Wesley Weyandt's Arc

Chapter 5 of 6

Wesley sat beside Katie on the top step with the coffee between them. The shepherd's chin was warm on her knee. He was about to ask her about the drive when a truck rolled up the gravel and stopped short of the barn. A man got out. Wesley did not know him. He was older, in a canvas jacket, alone. He looked at the sign on the post and did not go to the barn. He walked halfway up the drive and stopped where the light from the porch reached him. "Heard you got the wolf," the man said. "In the barn," Wesley said. "Sign says look yourself." "I read it." The man did not move toward the barn. He stood there with his hands in his jacket pockets. Katie's hand found the back of Wesley's wrist. She did not squeeze. She just set it there. "Something I can do for you," Wesley said. "I knew your grandfather," the man said. "I wanted to see the place before dark." Wesley felt his jaw tighten. He had two hours of light left with Katie and this man wanted a tour. "It's the same place," Wesley said. "Barn's open. Take your look and go on." The man did not go to the barn. He looked at the house. He looked at the tree line. He looked back at Wesley on the step and the woman beside him and the dog. "I heard about the tax notice," the man said. "Down at the feed store. Ninety days." Wesley stood up. Katie's hand fell from his wrist. The shepherd stood too and moved one step down the porch, its eyes bright and steady on the stranger. "That's my business," Wesley said. "I'm not offering money," the man said. "I'm telling you your uncle's been asking after this land. He's talking to the county." Wesley went still. The coffee cooled on the step behind him. "Why tell me," Wesley said. "Because your grandfather was decent to me once," the man said. "And your uncle isn't." He looked at the barn like he had forgotten it was there. "I don't need to see the wolf." He walked back to his truck. He shut the door soft. He backed down the drive and the headlights swept the porch rail Wesley had fixed that afternoon. Wesley sat back down. His hands were cold. Katie picked up her coffee and held it in both hands and did not say anything for a long minute. "Your uncle," she said finally. "Yeah." "The one who sold the first place." "Yeah." She set the coffee down. She turned so her knee touched his. "Okay," she said. "So we move faster." Wesley looked at her. She was already thinking. He could see it in her eyes. "We," he said. "We," she said. Then, flat, "Don't make it weird." He laughed once, short. The shepherd sat down between them and faced the empty drive.