Welcome Home, Soldier

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ward stood on the back of the hay wagon as it lumbered along behind the baler. Sweat ran down his back between his shoulder blades. Baling had never been his favorite chore. Even thought it was usually hot as blazes, you still had to wear long pants and a long sleeved shirt despite the heat. The sharp ends of the mown hay could scratch the hell out of bare skin. Still riding the hay wagon and grabbing the bales with a hay hook as they came off the baler was preferable to stacking the hay as it came off the elevator into the super-heated loft. At least out here in the open field there was a chance of a breeze.

His brother Joe stood behind him. Ward tossed the bales to him to stack on the wagon bed. Joe was taller than Ward, but just as muscular. Whereas Ward’s head was shaved, Joe’s dark hair was shoulder length, today pulled back in a ponytail to keep it out of his face as he worked. Many people had told the brothers how strikingly handsome they were.

While you did have to pay attention to the constant parade of bales being dumped off the baler, it wasn’t the kind of job that demanded a lot of mental concentration, and Ward was free to think of Tyler and the night they’d just spent together.

How many times in the ten years since leaving Tyler sitting on his front porch had Ward envisioned their reunion? Yet, never in his wildest fantasies was it as good as the previous night had been. Ward wiped the sweat from his brow with a sleeve, smiled, and hummed a little tune.

“What the f**k?” Joe called over the noise of the machinery. “You musta really been missing this fuckin’ job to be smiling and humming. If I didn’t know you’d went to see Tyler, I’d a thought you’d got lucky.”

Ward laughed this off. Little did Joe know how lucky he’d been. Ward hooked another bale and threw it back to Joe.

“Speaking of getting lucky,” Joe said after stacking the bale on the almost full wagon. “Did you know that Emme Lou got divorced? Bet she’d be good for a screw if you needed it. I bet she never got over you leaving her like you did.”

“There’s more to life than getting laid,” Ward said as he heaved another bale in Joe’s direction.

“Well, if there is, I don’t wanna know about it. Nothing like a good f**k to make a man happy. And you ain’t gonna get that hanging out with your best bud.”

If you only knew, Ward thought with a smile.

However, Ward had to agree with what his brother said about a good f**k. The f**k was infinitely more meaningful when someone you loved was involved. He had come to realize that the previous night.

He and Tyler had been exclusive when they were in high school. Ward’s relationships had been anything but monogamous in the army, sleeping around with almost anyone who was willing, and usually only once. The contrast between that and what he had shared with Tyler the previous night made him realize how special what they’d had in high school had been. Hopefully, they now were about to establish it again.

Joe waved and shouted to their dad that the wagon was full. The elder Cartwright stopped the tractor. Ward jumped down off the wagon and unhooked it from the baler. Joe hopped off and trotted over to a second tractor which he drove back to Ward so he could hook up the hay wagon. Then Joe drove off to take the hay to the barn, where a crew of hired hands would stack it in the loft.

Ward’s dad turned off the motor and climbed down from the tractor seat. He carried a jug of water and offered it to his son.

Eldon Cartwright was one of those men about whom folks exclaimed, “I can’t believe you’re that old, you surely don’t look your age.” And it was true. He was tall and stood ramrod straight. One look at him and you knew immediately where Joe and Ward had gotten their good looks and solid builds. Eldon’s thick salt and pepper hair and beard, and blue eyes set off his face perfectly, tanned from many days of working the fields.

After both men had taken a drink, they leaned against the baler, waiting for Joe to return with an empty wagon.

“So how’s Tyler doing since his wife passed?” Ward’s dad asked his son.

“Seems to be handling it pretty well,” Ward answered.

“He’s got two boys, right?”

Ward nodded. “Yep, Eddie and Jack.”

“Eddie, huh?”

Ward smiled. “Yeah, they named him after me.”

The elder Cartwright hesitated a moment as if surprised at this bit of information. Ward wondered if the older man thought it strange that Tyler would name his son after Ward when Ward had run out on him just before the wedding.

Then his father said, “It’s going to be hard on ‘em not having a momma.”

“I suspect it will,” Ward responded, thinking of what Tyler had said about Eddie’s struggle to accept his mother’s passing.

Ward’s father continued. “Ain’t easy to be both momma and daddy to your kids. Sure hope Tyler can find someone so’s he won’t have to do it all alone.”

That statement brought Ward up short. Ward, up to this point, hadn’t thought much beyond the first time they would see each other. Ward hadn’t known whether Tyler would accept Ward being part of his life again. However, now that they had shared the previous night, what did lie ahead for them?

He certainly hadn’t thought of Tyler remarrying. He remembered what Tyler had said about not being able to leave town because of the mill, and that Summerville was still Summerville. Tyler had said that he didn’t want to lose Ward again; he and Ward would find a way to make it work for them. But that didn’t mean Tyler’s remarrying might not still be an option for him.

To reassure himself that Tyler must be serious about working something out, Ward said, “Tyler’s offered me a job at the mill.”

Ward’s father turned his head toward him. “Gonna pick up right where you left off, huh?”

A swoop of anxiety passed through Ward. He looked at his father. Did the old man suspect something?

“What?” Ward asked.

“Well, when you was kids, we’d hardly see one of you without the other. Kinda like you was joined at the hip.”

“He was my best friend,” Ward said, trying to keep his voice casual.

“Yep, and that made it seem strange that you left so sudden like. Didn’t even stay for his wedding. I’da thought you’d be his best man.”

Ward shrugged, he didn’t have an answer. Tyler had asked Ward to be his best man. But he couldn’t see himself standing up for the man he loved while that man was giving his heart to another.

“And speaking of getting married,” his father continued, “what about you? You thinking of settling down? You ain’t getting any younger. Believe me it ain’t easy keeping up with kids when you’re older.”

Ward knew what his father was referring to. He’d married late and had always regretted it.

“Been considering it, yeah,” Ward said, thinking of Tyler.

“So, when do you start at the mill?”

“Don’t know for sure. Tyler’s gonna check with his dad.”

“Huh,” the elder Cartwright humphed in a cynical tone. “The old man needs to get on with retirement and let the boy take over. Soon’s one of you two get settled, that’s what I’m gonna do. But sometimes I think Hell’ll freeze over first.”

They both laughed.

Just then Joe returned with the empty hay wagon. They went back to work.