Ascension - Book Eight - Man x Man

Chapter 69

Worried about what might happen, worried about what he might do, what Caspian could possibly say to lure him back in. On the front porch, my eyes searched wildly, trying to spot the gray hair that would lead me to find him intact. 

There was nobody who I feared could harm my husband in any real sense, nobody save for Caspian.

John shocks me, for I shock him, nearly knocking him over in my haste. "What's on fire?" He grumbles. 

"Verando?" I demand, my wolf plots the torture of how to get this man to talk, to extract the information I needed. 

Gesturing with his head, he straightens out his shirt. "Sent 'em off to clear out the woods that kid of yours destroyed. Caspian seemed convinced that Verando could do it, my tractor's down, I left 'em to it. Aint much for help with these old bones, Tyler's tryin' to smooth things over with Helen and Landon 'n K are about as much help as... well they ain't. So I've got to fix this tractor."

I'd never met a man who spoke so slow, who took so long to form a thought, my mind races over to the destination. Move the trees? By hand? I shudder, I hadn't hardly gotten to use my strength and the thought boggled my mind considering how broken my husband's body already seemed. Jumping off the porch, I storm towards the woods as John clears his throat. 

"I know you're young and a king or something, but in old man speak, that means I'd like some help." He snaps, tonguing his cheek as I freeze in my tracks. 

"I don't know the first thing about whatever it is you're trying to fix." I retort strongly. I didn't have time for this, I had to get to Verando, I had to make sure he was ok.

"So you can't learn?" He accuses. 

Swallowing back the irritation rising in my throat, I relax my shoulders. I'd asked Jan to be more understanding, to help me if she truly wanted to aid us, and in that, I supposed I had to adhere to my own words. 

We make our way down the dirt path that bordered one of the fields, full and ready for a fall harvest by the looks of it. He walks so painfully slow, forcing me to lengthen my stride and slow my gait to make up for his ambling. A part of me wished to carry him, listening to the occasional grunt that coupled his right hip bearing the weight of his body. 

I listen to the wet gush of his heart, slower then faster, heavier with an almost slippery undertone. His labored breathing made me flinch, did I sound like this when I was human? Since coming to this time, I had hardly gotten a moment to truly sit in the quiet. Besides the distant chirp of birds and a slow breeze, there wasn't much noise out here. 

We had been less than admirable when it came to being a proper guest. Given the poor introduction, the sour taste in my mouth still hadn't subsided, but I supposed it was still expected of us to attempt to be courteous. I spy the lumbering steel beast nestled in the path where it died, halfway into a line of corn. Judging by the growth around the tires and the dried tilled earth, it'd been here for longer than the older man cared to admit. 

"Is that why you've not brought in your harvest?" I came from a farming country, I could tell overgrown crops when I saw them. 

Grumbling to himself, John wipes his brow with a rag from his rear pocket. "Surrounded by women, my son's gone and run off to save the planet, can't call him up and tell him to come home for something like this, can I? If ya can't tell, I'm old. Getting the parts for this thing ain't easy, trucks also actin' up."

Sighing, I nod once. I was armed with my husband's credit card, surely I could put some of this angst behind us if I helped out. "How much will it cost?"

Scowling the old man rolls his eyes heavily, "God above you're blunt. No, son, I'm not talking about cash. I'm damn old, I can't get the damned nuts and bolts turned and I can't get the truck jacked up. You're young, lift shit."