Kicking Eternity Read Free

down?”
    “That’s it. I’ll take the truck up to camp and move in later.” He hefted the basket into the truck bed. “Rainey was in junior high when I led worship for her youth group. Braces and braids—who knew she’d grow up so hot?” Drew looked up and stopped cold.
    Kurt buried his hands in the pockets of his cargo shorts. His face had turned the color of sand.
    “What’s wrong?” Had Kurt gotten a text that someone died or was critically injured? Family members swirled through his mind. “Just say it already.”
    “I wasn’t going to tell you yet, but since you brought up this Rainey… I’m going to Japan. Two years. Teaching English as a second language.”
    Drew grabbed the truck gate, lightheaded. “What? Why? Two years. Are you crazy?”
    “It was hard enough to make the decision without you trying to talk me out of it.”
    “Like I—”
    “You would have.”
    Drew bit down on his anger. He wouldn’t spit out words he’d regret later. “So, your mind’s made up.” He scrubbed his fingers through his hair like he could push the information into his head somehow. “How long have you been thinking about this?”
    “My whole life.”
    Kurt’s fascination with Anime, sushi, and all things Japanese swam into his mind. “But you never talked about going there to live. ”
    “It’s past time to cut bait with Cheri. I’m not marrying her. If I don’t go now, I’ll never go.”
    Drew gave a dry laugh. “Never did understand what you saw in the c ontrol q ueen.”
    “I’m doing it as much for you as for me.”
    “You sound like Dad when he used to get out the belt.”
    Kurt smiled. “No, that was, ‘This is going to hurt me as much as it hurts you.’ And that’s true.”
    “How is this good for me?”
    “Samantha did a number on you, and you’ve got to deal with it. Take me out of the equation. Now you have to face it.”
    “And I get equal time to ream you about Cheri, the ship that should have sailed after two weeks instead of two years—”
    “Take your best shot.”
    Drew shook his head. “This would make the grandmomma of all April Fool’s jokes.”
    “It’s May. Besides, you ’ re the go-to guy for fun. At least, you used to be.”
    He opened his mouth to argue, but Kurt cut him off. “It’s been six years. You’re not bouncing back like I keep praying. If I’m gone, I’m not your excuse for a life.”
    The sting of Kurt’s words knocked Drew back like a punch. He’d followed Kurt since he could walk. “I’ve been a pest?”
    Kurt cracked a smile as he came around the truck. “Yeah, when you were in diapers. The point is, I need to go to Nagasaki. A side benefit is that my going will force you to deal with your stuff.”
    “Whatever. When?”
    “As soon as I can pull it together.”
     
    #
     
    Raine toweled dry her hair. Morning sun and the scent of oleander poured in through the weather-beaten window. Today the campers would arrive, and tomorrow she’d teach her first class.
    An older teenage girl with a riot of mahogany curls poked her head into the long community bathroom across the back of the cabin.
    “Morning! I’m Missy, I’m one of the Cabin Three counselors. Cori is the other one, but I don’t know where she is.”
    “Hi, I’m Raine.”
    Missy hovered in the doorway. “Sorry I didn’t meet you last night. There was this totally hot guy, Jayson, out in the gazebo after staff meeting with a bunch of other people. I couldn’t go in until the y all left so I could talk to Jayson. And the campers come today. I can’t believe I’m a real counselor this year, not a CIT—that’s counselor-in-training—like I was last summer. We’ve got junior high girls this week. Isn’t that so cool? I’m Jesse’s, you know, the camp director’s, kid sister—”
    “So, you’re Cal’s sister, too.”
    Missy’s eyes narrowed mirroring one of Cal’s mannerisms. She gave Raine an impish smile. “His name’s not really Cal. It’s John. When he