Page 33 of Bales and Brawn

“And does he wear it?” Zane’s eyes sparkle with mirth.

“Probably.” I laugh.

“Nova would like that,” Zane says. “He’d also like to see Dollywood.”

“You should take him, all go on a family holiday,” I suggest, and Zane shrugs. I’m not going to push him any further on it. But I can sow the seed.

As we get closer to the farm, Zane falls silent more often, and conversation becomes more sporadic.

“Are you feeling alright? How’s your head?” I ask, concerned in case the journey is tiring him more than it should.

“I’m fine,” he says, and it sounds genuine so I don’t ask further. But as the farm and the town beyond come into view, I can almost feel him slipping away from me. The quiet Zane, focused on everything he has to do, all the responsibilities he has, seems to take over. His face loses a lot of the softness, and while he’s still beautiful, it’s a harder beauty. I almost wish we could’ve had more time at the cabin, a chance to get to know each other better.

Nova rushes over from shutting up the feed store when we arrive in the yard late in the afternoon, and Arlene appears from the farmhouse.

“We were starting to get worried. Did it take longer?” Arlene asks. Nova takes hold of Rainbow and makes a fuss of him.

“No, but there was an accident and we had to wait a while.”

“An accident? What happened?” She swings her gaze between us, looking worried.

“I’m fine,” Zane says, and I can see her shock that it was him. He certainly didn’t act like he’d had a day’s sickness in his life, so I understand that.

“He is, but he got a concussion, so he also promised to go for a checkup,” I add, as I feel the current Zane would dismiss himself as not needing a second opinion. I can see him stiffen, proving my point, but thankfully Arlene agrees with me.

“Yes, absolutely. I’ll take you over to Miller’s point now. Nova, you see to the horses.” Arlene takes charge, which again is surprising. Zane shoots me a mutinous look, but I’ll weather it if it means he has a doctor look at him. I care too. I don’t see him for the rest of the evening, though I notice when he gets back with Arlene.

I busy myself by catching up with messages on the in-crowd chat with my brothers. After I verify that I am actually okay and still alive, I read back over their theories about what’s happened to me. Some of them are pretty crazy, like alien abduction, Corbin asking if Foggy Basin is near Roswell. A few of them are plausible, like rattlesnake bites. I’m thankful I haven’t even seen one of those. I’m not sure I’m totally happy that they spent more time on their theories than actually doing something practical, so I hope nothing really does happen to me. They’d be no help.

Once the chat has settled and I’ve called my mum so she doesn’t worry, I decide to jump in with both feet and open a new message.

I kissed a guy and I liked it.

Griffin

Whoever this is, can you give us our brother back?

Corbin

I called alien abduction!

Godwin

For real?

Me

Yeah, for real

Griffin

Finally you’ve come to your senses

Corbin

One of us! One of us!

Godwin