Grabbing Hold (The Motorcycle Kid #1)

8. Beans n' Stuff

Saturday morning was hot and humid. All across the farm, people were trying desperately to keep cool. Felicity and Dorothy were in the kitchen, cleaning up the breakfast dishes.

John and Miss Tulesa were cleaning out the chicken shed, and Will was on the porch, mopping his forehead with a cloth. It was barely nine in the morning, but the sun was already scorching hot.

Ryder too was sweating profusely. He'd just returned from lifting a dozen bags of flour from the back of Jonathan's pickup to the storage barn on the other side of the farmhouse. The barn was one of the last pieces of the original farm, which had been around for at least three generations before Dominique Tulesa.

Ryder heaved out a sigh, and turned to wipe the sweat off his forehead. He headed back inside, into the bathroom, and washed his face clean. When that didn't work, he pulled his t-shirt off and walked over to the window. He still had a pounding headache from all the drinks the night before. He hadn't been drunk, but he'd consumed enough alcohol to give him a whacking.

Ryder wasn't used to this kind of manual labour. Football-related tasks requiring physical strength and fitness, sure. Lugging around enough bags of flour to feed an entire town? He wasn't so sure.

He flopped out across the bed, reaching for his backpack. Digging into the bag, he pulled out his headphones, plugging them into his phone.

Checking his credit balance, he swore as he realized his data plan had expired, and there was no Wi-Fi at all on this side of this pint-sized town.

"May as well get up," he told himself, pulling on a fresh shirt and heading back down the stairs.

"Where are you off to?" Dorothy asked when he shut the door behind him.

"Wi-Fi." He said, showing her the empty network screen. "Have to check in with my mom." Dorothy smiled.

"Have fun."

"Do you know where I can top my phone up?"

"Gas station, T-Mobile, the convenience store, probably. I'm on the bill."

Ryder rolled his eyes jovially. "I hear ya. I'll be back later."

"Are you taking your bike?"

"Why?" he asked apprehensively.

"Well, it's gonna need gas soon, no?"

"Your point?"

"Where are you gonna get the money to get gas?"

"I'm not broke, and I'm not on welfare. I've still got some cash to my name."

Ryder seemed offended by his aunt's inquiry. His so-called 'family' hadn't been mighty impressive so far, and the last thing he wanted to talk about was money. He had about two hundred and fifty dollars left on his bank account, and about fifty in cash.

"I'm just saying, there are lots of stores willing to offer summer jobs here in MV. We could hook you up if you wanted us to."

Ryder thought it over. He could use a job.

Of course, his pride won out once more.

"If I wanted to get a job, I'd get it myself."

Dorothy avoided his gaze, looking at the ground. "We're just trying to do right by you, Ryder," she said softly.

"Do right by me?" Ryder echoed. "If you'd been interested in doing right by me, you wouldn't have shunned my mother over something she couldn't control."

His aunt stared at him full-on.

"No one is holding what happened to your mother against her. You'd do well to remember that."