Summary: \u00a0When you’re gone for a while, the atmosphere can shift…<\/p>\n
Rating: K \u00a0Word count: 601<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The Return<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHello.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHello, brother.\u201d<\/p>\n The tension in the room, spanning the gap between the two men, nearly crackles in its tangiblity.<\/p>\n \u201cDid you find a spot for your horse?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah. I helped build the barn, remember?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHuh.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s that supposed to mean?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSince when have you made disgruntled noises and not meant anything?\u201d<\/p>\n White knuckles imply unthrown punches as a new set of\u00a0boots sounds on the staircase.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam! We were expecting you tomorrow! I wanted to meet you in\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n \u201cThe stage came early.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll be upstairs. Call me when dinner\u2019s ready.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNow wait just a\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll be upstairs. It\u2019s not like I\u2019m leaving for God only knows how long or anything like that. I would never<\/em> do something like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Again the tension, stretching as the space between them grows and yet somehow remaining just as thick, broken only by an awkward clearing of the throat.<\/p>\n \u201cHave a seat, son. How was your trip?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUneventful. The train makes things so much easier.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow are May and the girls?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYour grandnieces are growing into lovely young women, completely enamored with the idea of having a great uncle who\u2019s a real life cowboy. It was all I could do to keep them from stowing away in my trunk.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI should write to May again and invite her out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou know she won\u2019t come?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not the point of an invitation, Adam.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI just wanted to be sure you knew.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026you\u2019ve both taken it hard. I see it in your faces.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s\u2026been a rough couple of years. Yes.\u201d<\/p>\n Across the room, the grandfather clock chimes the hour, and both turn instinctively to it. The noise fills the silence, and for just a moment the discomfort is eased.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to be here, you know\u2026 But the letter got lost and I didn\u2019t know until\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know, Adam. I forgave you long ago.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJoe was married.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWas?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI never mentioned it in my letters. It was\u2026his news. And then his grief.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow long has it been?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAlmost a year.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWow.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI heard him laughing with a few of the hands recently.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPa, I\u2019m sorry I haven\u2019t been here\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAdam. You did what you had to do. You chased your dream, just as I chased mine. I\u2019m just glad to see you now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMissing the funeral haunts me every day. I\u2026I stopped by the grave on my way here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow long are you home for?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not sure.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou are<\/em> welcome here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI got that impression.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJoe\u2019s been hurt\u2026is hurting. Give him time; you\u2019re brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSome brother I\u2019ve been.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve had a reoccurring nightmare about adopting a bratty red-headed teenager. Trust me, you have nothing on this kid in terms of bad-brotherhood.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSeriously, Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGive him time, Adam.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSure. I\u2019ll do that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve made up your old room for you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThanks.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUnless you had something else in mind\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo. My room is perfect. I chose its location, remember?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, trust me, I heard your brothers complain about it often enough that I couldn\u2019t forget if I tried.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think I\u2019ll head up and wash for dinner. Travis Benet is supposed to bring my trunk out later; if he arrives, would you just holler at me? I don\u2019t want for you to have to carry it up.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not as old as I look\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMmmhmm. How many candles were on your cake last year?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAsk me no questions and I\u2019ll tell you no lies.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAt least you didn\u2019t burn the place down. That would have been inconvenient.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s good to have you home, Adam.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s good to be\u2026home.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tags:\u00a0 Adam Cartwright,\u00a0Ben Cartwright,\u00a0Hoss Cartwright,\u00a0Joe \/ Little Joe Cartwright<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Summary: \u00a0When you’re gone for a while, the atmosphere can shift…<\/p>\n Rating: K \u00a0Word count: 601<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":97,"featured_media":4115,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-short-stories","wpcat-8-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/frontporch.jpg?fit=439%2C305&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/97"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}