Cody sends me the address of the old train depot outside town. It’s only about seven minutes from my work. The building still stands, but the windows are boarded up and the platform is rotting. Grass tufts peek through the cracks in the broken asphalt of the parking lot.
I pull in and kill my engine. Cody’s truck pulls up next to mine moments later. He hops out and jogs over to me. I open the door of my truck and he reaches up and hoists me down into his arms.
I wrap myself around him, and he holds me.
He doesn’t set me down, but after a minute, he asks, “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Yes.” I nod into his neck.
He lets me down slowly and steps back to lean against the side of my truck. I wrap my arms around myself.
“I shouldn’t have taken the job. My parents need me. Jace needs me.” My words rush out, tumbling on top of one another.
Cody’s quiet, steady. He reaches out and rests his hand on my arm. He doesn’t tell me I’m wrong. He doesn’t say I’m right either. He just stays with me, his soft warm gaze stilling everything that’s rattling loose inside me.
He steps in again and I sink into his embrace.
His words are soft into my hair. “You could not have stopped this.”
I let out a soft sob. I feel small, but safe in his arms.
We stand there like that, Cody cocooning me until I’ve regained my center.
I look up at him. “Thank you.”
He nods. “Are you okay?”
I nod.
“You don’t need to decide about work or the farm right now, Carli. Just take things one bite at a time. Finish up whatever’s needed at your job today, or tell your boss you need to leave early—family emergency. Then take care of what you can around the farm tonight. Wake up tomorrow and deal with tomorrow.”
I nod again. “You’re right.”
“Big situations are better swallowed in bites,” he says. “And I’m just a phone call or text away.”
“Thanks.”
I smile at him and he reaches out and cups my cheek.
“And about the farm,” he says, his hand still cupping my face. “Your dad has a community behind him. You’re not the only support he has and neither is Jace. We’ll all pitch in. You know how it goes.”
He’s right. We’ve done it for others over the years. I’ve seen it when crops were thin on one farm or when blight hit another. We band together in celebration or crisis.
He steps away, searching my eyes to make sure I’m alright.
“And you can take time off,” he says, smiling softly. “Even if your dad’s at home resting and life resumes around him.”
I picture Dad on the couch, comfortable and slightly belligerent about having to rest, and something loosens in my chest.
“Farm work. Maybe meeting up with McKenna. I told her I’d try to come over as soon as I can get away. But that was before everything with my dad.”
Cody’s tone is soft. “I don’t want to take you away from my sister, but I’d like to see you.”
“Me too. I really want to see you.” I reach out and grasp his hand. He intertwines our fingers. “Let me see how the day goes.”
“Of course.” He nods and his smile at me is everything.
How can one smile do so much?
