Sloan Parker Take Me Home

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.Nate went next.He staggered a bit on the landing,and Evan reached out to steady him.Nate recovered, and Kyle followed.He landed on both feet, and Evan put a hand on his arm when the bale below him shifted.Kyle resisted the urge to reach out to Evan in return.Not yet.The next time he touched him, hewas saying a lot more than he wanted Nate to witness.Evan shone the flashlight around, lighting up the small space.They were surrounded bytwo walls of the barn and two walls made of hay.Standing on the tightly packed hay bales in thecorner, they were hidden from view from anywhere else in the hayloft. How did you know this was where they were? he asked Evan. Your grandpa mentioned the loft was filled with straw back then.They d found a place tobe alone in the corner, a private alcove by an angled beam.Just them, a blanket, and the bottle ofwine they d taken from the cellar. A cellar? Nate asked. Maybe that s where it s at.Take Me Home 171 No, Evan said. I thought the same thing, but then he said this& Evan pulled thejournal from the backpack.He stopped short of opening it and lifted his head. I forgot.Sorry. Go ahead. Kyle flipped a hand through the air in Nate s direction. He already knows. Okay.I ll just read the first part. Evan read aloud. Joe s gone now, and I can t let go of today, of the last time we ll ever be in each other sarms.We spent the afternoon in the alcove made of straw in the upper right corner of the barn.Where I had spent hours as a child, hiding from my brothers, running my toy tractor along theangled beam until I couldn t reach any higher.No one would look for us there.It was the perfectplace to say good-bye to my youth. We lay on the blanket for a while sipping the wine we d found in the cellar, trading thebottle back and forth, neither of us speaking, Joe was still a touch out of breath from the climb toheft the bags into place.We were so close to each other.Even in the low light, I saw the scarabove his eye that reminded me of all we d lived through in Korea.Even over the strawsurrounding us, I smelled his familiar scent.He was all I could see, all I could feel, even withouttouching him.A part of me knew I d carry those sensations with me for the rest of my life.Butthis was the last time they d be real.I knew as I reached for him, it was the last time we d makelove.Kyle sucked in a deep breath, the ache of his grandpa s pain so real to him.What must ithave been like to be gay back then? To feel like you had no options? Like no matter what choiceyou made, you d lose?Evan slowly closed the book.He wouldn t look at Kyle.He said, This has to be wherethey were.But where would they hide it?Kyle examined the walls.They were thin.Too thin to have a secret compartment filledwith bags of money. He said Joe had to climb? Yeah. Evan shone the flashlight above their heads.A long ledge ran above them along the side of the barn from corner to corner.Withoutlooking, Kyle knew both the opposite side and back wall of the barn had the same construction.The wooden planks had probably been added at some point to protect the hayloft s contents fromany leaks where the roof met the barn s outer walls or to create another level of storage.Hecould not recall his grandfather or cousin ever utilizing the small space.He pointed overhead. There.That ledge has been there as long as I can remember.Evan nodded. That wood looks old.Do you think it ll hold us? Maybe. We could climb back up to the top of the hay and stack more bales until we can reach it.They set to work, scaling the sides of the hay, then stacking bales into a crisscross patternto create a makeshift ladder.Nate remained in the small enclosure below, standing still as Kyleand Evan moved the bales around.The man looked exhausted. Move back, Kyle called down to him, and then he rolled a hay bale into the enclosure. Have a seat.Nate nodded and sat on the bale.He watched as they finished creating the ladder above.After a few minutes of work, Kyle and Evan were eye level with the ledge.At this angle,they could see it was actually made up of a long beam.The beam created the outer edge of theledge and ran the length of the barn.It had flat planks of wood attached above and below, and172 Sloan Parkereach plank spanned from the beam to the barn wall.The money could be hidden on the other sideof the beam in the space between the flat boards.Kyle and Evan stood on the top hay bale, staring into the dark space above the ledge.Thebarn was even darker at this height, the boards of the ledge shielding most of the light frombelow.They d need to use the flashlight to get a good look.Kyle paused.What if they found it? Want me to look? Evan asked. No.I have to do this.I already know he helped them hide the money.Actually seeing itwon t make a difference. Here. Evan handed over the flashlight. Thanks.Wait here for me while I check it out? Their fingers touched as Kyle took holdof the flashlight. I m not going anywhere. Evan held the touch for a moment more before letting go.Kyle wanted to believe those words meant something more than what they were actuallydiscussing.Now wasn t the time to ask.He gave Evan a nod, then hoisted himself onto the ledge.The space wasn t tall enough to stand, especially with the angle of the roof overhead, so he hadto remain on his hands and knees.He bounced a little to test the sturdiness of the aging wood.The best approach would be to move along the floor over the beam, rather than put his weightover the empty space alongside it.He moved forward along the beam s path.He started in the corner, shining the light around, searching the walls and floors for anysign of a hiding spot or loose floorboards.He made his way toward the front of the barn, theboards below him creaking as he went.He searched that corner, then returned to where he dstarted.Nothing.The exterior barn walls were one-board thick.The rafters of the roof overhead weresmaller than the beam below him.There was no place to stash anything as large as a bag ofmoney except under the floorboards.The boards were old, but the few he d examined were stillfirmly secured.He couldn t pry them loose with just his hands.Besides, they couldn t pry up every board in the place.They d be there all night.Hewanted Evan s opinion, but he couldn t see him from this angle.He crawled forward.Thefloorboard under his right knee gave a little.The rotting wood had it sagging in the middle,creating a sliver of space between it and the next plank.He slid his fingertips into the crevice andtried to pull up the end of the plank.It wouldn t budge.Something told him not to give up.Not yet.He set the flashlight down so it shone over the area where he worked.He tried the nextplank that was just as sunk in as the first.It was even more secure.He moved forward and triedanother.He was about to give up and tell Evan they d need a crowbar when the last plank hetried loosened on the first pull.He yanked on it more, and the board jerked free, sending himflying backward on his ass, almost smacking himself in the forehead with the piece of wood stillclutched in both of his hands [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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