Chapter One
Braden
It’s early… too early for the average person to be up, but here I am, slowly plodding along in my old beat-up truck. The sun is barely visible in the dark sky and I silently wish that for once I could sleep through a sunrise. A tiny yawn comes from the seat beside me, reminding me why I can’t.
“How long will you be out there this time, Dad?” My son, Bear, sighs.
I notice him glance at my leg and I instantly feel guilty. He’s scared and I don’t know how to fix it. He hates my job and the dangers it brings, but I have no choice but to keep at it. I’m a logger, one who works on a contract-only basis, going from job to job, trying to make ends meet and build a better life for me and my son.
A couple of months ago, I was injured on a site in Alabama. Bear was terrified when he saw me in the hospital, afraid that he was going to lose the only parent he had left. My ex, his mother, ran off a year ago, leaving Bear and I to fend for ourselves. Her leaving didn’t bother me, not with the way she betrayed me, but she hasn’t even reached out to her son and I can see the pain that causes him. Now he’s worried every time I leave that I won’t be coming back, plus the accident I had didn’t help matters any. It looked bad at the time, but I walked away with a busted leg that causes me to limp. I can still work, so really no harm was done… at least not physically. Mentally, my young son is a mess.
“It’s a short one… only a few weeks. Plus, we’re back home in Florida. I figured you’d love that.” I flash a grin and give his knee a playful shake, but nothing makes him smile.
“I hate it here,” he says, more to himself, eyes trained on the window beside him. There’s nothing out there but woods and darkness, but it has his full attention.
“I know. I do too,” I softly agree. Damn, I thought being here would make him happy, but I guess I was wrong. “But Ms. Crumbly will be happy to see you. At least fake it for her, please.”
Soon, the woods thin out and the town makes its appearance, bringing with it the soft light of dawn. Things are always darker in the woods. We’re headed to our old neighborhood so I can drop him off with Ms. Crumbly, our old neighbor. When my ex skipped town, I sold our house, not wanting to be surrounded by the past. I was logger before I met her and took a job at the local lumber mill at her request. After she left, I packed up Bear and went back to what I know. I picked up a couple of jobs in Alabama with a company I had worked with before, thinking a change of scenery would be better for Bear and I. Then the accident happened and I decided to come home to recover, figuring Bear needed a place he was familiar with. Since the house was gone, I rented a cabin and enrolled Bear in his old school so he could be around friends. Luckily, by the time I got back on my feet, a spot opened up on a site nearby. One of the guys quit in the middle, so they were shorthanded.
“Then why are we here?” He turns to me, little eyes pleading. “Can’t you find a different job somewhere else? One you won’t get hurt at?”
Fuck, I can’t. I’m doing this all wrong, causing my son pain. He’s right. I have to find a different line of work. Something he doesn’t have to worry about. We pull up to the front of Ms. Crumbly’s house and I catch Bear staring at our old house. First, he looks sad, then his tiny face morphs into anger. Yeah, this was a bad idea.
I call his name, drawing his attention back to me. “I promise… as soon as I finish this job, I’ll look for something else, something safer. Would that work?”
Bear smiles. “You promise?”
“I do.” Skinny arms throw themselves around my neck, surprisingly strong for a six-year-old. I’ve done good. Maybe I can nail this single-parent thing. “Now you get inside so I can go. I’ll start looking this weekend.”
Bear hops out the car, a pep to his step that wasn’t there before. This change will be good for the both of us. Maybe I can finally wake up after the sunrise instead of hours before, and Bear can let go of the past and his worries for me. Here’s hoping I find something soon.