Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 60905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
“Right.” He put the cap back on his water bottle as he stared off into the trees. “Well, when I was around fourteen, my dad started dating this woman who lived about an hour away. They got really serious, really fast, and as soon as the school year ended, my dad convinced my grandparents to take not only me for the summer, but also the woman’s teenage son.”
“Gideon,” I said, interested in the story in spite of myself.
“Exactly. He and I both arrived on the doorstep here, and Cole—instead of being jealous that our grandparents’ attention was split three ways—was friends with him from the start. We both were. We had an amazing summer, a lot of it spent right here in these woods.”
I could almost see the three boys running along the path, laughing and joking around. “Are your dad and Gideon’s mom still together?”
“God, no,” he said. “I don’t even know where my dad is. Last I heard, out in Vegas. As for Gideon’s mom, she moved on after the summer ended. She had a lot of short-term affairs, according to him.”
“I don’t understand, though. If Gideon and his mom lived in the suburbs, how’d you stay in touch?”
Brady laughed and elbowed me gently. “Same as anyone else would. By phone or online. This wasn’t the Dark Ages; I’m only a few years older than you.”
“Okay, it’s just… you three seem really close.”
He nodded. “There’s a reason for that. We kept in touch, like I said, but it was a hard time. I’d just started high school, and I was a weedy little guy. I got bullied a lot.”
“I’m sorry.” I patted his thigh. “Didn’t Cole stick up for you?”
“Of course, but he was only a sophomore, and he got picked on a lot, too.”
“Why?”
“Basically, because kids can be cruel,” Brady said, and I nodded in agreement. “They targeted him, and then me a year later when I entered high school. The theme seemed to be ‘how the mighty have fallen.’ A hundred years ago, my family owned the mill the town is named for. We employed dozens of townsmen. But in the past few decades, we’ve barely been able to keep the land. Had to sell off nearly half our land when I was ten.”
“Kids will come up with any excuse to bully someone who’s even a little different,” I said, and Brady gave me a faint smile. “Or who’s not big enough to protect themselves… yet.”
“Exactly. Luckily, we knew someone who was big enough to protect himself and others.”
“Gideon?” That took me by surprise.
“Yep. When we talked, he’d hear how miserable we were. And I think Cole told him stuff, too. He was more worried about me getting beat up than himself. Anyway, Gideon contacted our grandparents and asked if he could stay here and go to school in Donovan’s Mill. He said that he often felt that his mom resented him for holding her back, and he wanted a fresh start. He said he’d be no trouble, he’d pay for his food and stay out back in the smokehouse.”
“The smokehouse?” That was a horrifying thought.
“Well, it was a cottage by then. We slept there many times during that first summer when Gran got tired of us staying up all night reading comic books and laughing and chatting. But anyway, my grandparents insisted that he stay in the main house. God knew we had enough room. And from that moment on, he became an honorary grandson.”
“And what happened at school?”
“With him by our side, no one ever picked on us again.”
“Really?” As much as I didn’t want to admit it, my heart was softening for the boy who moved to a new town just to protect his friends. “But he was older than you, right? What about when he graduated?”
Brady grinned. “Well, we weren’t as scrawny by then. Generally, you don’t earn football trophies if you are. But it was more than that. Somehow, Gideon helped us fit in. It was our town and they were our classmates, but they didn’t really accept us until the three of us became pals. I can’t fully explain it, but I’ll forever be grateful for it. And for him.”
“It sounds like you helped him, too.”
“Definitely. He really opened up when he moved here. He was used to being treated as a burden, and no one here thought of him like that.” Brady looked over at me, and I was surprised to see that his eyes were moist.
I stared up at him and couldn’t help the smile that spread over my face.
“What?” Brady asked as I continued to look into his clear, blue eyes.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re kind of a hard person to hate?”
He chuckled. “I can’t say that they have. It seems like an odd thing to say to someone, but under the circumstances, I’ll take it.”