Page 13 of Secrets Bared
She gave him a sheepish look. “I don’t have any beer here, sorry. Not since you moved out.”
“It’s fine, I can get some.” Then a thought occurred to him. “Unless you don’t want any in the house with Aaron being underage.”
She stared off into the darkened yard through the window over the sink. “I don’tthinkhe’d drink it, but then again… I don’t know my own son anymore, Luke.”
The weight his mother must have been carrying for too long bore down on Luke, and his throat grew tight. “It’ll be okay, Mom.” He came up behind her and rubbed her tense shoulders. “I’m here to help.”
Thenextmorning,Lukewoke up in his childhood bedroom. He’d taken the old band posters down when he was in his twenties so it didn’t look like a teenager’s room anymore. But Mom had never bothered to repaint so the green he’d picked at ten years old was still on the walls. He pulled himself up from the twin bed and cracked his back. That would take some getting used to; he wasn’t as young as he used to be anymore.
He showered, gave his dark beard a quick trim with his clippers, and then got dressed. Mom had long ago left for the early shift at the diner, but she’d said she’d sleep easier knowing he was home for Aaron. His day of traveling had wiped him out though, so he hadn’t stayed up to talk to Aaron like he wanted to.
Luke poured himself a bowl of cereal and ate quickly, then looked around the kitchen for something to do. The dishwasher wasn’t quite full enough to run, but the garbage was stuffed. Wasn’t that Aaron’s job? It had been his at that age. But from what Mom had said the night before, Aaron wasn’t doing it, so Luke decided he’d take care of it.
While taking the garbage out to the garage, Luke spied the gutters along the sides of the house. They were chock full of leaves and ice. Luke shook his head. Someone should have cleaned those in the fall. He found Dad’s old work gloves in the big red toolbox and hauled the ladder out. But he wasn’t going to be stupid about this. Luke checked the time on his watch anddecided ten in the morning was as good a time to wake Aaron as any.
He made lots of noise entering the house, made sure to wipe his boots on the mat and then thudded up the stairs, letting his full weight fall on every step. “Aaron! You up?”
Bounding up to a door with a “You can knock, but I won’t answer” sign on it, he ignored the warning and knocked, anyway. “Aaron?”
“Go away,” came the muffled reply.
“Come on, it’s ten A.M. I need help outside.”
“I said go away!”
He tried to open the door, but it was locked from the inside. That seemed odd. He didn’t remember ever doingthatas a kid.
“I just need you to hold the ladder so I can clean out the gutters.” It was a wonder they didn’t have icicles weighing them down already.
“No.”
“Please, Aaron? Mom obviously didn’t get to it in the fall and I don’t want her on the ladder in winter.”
“Do it yourself.”
This wasn’t getting him anywhere. Luke scrubbed a hand over his face and sighed. He stomped back down the stairs and slammed the door, hard. If Aaron was going to insist on being lazy, Luke would not make it easy on him.
He hated to do it, but he walked next door to where his best friend growing up had lived. Felix’s parents weren’t any younger than Debbie Graham, but he could ask Mr. Acker to hold the ladder for him.
When he knocked, a familiar face greeted him. “Luke!”
“Felix!” He gave his childhood pal a back-slapping hug. “I didn’t know you still lived here.”
“I took over the house when Mom and Dad wanted to move to an apartment. We swapped. They live over the shop, and I livehere, now.” He took a sip from a mug. “Come on in. Have you had coffee yet?”
“Nope, Mom usually makes hers at the diner and I didn’t want to waste the whole pot.” He followed Felix into a house he no longer recognized, and gave a slow whistle. “You redecorated.”
“Yep,” Felix called from the kitchen. “Wanted to put my own stamp on it.” He returned with a mug of liquid gold. “I didn’t want it to feel like my parents’ house anymore.”
“It sure doesn’t.” He’d kept it simple with overstuffed couches in dark brown leather, a huge flatscreen television over the fireplace, which he’d covered in river rock and a thick timber mantle. Replicas of movie swords hung from the wall next to framed posters from theLord of the Ringsmovies.
“What are you doing here?” Felix asked.
“I’m home visiting for a bit. Apparently, Mom never got around to cleaning out the gutters but Aaron isn’t interested in holding the ladder for me.”
Felix rolled his eyes. “I didn’t even realize your little brother still lived there. I only ever see your mom.”
Well, that made Luke’s ears perk up. And it told him a lot about what Aaron wasnotdoing, even if it didn’t tell him what hewas. Felix drained his mug and set it on the counter.
