The Farmer's Son

Chapter 3 Secret Keepers

Dawn was just a suggestion on the horizon of the midnight blue sky when inside the darkened house, low canine panting and the click of uncut nails broke the slumbering silence. Traveling down the staircase, past the kitchen and towards the back of the house, a dark, shaggy shape passed through the open door of the small bedroom and jumped up onto the bed with the lone figure. A wet nose sniffed around, and then a wet tongue began to lick at the exposed face.

"Ughhhh," Ray groaned, disgusted and annoyed. "Jesus. Do you have to do this every morning?" Bear continued to lick him vigorously, his breath atrocious and hot on Ray's face. "I've slept with my fair share of dogs," Ray said, pushing the dog's snout away. "But you definitely have the worse breath."

Bear, his wake-up duty done, lay across the bed with his head on Ray's bare abdomen. Ray slept in the nude; even when he went to bed with clothes, he would remove them in his sleep so that he always woke up naked. At a certain point, it just made more sense to not bother putting any on. He glanced at the clock—four-thirty. He didn't have to be awake for another half hour. Turning on his side, and dislodging Bear, he pulled the quilted comforter up around his shoulders. Moments after he did, Bear crawled over him and began to lick his ear.

"You're not going to let me go back to sleep, are you?" came his voice muffled in the pillow. When a low ruff sounded in his ear, Ray sat up suddenly, grabbed the dog's face with both hands and planted a rough, noisy kiss on the shaggy head. As if that was what he was waiting for, Bear jumped off the bed and bounded out the open door. Ray couldn't help but laugh.

Outside the open curtains of the room's double window, a pale yellow glow formed on the horizon. On the ranches of Montana, he'd had to be up before the sun, but here, it seemed like the sun never set, lasting long into the night and already over the horizon when he woke up. Ray settled against the pillows and was just beginning to doze again when footsteps sounded in the hall. Seconds later Noah burst through his doorway, banging the door off the wall and flicking on the light, flooding the room with sharp brightness.

"Hey!" Ray cried out, shooting up in bed, grabbing the comforter around him, and squinting around in the sudden glare.

"Nothing I ain't seen before, boy," Noah said. "I got a call from Bill, our fertilizer's coming in this morning, so I'm heading into town."

"Sir," Ray said, in confusion and confirmation, holding the comforter up to his chest almost protectively.

"I want you doing the porch today," Noah said. "I'll be back before lunch. Let Alan know."

"Yes, sir," Ray said.

Noah disappeared as abruptly as he arrived, boots thumping down the hall. There was the clatter of the front door opening and closing, then the attenuating rumble of the truck.

With a deep sigh, Ray fell back into bed and closed his eyes. When he woke again his room was full of sunlight, and he could smell the tantalizing aroma of pancakes and coffee. Flipping the comforter back, he swung his legs to the cool floor and stood. Rubbing out his neck, he moved toward a chair in the corner where his duffle bag sat, spilling out clothes. He had just stepped into a pair of jeans when his door burst open for the second time today, and another Walker man walked in.

"Oh—!" Alan exclaimed in surprise, pivoting quickly on his heel to put his back to Ray. "Sorry!"

Ray laughed. "I know I'm not a pretty picture in the morning, but you don't have to scream and run away."

"I'm sorry," Alan said, head down and eyes closed, with one hand over them. "I was coming to wake you. I didn't mean to—"

"It's fine," Ray said, adding with a smirk, "Nothing you haven't seen before, right?"