Saving Thomas

by A. L. Moore

  "Yeah?"

  I weighed the question on my tongue before asking. "What are you on probation for? I thought that woman dropped the indecency charges."

  He seemed just as reluctant to answer as I’d been to ask. "I was with some guys who stole a car," he sighed, his fingers laced beneath his head. "I didn't do it, but that didn't matter. I was charged just the same." That didn't sound so bad. I'd been letting my mind get away from me, picturing much worse.

  "I'm not a coward."

  "What?" I peered over the edge of the bed to better see his face in the moonlight spilling in from the window.

  "If I'd thought for one second Mr. Tyner wasn't going to drop the charges for Rusty, I would have taken the rap." His eyes peered deeply into mine. "The Tyner's like Rusty."

  "They don't like you?"

  He chuckled humorlessly. "They like getting a check every month.

  "If Mr. Tyner hadn't dropped the charges, I would've gone to the station and taken the blame." I could see how important this was to him. That he was telling the truth.

  "I know you'd never do anything to hurt Rusty."

  Glancing toward the window, he added, "Rusty sure seemed to think I was throwing him under the bus."

  "He was just scared," I pointed out. "Anyone would've been." I knew I would've been.

  We lay in silence, letting the night settle around us. "Aren't you scared at all?" he questioned, turning to face me. "About getting caught with a boy in your room?"

  Braver in the darkness, I hung my hand off the bed and he took it. "Not if the boy is you."

  "Thanks, Bree.”

  He didn’t let go of my hand all night.

  Chapter 9

  He was gone when I woke. The blanket he'd used stretched across my bed, covering my body as if it’d never been moved. I pulled it close to my face, breathing in deeply. The smell of him filled me, making my chest swell and a smile stretch my face. Wrapping myself in his blanket, I went over to peer out the window. There was no sign of movement at the Tyner house. Mr. Tyner’s car was in the drive, which didn't seem right. He was never home at this hour. Fear that Thomas could be in trouble flooded me. I dressed quickly, grabbed my shoes and took off out the front door. I’d never knocked on the Tyner's door before, but I was knocking now. When no one came, I pounded that much harder. A sleepy eyed Rusty finally opened the door in his boxer shorts. When he saw it was me, he tried to hide behind the door. “Jeez, Breelynn, what time is it?”

  “I don’t know.” My eyes darted around the cluttered living room. There were papers and magazines in messy stacks all over a coffee table and the couch was missing the cushions along the back. “Is Thomas here?”

  “Who is it, Rusty?” a gruff voice asked just as Mr. Tyner appeared from the hall.

  “It’s just the girl from across the street.” Mr. Tyner grumbled something I couldn’t make-out. “You need to go,” Rusty said, starting to close the door.

  I stopped it with my foot. “Wait, what about Thomas?”

  “It seems like he came in,” Rusty said, scratching his head. “He must’ve left again.”

  “Bree.” Thomas’s voice came from behind me. He was crossing the street wearing a different shirt from last night, his jeans smeared with grease. “What are you doing here?”

  “You were gone,” I said as the door closed behind me.

  “Were you planning to have me down for breakfast?” he grinned mischievously, stopping at the bottom of the steps, the bright morning sun to his back. I hadn’t thought about that. “I left when I heard your parent’s alarm clock.”

  “Everything is alright then, with the Tyners?” I steadied myself on the wooden porch railing as thoughts of holding his hand in the darkness of my bedroom overcame me.

  “For now,” he said, all concern from last night gone. “Are you worried about me, Bree?”

  Why did he have to be so cute? I crossed my arms over my chest. “Maybe.”

  He rubbed a twenty-dollar bill between his fingers, holding it up in front of his face. “Took that motor to Mr. Johnson. Have you had breakfast?”

  “No,” I said hesitantly, wondering if I should run over and sneak him something out.

  “Great,” he said, flashing a brilliant smile beneath the straw-colored cowboy hat that rarely left his head. “Let me run in and wash up, and we’ll go grab something to eat.”

  There were many times in my life I'd asked permission before doing things, but that had all stopped with Thomas. I climbed into the Tyner’s front seat next to him without as much as a glance at my house. I knew Daddy was out in the fields, and Mama was supposed to stay off her feet. If the baby came while I was gone, they’d kill me, but looking at Thomas's grease stained hand in mine, I simply didn’t care.

  He drove much faster in the Tyner’s car than he had in Mr. Johnson’s. The air- conditioner didn’t work so we had both windows rolled down. My wavy hair blew wildly around my face as we laughed and joked about what had felt like the end of the world last night. He thanked me endlessly for letting him stay over, and I told him about Rusty being in his underwear when he’d opened the door. Katy would love that story.

  Thomas stopped at a roadside diner with two big rigs parked out front. I’d seen the place before but never been inside. Thomas held the diner door open for me and waited at the booth until I sat down before sliding in next to me. I had just reached for the sticky menu when Thomas ordered without ever looking at it. By the way the waitress greeted us, I got the impression he’d been here before. She was an older woman, with gray-blue hair, in a faded orange dress. We sat in an awkward silence until the food arrived. At least it was awkward for me. I'd never been to a restaurant with a boy I wasn't related to. Thomas seemed perfectly at ease as he filled me in on his plans for the rest of the summer. Most of which centered around some form of work or another.

  “Are you sure you don’t want something else?” he asked, scooping the last bite of scrambled eggs into a piece of toast.

  “The waffle’s fine,” I said, covering what was left with more syrup.

  “You sure you don’t want some bacon?” he asked, dangling the piece in front of me. “I know you can eat more than that. You put away three bowls of ice cream the first time I saw you.” I'd hoped he hadn't noticed that.

  I jerked the bacon from his hand and took a big bite. “Happy?”

  “Very,” he smiled, sliding from the sticky booth and taking the ticket up to the register. “I don’t want you to starve either.”

  He put his arm around me on the way home. Technically, it was across the seat, but I was under it and as a result became too nervous to truly relax. He was quieter on the way back, the radio playing softly in the background.

  “Rusty’s going to be mad that you didn’t invite him to come with us,” I said when we pulled next to the Tyner’s house. I finally let my back touch the seat when Thomas needed both hands to park the car.

  “It wouldn’t’ve been much of a date with Rusty in his ratty boxer shorts in the backseat,” he said, putting the car into gear.

  This was a date? I’d gone on my first date and didn’t even know it!

  “Thanks for going with me,” he said, grasping my hand where it rested against the seat and giving it a squeeze. “I just wanted you to know that I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. You could’ve really gotten in trouble sneaking me in last night.”

  “If I get waffles every time I have you over, you can move in,” I grinned sheepishly.

  “I’m serious, Bree.” He leaned in and kissed my cheek softly before stepping out. Taken aback, I touched the skin still warm from his lips. "You comin'?" he asked as I climbed out the driver's side where he held the door. Just as he reached for my hand, the front door opened. Thomas tossed the keys back on the seat and quickly shut the car door. Thankfully, it was only Rusty. I was glad to see him wearing shorts.

  “Where’d you two run off to?” Rusty asked, bounding down the steps in a huff, half his brown hair still
plastered to his head from sleep.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Thomas said, tugging my hand until I was close by his side.

  “Fine, don’t tell me,” Rusty said, looking inside the car. “I sure do hope I don’t accidentally mention that you took the car.”

  Thomas punched him in the shoulder. “You are such a twerp.”

  “We went for breakfast,” I said, before Rusty could get a swing in at Thomas.

  Rusty’s face fell like we’d forgotten his birthday. “Whatcha take her for? She’s got a house full of food.”

  “I’ll take you to get something,” Thomas sighed. “Go get a shirt.”

  “No, just forget it,” Rusty said crossing his arms, his chin tilted up. “There’s still a box of Pop-tarts in the pantry. If they were good enough for seven days last week, they’ll be good enough for today.” He started back toward the porch still grumbling under his breath about how girls were ruining his life.

  Thomas shrugged, “Sounds like trouble in paradise.”

  “I’ll let you know.” I said, edging closer to the road. My parents had surely realized I was missing by now. “I’m sure I’ll hear all about it.”

  “You headed over to Katy’s?” he asked, shielding his eyes from the sun that was nearly on top of us now.

  “Probably later. I’ve got to get home. Addy’s probably wondering where I am, and I have to get the eggs in.

  “Who’s Addy?”

  “My new horse," I said, glancing anxiously toward my house. "I just got her last week.”

  “I didn’t see anyone drop her off,” he said, reaching back in the car for his hat. “Could I take a look? I used to ride before moving here. My boss at the factory had two Palominos. He paid me under the table to take care of them after work.”

  I nodded, stepping into the road with him. “You do a lot of that.”

  “What?” He asked, taking my hand.

  “Work.”

  “You work, too,” he pointed out as I pushed the barn door open wide to get a quick peek at Addy before starting for the house to make sure no one had noticed my absence.

  “I guess, but I don't have as many chores once school starts up.”

  “I'll manage, Bree," he said, playfully bumping my hip with his. "Don't worry about it." But I did worry about it. How could I not. He needed to work to have food.

  “Aren’t you coming in?” I asked when he didn't follow me up the steps.

  He shook his head. “I’ll meet you around back.”

  I watched him disappear, and then darted inside to check on Mama. I could hear her snoring before I got to the top of the stairs. It seemed like the bigger her belly grew, the louder her snoring got. The kitchen didn’t look like anyone had been in it. Knowing Daddy, he’d probably just skipped breakfast all together since Mama hadn’t cooked. Glancing out the window, I could see Daddy had already spotted Thomas. I'd forgotten to tell Thomas not to mention going to breakfast. Daddy would have my head. I raced down the back steps, the screen door slamming loudly behind me. Daddy and Thomas looked up as I took the last two steps at once and nearly fell.

  “Be careful, Breelynn,” Daddy called, shaking his head before turning back to Thomas.

  Thomas grabbed my hand when I walked by, but I quickly pulled away, wondering if he'd lost his mind. Daddy didn't seem to have noticed the exchange.

  “I was just telling Thomas we’ve got another horse coming,” Daddy said. “A male. It might perk Adeline up, get her past this bout of homesickness.

  “That’s great!” I beamed, avoiding Thomas’s questioning stare.

  “I thought that might get a smile,” Daddy said, taking hold of the wheel barrel at his side. It was filled with feed. “You kids stay out of trouble,” he said, looking meaningfully at Thomas.

  Addy didn’t look any better today, though she did perk up when I walked in. I grabbed the box of cereal from the cabinet and took out a handful. She lapped it up, tickling my hand with her tongue. Thomas gave the stables a once over, and then came over and patted Addy on the side.

  “Have you ridden her yet?”

  “Daddy won’t let me until she’s acting better.”

  Thomas surprised me, opening the stall and walking inside. “She looks fine to me. She just needs to get out in the sun. Don’t you girl?” he said, giving her a firm pat.

  He was already tacking her up before I could say a word. “Thomas, I don’t know if we should take her out.”

  “Don’t worry,” he said. His hands moved swiftly, clearly having done this many times. “Has she been saddled before?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “No matter,” he said, leading her outside and mounting her, bareback.

  “No, Thomas. Wait,” I said, but they were already galloping away.

  I shielded my eyes as they rode into the sun. I couldn’t tell which was more impressive, Addy’s golden mane shining in the afternoon sun, or Thomas. He looked like an ad for Levi’s in his jeans and t-shirt as he glanced over his shoulder with a breath-taking smile. I’d been riding since I could walk, but never like that. I'd taken lessons until last year but always with a saddle. I waited a few minutes, and then gathered the eggs and cleaned the chicken coup the best I could. It was impossible to get all of the feathers before new ones drifted down. I took the eggs inside and started toward the fields. I could hear Addy’s sure feet coming before they ever broke through the trees. Thomas sat tall, leaning forward, a huge grin on his face. He came up beside me and reached for my hand.

  “No way,” I said, glancing back toward the house. “Daddy would kill me...and you.”

  “He can’t see you,” he encouraged. “Come on.”

  I took another look over my shoulder and took his hand. He swung me effortlessly in front of him and we were off. Addy needed little direction. She moved like she knew the land, like she’d been here her whole life. For the first time since she’d stepped off the trailer, she didn’t look sick.

  “Why’d you pull away from me earlier,” Thomas asked, slowing once we were hidden by the trees. “When I tried to hold your hand.”

  “That was just for Daddy,” I said. “It felt weird with him there.”

  “You’ve never had a boyfriend before?”

  “No,” I said hesitantly. “Is that what you are?” I felt silly having to ask, but I didn’t want anything else to slip my attention like the date had this morning.

  “If you want me to be,” he said.

  I was glad he couldn’t see my face heat up. I couldn’t contain the grin. “I would like that.”

  “Good,” he said, starting Addy back into a full gallop. “I like it, too.”

  The sun reflected like a mirror across the water. I stuck my toes in next to where Thomas waded. He'd slipped Addy back into the barn when Daddy had walked to the front of the house. She was like a different horse, glowing with pride, or maybe it was just the heat.

  "I wonder what Katy and Rusty are arguing about?" I said, pooling cool water up onto my legs.

  "I doubt it's anything too serious," Thomas said, brushing off my concern. "From what I gathered from their conversations, when I'm trying to sleep at night, they don't talk about anything more in depth than what happened on The Simpsons."

  "Hey, I like that show."

  "Yeah?" he smiled. "Me, too. I used to watch it with my Daddy."

  "Do you ever hear from him?"

  He scattered a handful of pebbles across the water and planted himself on a large rock that seemed to grow out of the riverbed.

  "I used to. He wrote me once a week, but I've moved so much. I doubt he'd even know where to send one now."

  "You could always write him," I pointed out.

  He shrugged. "I guess, but what would I say? It's hard to close a ten-year gap on a piece of notebook paper."

  "So, use more paper,” I suggested, kicking water his way. “Use a whole notebook."

  "It's not so easy," he grinned, splashing me back. "What if he doesn't want to hear from
me? He could've tracked me down if he'd wanted to. I'm pretty sure they've got social workers for things like that."

  "He might not know what to say to you.”

  "He's the parent," he countered in a more serious tone. "He should know what to say."

  "I don't think it works like that."

  He kicked water at me again but not hard enough to reach. "You're really starting to get annoying. You're supposed to be on my side."

  "Call 'em like I see 'em," I smiled. "Would you rather I lie?"

  "Of course," he said mockingly, jumping over to the bank. "There's no fun in the truth."

  "I don't lie," I said assuredly, staring up at his beautiful face. The afternoon sun shone through the pine branches overhead creating a glow around him.

  He gathered my hand as soon as I landed back on the bank. "Never?"

  "Never.” It was clear on his face that he didn’t believe me for a minute.

  "Are you hungry?” I asked, the waffle from this morning a distant memory. He nodded and we headed toward the house.

  When we reached the field, he started for the road. "Are we going to your house?" he asked when I pulled his hand in the opposite direction.

  "Unless you think the Tyner's are setting the table."

  Cocking a brow, he smirked and said, "I thought you didn't want your parents to know about us."

  I glanced down at my hand lost in his and sighed. "If you're my boyfriend, they'll find out eventually."

  "Especially since you don't lie," he said, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

  "Do you doubt me?"

  He tugged my ponytail and grinned. "Not at all. I'm sure they'll love hearing how I stayed over last night." He jogged up the back steps ahead of me. "And you can tell them how well the horse rode, too." I reached for him, but he dodged my hand, ducking in the door.

  "Wait, Thomas."

  He was laughing as we entered the kitchen. "Maybe they'd like to join us the next time we go out for breakfast. Pregnant women eat a lot, right?" He pulled out a chair from the table like he lived here and sat down. "I'll invite your Mama."