“What’s he doing for your dad anyway?” Jessie asks when we put the hammer and nails back in the barn along with the broken post.
“Fixing the part of the barn that was damaged in the storm this last winter. Apparently that horse, Shep, was his dad’s horse and when he got sick, he couldn’t pay to take care of it. Dad’s been boarding him for free for almost a year so I guess Callan offered to fix the barn.”
“Noble of him.” Jessie says in an approving tone.
We both watch the dust cloud when Jessie looks at me. “Where does he go when he leaves?”
I shrug. “Don’t know.”
“You know what’s better than a party on your birthday?”
“What?”
“Stalking.” She gives a nod to the driveway.
Why I haven’t thought of that is beyond me. You’d think I would have.
“I don’t know where he lives.” I grab my flannel shirt on the porch and wrap it around my waist. Jessie does the same as we walk toward her truck.
“I do. His dad lived a mile from me. Nice guy.”
“How’d he die?”
“He had a stroke like a year ago and it all kind of went downhill from there.”
Jessie grabs the bottle of rum off her tailgate and the sweet tea hiding it behind her seat.
When we get to his dad’s ranch, there’s a for sale sign in the yard with a red “SOLD” sticker over it. It’s bare, as though most everything has been moved out.
“I asked around.” Jessie says. “Apparently some investment company bought the land. They have until the end of the month to get Red’s stuff out of there.”
“What happened to his mom?”
Jessie looks at me as we get out of the truck. “You’ve lived here longer than me. How do you not know this?”
I shrug. “I don’t know.” I never really paid any attention to them but I don’t even remember them.
“They’re mom died giving birth to Dani. I had English with her. She told me their whole life story.”
“That sucks about their mom.”
“Yeah,” Jessie agrees. “They’ve had tough lives.”
The massive land dwarfs the modest white home. Wrapped around it is a covered porch that’s sagging in sections. It’s clear there’s been no one tending to the home. It’s like time has stopped here.
Jessie and I end up parking down the street and then walk the half mile back up the long dirt road that leads to the ranch. It feels like we’re intruding being on the property but yet it feels like I know Callan a little better seeing this. I’ve driven past this house a million times and never noticed it. Until now.
Callan probably has thousands of memories trapped here in the hazy air that settles around us. The setting sun shines through the back windows of the home and I wonder how many times Callan sat on that porch and watched the sunset.
We’re just about to leave when we hear the low rumble coming up the road.
“Oh shit!” We both say, scrambling for the bushes along the side of the house.
“Fuck.” I start to panic. “What if he sees us? We’re trespassing.”
“Since when have you ever given a fuck about rules? And you’re eighteen. Walk in there and surprise him. I’ll wait here.”
“I bet you would.” I laugh, looking at the driveway. Jessie shoves my shoulder but I don’t move. “He’d have me arrested for sure.”