The Jump

12 Dinner Date

Merrill crashed his ax against a block of wood, splitting it in two. His forehead was sprinkled with sweat even though little puffs of fog escaped his mouth. After speaking with Lucinda, he had more pep in his step as he completed his morning chores. He was excited for his trip to Breeze Bay. It had been so long since he left the farm for vacation that he was half tempted to get an early start on it. He could picture Lucinda's shock at the sight of him at her door, earlier than expected. Her eyebrows would most likely fly up to her hairline along with the widening of her eyes to the size of the moon. He chuckled at that thought. Her face certainly didn't hide her emotions very well. Instead they rolled out across her face like a red carpet.

As he went to swing the ax again, he paused in mid air. From the corner of his eye he saw Duncan walking toward him. He set the ax down and folded his arms with his mouth curling into an angry frown. Ever since Lucinda's departure, Duncan had been showing up less and less. Which Merrill had predicted, but he never anticipated just how absent he would become.

"Where've you been?" Merrill asked and reached for the ax.

The young man ducked his chin to his chest and stared sheepishly at the ground as he stopped in front of Merrill. His hands were buried deep in his pockets, causing his shoulders to hunch around his neck, making it disappear. "Just hanging with some friends..."

"What friends? You don't have any."

"Well I do. Ok?" Duncan snapped, only briefly looking up at the man.

"Bull! Since when have you had friends."

"Since now!" he spat out.

"Oh really?" Merrill challenged. "And what kind of friends drag you away from your responsibilities here?"

"You don't even pay me."

"I pay you in life experiences." Merrill grunted as he swung the ax again. When Duncan didn't respond, he continued. "One day, when you're older, you're going to be thankful for the old man who taught you how to repair a car, how to take care of a farm and how to make repairs on the home." He swung the ax with another grunt and for each point he made to Duncan, he drove the ax into the wood. "I've taught you how to build your own furniture." Thwack. "How to cook." Thwack. "How to fish..." Thwack. "One day you'll have a wife and children and you'll have the skills to take care of them."

Duncan was quiet for a while as Merrill continued to chop the wood. Then he finally said, "yeah but, none of those things will help me make money."

"No?" Merrill set the ax down onto the ground with a thud and began counting on his fingers. "I've taught you how to re-roof my home. I've taught you how to rebuild cars. I've taught you how to-"

"And for all of those you at least need some sort of college for employers to even want to hire you!" Duncan spat out. "Every single job I've looked at, they all ask for some level of college... but I barely passed high school! So I signed up for online classes and that's where I've been! But since my uncle doesn't have a computer, I have to drive into town to use the ones at the library."

The scowl on Merrill's face instantly melted after hearing his words, but then he pushed his brows together in confusion. "Online classes?"

"Yeah..." Duncan looked down at his feet. "Lucinda told me about them before she left."

"She did?" Merrill's face brightened with a soft smile. Of course she would find a way to help the young man. She cared about him and that warmed Merrill's heart since he loved Duncan like a grandson. "Well, what kind of classes are you taking?"