Page 7 of Stand

“Good. Decent business. Weather’s been good. Lots of hikers. You?”

“Usual. Alyssa’s graduating middle school in a couple days. Matt was looking for a summer job, but he waited too long and the college kids got them all.”

“Send him to me!” Noah said at once. “Does he like horses? I gotta friend who—”

“It’s okay.” Ty had to put the kibosh on this right away. “His buddy’s stepdad is going to get him something in his business. Plumbing.”

“Plumbing? Jesus, Ty. You trying to punish the kid? When he could be here riding horses and chatting up girls? It is girls, right?”

“So he tells me.”

Ty imagined the world Noah lived in. He had to imagine it, because he’d never been there. Noah had left the state just before Ty and Julia had moved back into town from his original workplace near Philadelphia. They’d come back because she was getting more and more erratic; her parents refused to believe there was a problem, and he needed his mom to help out. Julia had hated the idea. Ty hadn’t loved it either, given his high school experience with these kids and the town’s reaction to his young fatherhood. But his mom was the most stable person he knew, and whatever the town thought of him, he hadn’t regretted coming back.

He and Noah had hung together throughout middle school and become inseparable in high school. Noah’s Vietnamese heritage had looked the bomb with black eyeliner and his collection of vintage ’80s goth band T-shirts. They’d dodged the same bullies, gone to the same concerts, and shared everything about their lives.

When Julia had left, Ty had called Noah first. Ty would always love him for his support during that time. And for these stupid, probably pot-fueled conversations that meant nothing and everything.

“You gotta admit,” Noah said, “you’re interested.”

“I’ll think about it,” Ty said.

“Think about ithard. Alyssa could work the counter at the store. I’d take care of them.”

Unfortunately, he coughed again at that moment. Ty wouldn’t ask him to swear he wouldn’t smoke if he got the kids, because Ty had no intention of sending them so far away. The thought of being away from them for so long made his heart shrivel up inside him. People said their kids were their reason for being, and it was a cliché, but not for Ty. Snowplow parent? Sure. If that were remotely possible with a mom like Julia, Ty would do it.

“Julia been around?” Noah asked.

“Quit reading my mind. Yeah. She called today. Wants to take them to Florida, for fuck’s sake.”

The blade slipped out of its notch on the wood and almost impaled his finger but for the leather guards. He swore and shook out his hand.

“She couldn’t even get through a meal with them, last I heard,” Noah said.

“Right. It’s just an idea of hers. She’ll go off it soon. I just wish she’d—”

He couldn’t finish. “Yeah, man. I know,” Noah said. “You’re doing right by them. You’re doing good.”

“Thanks.” He didn’t want Julia to invade his happy place in the garage, so he cast around for something else to talk about.

And fell on Sam Fielding.

“Hey, speaking of difficult women in our lives, guess who I saw in town today?”

Noah laughed. “That doesn’t narrow it down a whole lot.”

“Remember Sam Fielding?”

“Sam Fielding? Rich kid, all legs, looked down on us mere peasants?”

Ty winced. It sounded worse when Noah said it out loud. But he’d been thinking it. “That Sam Fielding. Yeah.”

“Seven Minutes in Heaven Sam Fielding?”

The knife went right into Ty’s glove that time. “Ouch. Yeah.” He pulled off his glove to inspect the wound. Just a red mark. No permanent damage. Like those seven minutes. Right?

“Made Brennan Caplan wear two condoms?”

He’d forgotten that rumor. “Jeez. Yeah.”