Going Home

Part 32

After a couple of minutes of driving along the narrow side road Josh pointed to a turning on the right “okay stop here and I’ll open the gate.”

But before he got out Grace grabbed his hand and pulling him towards her she gave him a quick kiss before looking at him with a concerned expression, “remember what ever happens, I love you, okay?”

Giving her a lopsided smile Josh touched her face “thanks.”

Grace smiled back at him “no worries” and she released his hand.

Josh opened the gate across the driveway to the farm and waited for Grace to drive though. But hearing the sound of metal on metal as he secured the gate with the chain, memories invaded his head. He must have done this thousand’s of times as he was growing up, opening the gate, waiting for his dad to drive through, before shutting it again. It was part of the daily life of living on a farm, and drilled into him from the minute he was old enough to understand, never leave a gate open. As he continued to stand there he suddenly remembered how he and Gavin fought constantly about whose turn it was. Caught off guard by the direction of his thoughts Josh quickly turned away from the gate, he hadn’t thought about him and Gavin as kids for years, hadn’t been able to, but since his mother made contact with him, he couldn’t seem to stop those memories from coming. Walking back to the car Josh looked out over the farm and his mind turned yet again to contemplation of the meeting ahead with his father. He had a feeling it was going to be more difficult than the first meeting with his mother. But at least she should have filled him in on a few things so he wouldn’t be starting from scratch again.

 Josh got back in the car and Grace set it in motion again. She could see the farm house now and knew the next few minutes were going to be telling. Looking over at Josh, his expression gave nothing away but she knew he was nervous. Pulling up in front of the house Grace turned off the engine and looked at him, “ready?”

Nodding Josh opened the door and stepped out. Like the town they passed through, the farm looked nearly exactly the same as the day he left. It seemed to him that time had stood still and all of a sudden he was seventeen again. But turning back to the house, the feeling was gone as Josh saw his mother coming down the few steps from the veranda towards them. She was smiling but looking over her shoulder Josh saw his father.