Lib Novel Page 7
He headed to the kitchen sink to wash his hands.
“No worries, son,” Dad called back to him. “We know you had some errands to run and some neighbors to help out today.”
That made sense, but suddenly everyone was laughing again.
“Simon,” Mom said sharply. She clearly wasn’t as amused as the others.
Jared got a sinking feeling in his stomach that he knew what they were laughing about. He slunk over to his seat and glanced over at Derek, but his brother was studiously looking at his own bowl of chili.
His older brother, Josh, was grinning and shaking his head. And Josh’s guests, Luis and Jane, were smiling at him with twinkling eyes.
“I heard you went over and yelled at Cora Davies about that fence,” his mother said briskly. “You leave that poor woman alone. She’s been through enough.”
“Davies,” he echoed.
He’d heard that the woman was from out of town, but the Davies family was local. Ginny Davies was part of a trio of older women who were behind so many of the volunteer projects and fairs in town.
“She was married to Arthur Davies,” his mother said. “He passed almost two years ago now, I think.”
Arthur had been far enough ahead of Jared in school that he didn’t really know him—only vaguely thought of him as a nice guy. If Jared remembered right, he was Ginny’s son.
“You always get out of sorts this time of year,” Mom went on. “But speaking to Cora that way was unacceptable. I raised you better than that.”
“In fairness, I didn’t know she lost her husband,” Jared said carefully.
“Oh, that’s very clear from the story we heard,” his father said, chuckling. “She put you in your place though, didn’t she?”
Jared tried to scowl, but it came out as a half-smile. She really had put him in his place. And he hadn’t even known it until he was halfway home.
“Well, someone had to speak with her about that fence,” Jared said, shaking his head. “You don’t just come into town and put up a fence. That’s not how neighbors treat each other.”
“No, they just storm up and yell at each other,” Josh said, and then reflexively ducked as Jared threw a piece of cornbread at him.
Derek grabbed the cornbread from beside Josh’s plate, and ate it before Jared could get it back, while everyone else at the table smiled at their antics.
“Boys,” Mom said sharply.
“Sorry, Ma,” Josh said contritely.
“Your brother has a point, Jared,” Mom went on. “What did you do to be neighborly to Cora? She’s the one who’s new here.”
Jared nodded glumly. He had always been the type to go off half-cocked, especially when he was upset. He honestly hadn’t even planned out what he was going to say when he got over there.
Even if another man had bought that place and come out willing to talk with him, Jared probably would have just started yelling. Maybe he’d just been looking for a fight after all.
“Why don’t you give it some thought,” Dad said gently. “You’ve got all the time in the world to make a better second impression.”
Jared glanced up, wondering if his dad had somehow seen in his eyes that he’d been trying to get the widow out of his head all day.
But his father just smiled and took another bite of his chili.
The conversation moved on to the horse rehab facility Josh was building, and how his daughter Scout was having dinner at her cousin’s house in town.
But Jared found himself lost in his own thoughts. How was he supposed to be neighborly now when he hadn’t even asked her name before he started complaining about her fence?
Thinking back on the day, he had an idea. He could replace her mailbox. He could do it while she was over at the school tomorrow and leave a note for her, apologizing for his behavior today. It wasn’t much, but it was something.
The more he thought about it, the more he liked it. He couldn’t mess up and yell at her again if he didn’t even see her. And she definitely needed a new mailbox.