Barrett wasn't at all sure that talking to Mary Jo right now was the best course of action. In fact, he didn't have a clue what to say that might make her feel better. All the same, he headed out the back door to do as Ma suggested. Maybe if he told her a little more about his life, she would feel less threatened.
He found her outside, leaning against the fence, wiping tears from her eyes. His stomach lurched. He had caused her tears and Ma said she was having a hard time. Ma wanted to get her a car so she could get a job and have a life. What kind of life was it for her out here? Maybe she wasn't as content as he had thought.
He strolled up and stopped beside her, looking across the field at the forest. For a moment he was silent, trying to decide where to start. Without looking at her tear stained face, he began to talk quietly about his life.
"My parents separated when I was young and I didn't see much of my Dad. He wanted me to be a doctor or a lawyer, so when I announced that I was going to college to be a…forest ranger…he was pretty disappointed. Mom wanted to pay for my college tuition, but I was prideful and stubborn. I worked my way through college. There wasn't much time for a social life, and I'm not much given to that kind of thing anyway."
When he glanced at her, she was watching him with a surprised expression. She wiped her cheek with the back of her hand. "What did your…Dad…say when you lost your…had your accident? Was he sorry for the way he had acted?"
He turned and placed an arm across the fence, giving her a wry smile. "He said if I had gone to the college he wanted me to attend, I wouldn't have been working with Uncle Del."
She caught her breath. "What a terrible thing to say! If he'da let you do what you wanted to do, it wouldn't have happened, neither."
He shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it was fate. I could have lost my leg in a car accident. I'm not sorry about what I did - except for the fact that it caused my uncle to feel guilty. I regret that part."
She sighed and leaned her arms on the fence. "I know what you mean. My Pa wants me to stay here with Ma, where it's safe. He's afeared of me bein' out in the crazy world on my own."