The Last One

THE LAST ONE Chapter Eight-Sam

I WAS USED TO living withwomen. My grandmother had lived with us until her death, so betweenher, my mom and Ali, Dad and I had been outnumbered. And even aftershe wasn't around, it always felt like the females were predominantin our home. I was okay with that; they treated me well, fed me andkept me from making stupid mistakes most of the time.

After Grandma and thenmy parents were gone, it was just Ali and me. She was young, butshe'd picked up where Mom had left off, taking on the cooking andmost of the housework. Her marriage to Craig was a little bit of asurprise, and it left me with a house that felt empty. I learned toget by on my own. When Ali and Bridget moved home, my sister'dpicked up her role in my life as if she'd never left, and there wasno doubt her little girl had me wrapped around her finger. I wasused to being in the minority. I could deal with it.

Or so I'd thought.

In the two weeks she'dbeen living in our house, somehow Meghan had shifted the balance sothat sometimes I felt like I was an interloper in my own home. Ithought I knew what it must be like in college sorority, thanks tothe giggling, the private jokes and the chick flicks on TV in theevenings. My sister had morphed from the mature, responsible womanI'd known for the past seven years to a teasing, winkingteeny-bopper.

And Bridget wasn't anybetter. She was thriving with the extra attention and was quick totell me each night how much everyone at school loved the new artteacher. She brought home different projects each day, and even Ihad to admit that it was cool to see the improvements in her workwhen she pointed them out to me. But the breaking point came onelate afternoon when I came in from the fields to find the three ofthem in the living room, with the carpet rolled up, dancing to somecrazy music from Meghan's iPod blaster.

Seeing them jumping andgyrating around was the final straw. I needed to escape all theestrogen that was flowing through my house before it consumed meand I found myself doing the cha-cha slide or whatever the hellthey called it. So as we finished dinner, I announced that I wasgoing into town to run some errands.

"Tonight?" Ali frownedat me. "Can't it wait until tomorrow? I can pick up what you need.I'm helping Meghan at the school for a few hours in theafternoon."

"No, it really can't." Ispoke more adamantly than I'd intended, and they all three lookedat me in surprise. "I mean, I need this part for the tractor firstthing in the morning. I've got to go round to Boomer's and then tothe hardware store and talk to Mitch. And I want to see if Mr.Harper's around, so I can ask him about the bees."

"Okay." Ali shrugged. "Iwas just trying to save you a trip."

"Yeah, thanks. I'm goingto head out now. See y'all later." I practically ran through thedoor, and I was pretty sure I heard giggling behind me as I gotinto the truck. The sound went right up my spine and bounced aroundin my head. God, did I need this break.

I stopped at thehardware store first and picked up a few things I knew I was goingto need in the coming weeks. None of it was pressing, but Ali wouldgrill me if I came home empty-handed. I spent a solid half-hourshooting the breeze with Larry, the store's owner. I worked for himpart-time in the winters to make ends meet when the stand wasclosed, and he was a decent guy. It was a relief to talk baseball,whatever bugs were trying to eat my cucumber plants and even alittle town politics. He didn't once mention art, pop culture ornail polish, and for that I was grateful.

I swung by Boomer'safter that, catching him just before he closed up.

"Hey, boy. Whatchaneed?" He leaned back against his paper-strewn desk, keys in hishand.

"Hey, Boomer. Do me afavor and take some part you have laying around that you don't needand toss it in a paper bag for me."

The older man folded hisarms across his broad chest and cocked his head. "Say what? Littleearly for drinking, isn't it, Sam?"