“I’m going, I’m going,” Jude chanted.
“You can’t mow in the dark!” I cried. I don’t know why I was coming to Jude’s defense, but I knew I couldn’t let him do that. On a property this large, it would be impossible to mow in the dark.
He leaned into me, brushing strands of my blonde hair off my shoulder with a single flick of his fingers. Whispering in my ear, he said, “I installed a headlight on it. I’ll be fine. Besides, I won’t do it all. Just enough to make him happy.”
“But—” I gaped.
“You’ll be okay?” He framed it as a question.
I looked from his grandpa to him and nodded.
“Just play along,” Jude reminded me.
His steps thumped against the old floors as he headed outside. The screen door creaked shut and I was left alone with the eldest Brooks.
“Lovely morning, isn’t it?” He nodded towards the window.
“Beautiful.” I agreed.
“Are you hungry?” He asked. “I made plenty. Grab a plate for yourself.”
“I already ate,” I assured him. “But thank you for asking.”
He nodded. “I see you have manners. I like that. You’re a pretty girl, Julia.”
“Thank you,” I said again.
“You’re too good for Andrew,” he continued. “That boy’s trouble.”
“Is that so?” I asked, pulling out a chair and sitting down across from him. The table and chair set looked like it was made in the seventies. The chairs were a pukey green color and the table was a dark wood. “Tell me more about Andrew.”
The man smiled, his eyes lighting up. He lapsed into a tale about a wild boy and all the shenanigans he pulled. I wondered if Jude’s dad was really like that, or if his grandpa’s Alzheimer’s had caused him to combine Andrew and Jude’s childhood.
I found myself intrigued by everything the man said. I didn’t want him to stop telling me stories of his and Andrew’s past. I wanted to ask him about Jude, but since I was ‘playing along’ I knew that was strictly forbidden and I didn’t want to make his grandpa mad by asking something he didn’t remember.
“Come with me,” the man stood. “I’m Jerry, by the way. I’m so sorry I didn’t introduce myself. My rude son should have made the introduction for us.”
“Sometimes Andrew forgets his manners,” I said. It felt weird to call Jude by a name that wasn’t his.
“That he does,” Jerry agreed, leading me through the house. “I raised him better than that. Sometimes, you do all the right things, and they turn out to be the wrong things.”
I nodded in agreement, mulling over his words. “That’s very true.”
“I grew up in this house, and my father before me,” he said, looking around with nostalgia written on his face. “It’s been in my family for generations.”
“It’s a beautiful home.” Despite the fact that it was falling apart, it had good bones. With enough money and manpower, it could sparkle like new again.
“I wish Andrew thought that. He hates this place. He can’t wait to get away,” Jerry rambled. “He doesn’t want to live a farmer’s life. I can’t say I blame him. It’s hard work.”
“I’m sure he’ll change his mind,” I assured Jerry.
He shook his head. “No. Once Andrew sets his mind to something, he doesn’t change it.” Smiling at me, he added, “He’s like me. Stubborn to a fault.”
I couldn’t help laughing. The same things had been said about me more times than I could count.
“I should stop rambling about Andrew and show you the place. This is obviously the living room.”
I’d already seen this room when I was with Jude, but I didn’t say that. Instead, I looked around and told him how nice it was. “Do you play the piano?” I asked, nodding to the upright in the corner.