“Perfect. I just assumed since you tried to cut down the tree right next to it, you might want to know.” He looks at me, putting his hands in his back pockets. We’ve never actually been friends since he was the same age as my brother, but we always got along. Well, we did until he hid Kallie from me and then refused to tell me where she was.

I shake my head. “Don’t care.”

“Sure,” he says, turning and getting into his truck. “You keep telling yourself that, and maybe one day, you’ll actually believe yourself.”

“What does that mean?” I say, and it’s his turn now to shake his head.

“I’m not spelling shit out for you,” he says, starting the truck. “The only thing I know is my sister is finally back at home, and I’m going to do what I need to do to make sure she comes back often.”

“Again,” I say, “don’t care.”

“Again,” he mimics me, “you keep telling yourself that.”

“I wasn’t the one who left without looking back!” I shout.

“Wasn’t her who got knocked up by another guy!” He throws it in my face, and I just shake my head. “Take care, Jacob.” He pulls out of my driveway, and I want to shout and tell him to fuck off. I want to shout and tell him that he knows fucking nothing, but I do what I’ve been doing for the past eight years. I keep the secret to myself, burying it deep. I walk into my house and close the door. Tossing my phone on the counter, I walk straight to my bedroom.

I collapse on the bed and turn to look out the window at the trees in the distance. My thoughts go back to the last time I went to the rock.

“What exactly did you want me to come for?” Beau asked as we walked through the woods toward Kallie’s property. I parked as close as I could, then got out and grabbed the chainsaw.

“I need to do something and figured that you had nothing else to do.” I laughed and walked along the creek. Water slowly worked itself downstream. The sound of birds chirping mixed with the sounds of water trickling.

“I don’t think anything that you have to do with a chainsaw is a good idea,” he said as he continued walking. Finally, I walked over the hill and saw the lone rock right next to five elm trees. The sun made its way through the leaves, shining on the rock like a spotlight.