I made another trip to Nashville, finally had all the decisions made about the big furniture in my house. I chose a gorgeous deep brown cushion couch and matching love seat for the living room. I picked out a small twin bed for the spare room, it had a black metal frame and it would blend nicely with the green walls. I even stopped by some thrift stores and there I found some end tables, a coffee table and some cute artwork to hang on the hall. I had to rent another Uhaul to bring everything back at once, but it worked out perfectly for me. So far, I was extremely under budget for the whole project of the house, but I still had to deal with the outside paint and now that I had seen the far reaches of the farm, I wanted to fix that up too. The old fence around the property was dented and decayed, it needed to be updated, and a new gate would be cute too. I also saw some gorgeous tile at the store that would looks so nice in my newly painted bathroom, but I kept myself from buying it.

As I pulled the Uhaul into the driveway, Thomas came from around the back of the house, he gave me a small wave. I jumped out.

"Thomas! Look," I ran to the back of the truck and he followed. "Look at all this stuff!," I opened the door so he could see it.

"Woah... so you got furniture?"

"Yes," I jumped happily. "I got furniture."

Thomas jumped into the Uhaul without another word and started to browse through my selection," Looks nice," he commented.

"They are," I assured him. "And look at this," I dug through the stuff to find one of the paintings," Look," I handed it to him.

This painting was of a gorgeous meadow at the pass of distant mountains, it was filled with wildflowers of ever color. Thomas looked it over silently.

"It reminds of the pretty place we went to," I told him.

"It's a pretty painting," he deduced and handed it back to me. "Can you back this up to the house? I can help carry it all in."

"Really? Are you sure Thomas? I don't want to over work you."

He chuckled, bringing out his prominent dimples and shiny teeth," You pay me to be here, Caroline. It's the least I can do," he hopped from the back. "Besides, not like you could carry it all by yourself."

I placed the painting back in it's spot and pulled the tuck out so I could back it up to the house, which was harder said than done. The coffee table was easy and so were the boxes of things I had to unpack, like the bed frame and a bookshelf I bought. The couch was definitely the hardest, getting up the three steps to the front door felt like carrying it 10 flights, but Thomas took most of the weight. I put the couch to face the front window and the love seat was sat against the side wall.

"Oh Thomas...," I couldn't help but cheer. "Just look at it! It's so beautiful!"

"It looks great," he agreed.

"Thank you," I wrapped him into a tight hug. Thomas seemed unsure what to do, but I was too high on the adrenaline of happiness to see it. "Come, sit on them, they are so plush, you sink right in!"

Thomas sat beside me on the couch," I like it," he agreed. "Very comfy."

"Right?! And they just happen to be the perfect shade of brown to match the carpet! I mean, how lucky!?"

There was a knock on my front door," Hello! Ms. Caroline?!"

"Mama?," Thomas was the one to jump from the couch and answer the door. There on the other side stood Mary Sicelle with a grin.

"Well Tommy, I wasn't expecting you to answer," she chuckled and let herself in. "Why, Ms. Caroline, this house is looking so beautiful," she gasped at the living room. "I love this color," her hand touched the deep blue of the walls. "I saw the truck out front, moving some new stuff in?"

"Thank you," I got up from the couch. "Furniture just came in today, so it's all finally coming together."

"Well it looks marvelous," she wondered. "If I hadn't been in this house thousands of times before, I wouldn't even know it was Del's. Caroline, it's a wonder to see!"

"Well thank you," I couldn't stop the wide smile on my face from her compliments.

"All that needs done now is fixin' that god awful yellow outside," she chuckled.

"She likes the yellow, mama," Thomas told her, he had been eerily quiet until this moment.

Mary turned to her son, and he looked to the ground; it was so strange to see him act this way. He never did this around me anymore and he'd been working here for weeks now. It was like he resorted back to being shy and distant instead of the confident boy I knew he was underneath. Why would he act this way to his own mother?

"Well, you've certainly got my son to speak his mind," Mary beamed at the idea of it. "Tommy, can you run outside and see the horses, I need to speak to Caroline."

Thomas kept his head down and shuffled his feet for a second before silently slipping out the kitchen door and outside. Mary and I both watched him go and she turned back to me ,"Can we sit, Caroline?"

"Sure," I gestured her over to my new couch.

She sunk into the chocolate cushion and grinned," Oh, this is so nice," she fanned her fingers over the soft material.

"Thanks," I smiled, sitting beside her. "Is everything okay?," I asked her.

"Yes, yes of course" Mary assured me. "I just wanted to stop by see how you were."

"I'm doing great," I looked around the room. "The house is coming together and Thomas has been so helpful."

Mary nodded," Yes, he loves coming here. Everyday he is up and gone so quick, I barely get to kiss him goodbye. I... I just wanted to ask you," she reached into her purse and pulled out a wad of money. "About this..."

"Oh," I looked at the money in her hands.

"I don't know where he could be getting it, if not from you."

I nodded," Yes, it's from me."

"But why, darlin'? I just don't understand."

"I... I felt so bad, just him coming here, doing all this work and getting nothing. This is a job, and a tough one, he does almost everything for the animals and he even helped me finish the house. He deserved the money, he earned it... it's not even that much. I only give him $10 a day." Mary nodded silently as I kept rambling. "I guess I should have talked to you about, I'm sorry Mary. i just felt guilty stealing his summer from him."

"Oh, no," Mary shook her head," No, no... no please. I just...," I saw her eyes start to glisten. Is she crying? "I just want to thank you," she took my hand in hers. "You've been just so sweet."

Mary dug into her purse and grabbed a tissue to dab her eyes," Oh lord, forgive me..."

"No, it's alright," I told her. Oh god, she's crying!

She laughed as she dried her eyes," Look at me, what a mess... oh so silly," she turned to me again. "But Caroline, I really appreciate all you've done. Tommy never seemed so happy as he has now and I have you to thank. I even see him smiling again, it so great and I believe I have you to thank for it. I have been prayin' for Tommy, I want him to be happy and I think you are the answer God has sent me."

"Oh... well, it's really no problem. Thomas is great, he's so helpful and I love having him there."

"That's great to hear," Mary grabbed my hand again. "So great to hear."

"Mary... is alright if I ask you a question."

"Of course, darlin', of course."

"Well... How do the people of Baxter treat Thomas? I mean... he shows up here everyday and I only ever see him go home. Does he ever go into town?"

Mary shook her head and cleared her throat," He avoids it as much as possible. People here... they just, don't quite get him, you know? They just see him as different. He's special and the ladies in town, they're nice enough to me about it all, but they... small town," she shrugged. "I used to bring him to church with me, but now as he's gotten older, he stays home most times."

"Andy told me Thomas used to be bullied?"

"Andy Montaeu? Well he would know it best," Mary noddedd. "It was so bad. Black eyes and busted lips; they'd tear his clothes to shreds or send him home without any. They were just awful kids, he never told me who, never once. I'd always ask him, but he held his tongue about it, I had my suspicions. But...," Mary sighed. "It's all just so frustratin'... because most kids grow out of being bullied, but he never did. Whoever it was followed him all the way through school until I pulled him out, started teachin' him at home."

"That must have been hard."

"It was," she nodded. "So hard to see all these people in town whisperin' about my baby, laughin' at him... makes my blood boil. And, Tommy's so smart, he always has been, such a smart baby, but no one ever," she stopped herself. "I'm sorry, look at me, just goin' on and on."

"No, no, it's good to let that stuff out."

Mary sighed," We didn't even know until he was 5."

"Didn't know what?"

"About the autism. We thought... we'll we thought he was perfect. Tommy was so smart and he was so outgoing and then... he just changed and the doctors told me it was because he's brain is different."

"Are you married, Mary," I asked then regretted it. You shouldn't ask people that! But she said 'we'.

"I was," she replied, looking to her lap. " He left us though, a little after Tommy turned 6."

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"I'm not. Better off without the bastard 'round. Tommy is doin' so good."

"He is. Thomas is so smart, he knows so much about these animals and construction and he's very polite. You did a great job in raising him."

"I know," Mary chuckled. "I know I raised my boy right. God only gave me all the tools I need," she paused. "Thank you, Caroline. Thank you for seeing him or who he really is. Maybe sometime you should come 'round and have dinner at our house."

"That's sounds lovely," I agreed. "I've been living off soup and rice."

"Oh, no, that will not do," Mary stood up. "Tomorrow I'll go into town and get some food, cook us up somethin' nice and you just come home with Tommy and we'll eat."

"Oh, thanks, Mary. That sounds great. Can I give you a tour of the house?"

"I'd love to see it," she stood and followed me as I showed her the new rooms and she ate it all up happily. She stayed for a while and we talked about the farm and all my new plans, she told me about her job in town. She is a secretary for the library, which basically means she is the librarian, it made sense why she would read poetry to Thomas when he was a kid. She was leaving to say goodbye to Tommy when I had her right down her home number so I could call if anything happened and I gave her mine, but she smiled saying she already had it. Oh right, it's Delilah's number, I laughed at myself.

It had been a while since Mary had gone and I was hanging up a framed picture of my parents when I heard the side door open and turned to see Thomas.

"Hey," I smiled and went back to making sure the picture was level.

"Hey," I heard him walk towards me," Uh... what did my mama talk to you about? She wouldn't tell me."

I caught my breath," Uhm.. she invited me over for dinner tomorrow night."

"She told me that bit," Thomas caught me.

I sighed and turned to face him," Thomas."

"Caroline, we're friends," he said sternly staring into my eyes. "Friends don't keep secrets, we've already talked about this."

"Yeah, I know," I rubbed my arms. "She... she found money in your room, asked me about it."

I saw relief wash over his face," and that's it?"

"Pretty much, she kind of told me some stuff about homeschooling you and about Baxter. I never knew your mom was the librarian."

Thomas laughed," Yeah, she hates that, she prefers to be called the secretary."

"Hmm," I shrugged."Why? Is there something else you thought she told me?"

"What? Oh, no," Thomas turned away. "I was just curious."

"Hey," I reached out and grabbed his arm. "Sounds like a secret to me."

"There is not secret," he told me, but I saw the lie clouded in his eyes. He's lying. Why? What could be such a big secret?

"Thomas, you can tell me."

He laughed it off," Caroline, I don't have any secrets."

"Hmm...," I sat down on the couch not convinced.

"I like the painting," he said, pointing to the one of a lake hanging on the blue half of the kitchen wall.

"Well, look at you changing the subject," I looked over the back of the couch to him.

Thomas sighed," Caroline, there is no secret, okay?"

"Fine," I huffed and turned around.

"Did you get house paint?," Thomas asked.

"No, I'll get it when I return the Uhual tomorrow."

"I'll start to strip paint in the morning," Thomas said as he headed for the door.

"Thomas! Wait!"

He turned back to me and I pushed off the couch," Look... we are friends Thomas. I really do mean that and I just want you to know that you can tell me anything and I won't judge you for it."

"Like you said, a secret's not a secret if you share it."

"I would never tell anyone, Thomas. I swear it."

Thomas looked at me for a long second, his eyes roaming my face, he was digging for answer. I was being 100% honest. I wouldn't tell anyone what he told me unless it was plans to kill himself or like shoot up his old school. I think he saw that, he could see that I was being true with him and that I was only trying to help him in any way that I could.

But even that wasn't enough.

"Goodnight, Caroline. I'll see you tomorrow," he gave a small smile before turning and heading out the front door.

I felt hurt, just a little. I thought Thomas and I were getting close, I saw him everyday and we talked about lots of things, not to mention he knew my biggest secret. Something I was hiding from the entire town, something that was really big and could cause serious drama if it ever got out without Savannah and Kurtis knowing, or at least Bryce. I sunk back into the couch and turned on the TV and just got lost in the world of Frasier, helping me push my own problems away.