I knew he wanted me to stay. He didn’t press the issue because he expected me to leave. Abandon him.

Again.

And honestly, that was exactly my plan.

I thought about that photo he’d given our parents. The four of us together, back when things were simpler. Back when Billy looked up to me instead of just accepting that I’d rather be anywhere else.

“You know what?” I heard myself say. “Show me your damn maze.”

“Seriously?” he asked, and there was something almost vulnerable in his voice. “You actually want to see it?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I mean, if I’m supposed to keep an eye on this operation, I should probably know what I’m keeping an eye on, right?”

The grin that spread across Billy’s face transformed him into that little boy that annoyed the hell out of me from the moment he learned to walk. Had it really been so long since I’d shown any interest in something that mattered to him?

“Garrett, you’re going to love this,” he said. “We’ve got the whole thing mapped out, and Sabrina had this brilliant idea about different themed sections, and wait until you see what we’re planning for the finale?—”

He was already walking toward the corn field, talking a mile a minute. I followed. It felt good to see him excited.

We were totally different but he was still a good kid, and he deserved a better big brother than me.