Stephanie Bond - Baby, Come Home

W ere way behind schedule, Marcus Armstrong announced.

Thats ridiculous, Porter Armstrong said, smacking his hand on the desk between them. Were way ahead of schedule!

Kendall Armstrong looked back and forth between his older brother and his younger brother and gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to jump in, like always, to mediate between his stubborn siblings. Serious-minded Marcus had a tendency to be overly cautious, and the more reckless Porter had a predisposition for leaping before he lookedliterally. His younger brother had only recently rid himself of the casts on his broken leg and broken arm that had kept him hobbled for the whole summer and most of the fall. With the holidays behind them and a new year begun, everyone was feeling the pressure of the one year plus change that remained on the federal deadline to prove their green experiment of rebuilding the mountain town of Sweetness, Georgia, would work. The brothers had started from nothingworse than nothing, really. Ten years ago an F5 tornado had flattened their small hometown, sparing human life, but obliterating businesses and homes. The devastation had been the death knell for the tiny town already dwindling in population and economic prosperity. The town council had elected not to reorganize; residents had relocated. When the Armstrongs had arrived a year ago, the roads into Sweetness were choked and overgrown, the land consumed with kudzu vines and littered remains of buildings, vehicles and trees shorn by the twister. Wild animals roamed freely among the rubble. It was as if the outside world had forgotten about Sweetness.

Now, including the two hundred and fifty or so workers the men employed, the hundred or so women whod come en masse from Broadway, Michigan, in response to an ad the brothers had placed in a local newspaper, looking for women who wanted a fresh start, their children and miscellaneous relatives who had since followed, and various professionals and trade experts whod come to help them shape the town, the population of Sweetness had grown to Kendall turned his head to look at the latest number written on the chalkboard by the door536. Ahead of schedule? Marcus said to Porter. What calendar are you looking at?

The same one youre looking at, Porter said, jerking his thumb toward the giant calendar that papered the walls of the office.

Oh, yeah?

Yeah!

They suddenly stopped and looked over at Kendall, who sat in a chair across the room.

Arent you going to weigh in? Marcus asked.

Youre just going to sit there? Porter said.

Kendall pursed his mouth and nodded. Thats right. He scooted his seat back against the wall, then made a rolling motion with his hands. Go ahead, have at each other. Settle this like real men. Porter hasnt been in a cast for a while.

Marcus frowned. You dont have to be sarcastic.

Porter scowled. Yeah, it doesnt suit you, brother.

Anger sparked in Kendalls stomach, sending him to his feet. Really? Because it feels pretty damn good! Im tired of constantly trying to wrestle you both back to middle ground. Youre wearing me out. I have half a mind to leave this place and never come back!

He stopped, surprised but relieved that hed voiced the thought that had been hovering in the back of his mind for months now. His brothers gaped at him.

Leave? Marcus said, sounding alarmed.

You cant leave, Porter said, his eyes wide. Not now, not when everything is going so well.

Kendall gave a little laughhis brother could afford to be cavalier since hed fallen in love with the town physician, Dr. Nikki Salinger. Everything is going well for you, Porter. You have Nikki and youve started building your own home. You have a reason to stay here. He stopped, before he said too much. Before he revealed the cause of his increasing restlessness.

But from the way the expressions on his brothers faces changed, he knew hed tipped his hand.

This is about Amy Bradshaw, Marcus said.

Porter sighed. Kendall, why dont you just call Amy and ask her to come back home?

Kendall fisted his hands. How many times do I have to tell you? She told me to leave her alone. She doesnt want to have anything to do with me. He exhaled, shaking his head. I was able to put her out of my mind when I was in the Air Force, but coming back here dredged things up again. He stopped, embarrassed, expecting one of his brothers to step in to rib him.

But they didnt. They just looked at him with such pity, he couldnt bear it. He was pathetic, he conceded. Amy Bradshaw had left Sweetness over twelve years ago, before the tornado had struck. Hed come home from the Air Force to attend her aunts funeral, and Amy had expected to leave with him. But he wasnt ready to get married. When hed suggested she stay in Sweetness for a while to give herself time to grieve her aunts passing, shed turned cold. Her parting words were branded in his brain.

You think Im going to sit in this podunk town and wait for you? Forget it. Goodbye, Kendall. And dont ever try to contact me.

Shed left. Climbed into her beater Chevy and drove away without looking back.

He hadnt known where she was for the longest time. Shed left a few distant relatives in Sweetness, but none of them had been close to Amyor forthcoming about where shed moved, if theyd known. Hed almost gone mad with worry until a buddy in the Air Force with superior computer skills had tapped into some kind of national database and traced her social security number.

Broadway, Michigan, the man had announced. Want her address and particulars?

Kendall had passed. He hadnt wanted to violate Amys privacy. And he really didnt want to know if she was living with someone, or perhaps even married and hadnt changed her name. It was enough to know where shed landed, that she had found a new place to call home. But hed thought of her every day for the past twelve years.