“Isaac hasn’t been home for a Sunday dinner in over a year. We’ve all invited him, but he never once came until now. There must be something he sees in you that he hadn’t seen in anyone before.”
“Or maybe he was just ready to come home,” I said.
“He’s always been very independent. Moved out as soon as he turned eighteen and he’s had a job since he was fifteen. I think the big family life wasn’t for him,” she said.
“He loves his family, but he’s also very stubborn and likes to do things how he wants to do them. Don’t worry, I have a feeling this won’t be the last time he makes it back here for family dinner.”
“I hope you’re right. I’ve missed seeing my boy.”
“You’re welcome to stop by his house anytime.”
“Oh no, I don’t want to walk in on anything that I won’t be able to forget. If you get what I mean,” she said, and I could feel my face heat up.
“Definitely call first,” I said, and she laughed. “Okay let’s go get everyone. I’m sure Isaac is ready to pop a vein wondering what we’ve been talking about.” And just like that, I think I had her approval.
I looked toward the sliding door to see him standing there, eyes wide with worry and concern. My feet were immediately in motion and as soon as I slid the door open, I pulled him into my arms. “It’s okay, she doesn’t hate me,” I whispered.
Twenty-Seven
Isaac
I had to admitit wasn’t so bad having Tig meet my family. He blended in with them all and didn’t act like anything was a big deal, even when my mom forced him to help her so she couldtalk to him on her own. I knew those talks and I was glad to have avoided them for the past few years.
“I like your family,” Tig had said when we drove away, and for reasons I couldn’t explain I loved knowing he felt that way. No matter how much they drove me crazy they were still my family, and I loved them all.
“I can’t believe you told my mom to stop by my house for a visit,” I grumbled.
“Well, I did tell her to call first.”
“Yeah, that was smart,” I said as we drove to work. Usually, we drove separately but since he’d stayed at my house last night, we decided it was just as easy to go in one vehicle. Then I thought of my mom walking in on us and tried not to show how horrified I felt when I pictured it. “I really hope she does.”
We were early for work, and walked off in opposite directions to start whatever project we had for the day. “Hey, kid, we’re going to be rewiring this fan assembly today. It’s been glitching and I have a feeling the wiring is damaged,” Roger said as soon as I walked into the control room.
I walked over to get a closer look at the massive fan. It had a heating unit at one end to blow heated air through the grain so it dried faster and didn’t leave a chance for mildew or bacteria build up from being packed together in a damp environment.Damn, I guess I have learned a few things because when I started here, I wouldn’t have known that.There was a massive wiring harness with a large coil of wires going into the back of it all. “Do we need to replace the whole harness?”
“Yes, it would be too complicated to replace one wire, and it’s safer to replace it all.” He walked over to where I stood and looked at what tools we’d need before walking away. “We’ll need to turn the power off to do it, don’t touch anything until it’s dead,” he said.
I kept moving wires looking for any wear when I noticed a few of them melted together near where it all went into the back of the heater. “It looks like it melted.”
“Careful, it probably had a short. You don’t want to get shocked by that sucker,” Roger warned. He looked at the connections again before going back to get another tool.
“I’m going to start on loosening this outside bolt,” I said as I tried to turn it. It must have been painted on because the wrench popped loose and dropped into the wires we’d been looking at. Without thinking I reached for it.
Someone was tapping my cheek; I knew they were talking to me, but couldn’t understand what they were saying, and my eyes didn’t want to open. I tried to speak but my mouth wasn’t cooperating either, so I just stayed where I was and didn’t try to move. “Isaac!” Someone yelled my name making me jump. Roger, it was Roger. “I’ll be right back.”
The hum of the machines in another part of the dryer was all I could hear, and my heartbeat seemed to be faster than usual. It didn’t feel odd to me that I was lying down at work or that I couldn’t get up. I was just going to stay here the rest of the day and take it easy.
“Isaac!” I knew that voice, and it wasn’t Roger. “Can you hear me?”Tig.“We called an ambulance; they’ll be here any minute. I’m right here and I’m not going anywhere.” There were other voices and even though they were familiar I couldn’t put a face or a name to them, and I still couldn’t force my eyes open or move.
“He got lucky, if it hadn’t blown the wrench out of his hand it would have been worse.”Roger, that was Roger.A smell hit me then, like burnt hair, and a hand caressed my cheek.
“You’ll be okay. Don’t worry, I promise you’ll be okay,” Tig said. I tried again to open my eyes or move but I was frozen and numb. Except for my hand that felt like it had electric current running through it.
“Wha—”
“Don’t try to talk. They’re here,” Tig said. Then there were more voices and people were touching me and talking about things I didn’t understand about heart rates, and burns, and how lucky I was. Then some of them lifted me enough to put me on another surface which was raised before it started moving.
“Tig,” I managed to say, and moved my hand. He took it and held on tight.
