"I ain't seen Pa in nigh onto a month. I'll probly jist stay here with him. I reckon Billy Ray should stay here too."
Aslin glanced at her brother and then back at Ma. "Well, I certainly don't want to push you." She smiled all pretty and dainty. "Billy Ray is welcome to come with us. If you need someone to pick him up…"
"If he goes, Mary Jo will have to watch him. I reckon she don't mind, but…"
Aslin gathered her perfect brows into a frown. "I thought Billy Ray was a teenager."
Ma sighed. "He is, but he's…he's like an eight year old boy."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
Aslin's features melted into that sad look that they had come out here to escape. Billy Ray didn't need their pity and the fact that he needed someone to watch him didn't make him a burden.
Ma shrugged. "It is what it is. He' pleasures me right well."
Aslin's features warmed with a smile. "I didn't mean to imply that you didn't love him."
"Never thought you did. I was blessed with three younguns and all of them lived. Out here, Billy Ray doesn't even know he's different."
Aslin watched her a moment, as if giving her words considerable thought. "I never thought of that. I only had one child and I adore him. I can't imagine that it would be any different with three children - even if one has special needs. But it must be more difficult for you at times."
Ma nodded. "In some ways, I reckon, but he makes up for it in others."
Aslin was quiet a moment and when she did speak; her voice was so soft that Ma had to listen close to catch all the words.
"And your son has a father. Barrett was eight years old when I divorced his father. He built a tree house and spent most of his time there that summer." She grimaced - the first expression that didn't seem staged. "John thought Barrett would fall out of a tree house, so he wouldn't build one. When Barrett built it on his own, John said he was stubborn and disobedient. He said Barrett would never amount to anything." Her gaze came back to Ma and she smiled. "But I believe he already has. I'm proud of him for what he has achieved on his own." She looked at Del. "Especially after the accident."