by Vera Quinn
“I’d like to hear your idea but first I want you to see the place; no need in haggling if we aren’t sure if the farm is a fit for you.” I sit down at the table in an empty chair next to Haddie.
“I packed a quick lunch, so we could eat at the farmhouse. Nothing fancy just some sandwiches and chips and I made some sweet tea to take with us. Nick is full of surprises this morning.” Haddie looks at Nick and they are having another conversation with their eyes. I need to learn the thing they are doing so I will know what they are conversing about.
“I have been walking around my room trying to get the time to go by faster. I’m glad Nick is here early. This day would have drug by until lunch,” I say while trying to scarf down the muffin and then drinking the hot liquid that will keep me awake with the lack of sleep.
“Don’t choke yourself, we have plenty of time. No reason to rush.” I know I more than likely am having bad manners by eating so fast, but I would be lying if I said I was slowing down any. I poke the last of the muffin in my mouth and lick my fingers. The muffin is yummy, but I want to see this farm. My heart is already set on buying it so if it turns out to need a ton of work, I am going to be disappointed. No, I won’t be disappointed—I’ll just be more determined to buy the farm and get the work done. I get up and take my napkin to the trash can and make sure I didn’t leave any crumbs on the table. I am chewing as I am doing this and hear Nick laughing at me, but I ignore him and swallow the last of the muffin and then drink the last of my coffee. “I’m ready to go when you are.” Haddie has moved to the refrigerator and taken out a bag I am guessing is our lunch. I turn and go to the kitchen sink and wash my cup out and put it in the dishwasher.
“Nick help me with the tea.” I turn and walk to Haddie as Nick takes the jug of tea and I take the bag out of Haddie’s hand. “I have Rita watching the place while I go on our adventure for the day.” Rita is the woman that helps Haddie with the cleaning around here. She’s friendly enough but she’s a little too friendly with any men that come in—especially if they are just passing through. Haddie says she has tried to marry every single man in the county and some that are married, so now she just wants her way out of town even if it is from a traveling salesman. To me Rita just seems lonely and looking for someone to pass the time with but what do I know? I don’t judge people when I have learned hardly anything in life is as it seems.
“She was saying she wanted to pick up a few extra hours this week,” I tell Haddie thinking this is Rita’s chance to buy that dress she was wanting to buy for a barn dance that’s coming up.
“I have my old red out front. I haven’t taken her out in a while so thought this would be the perfect time.” I look at Haddie as we make our way to the front room. I wonder if Nick is talking about a dog or something. He has never talked about having a pet. I see Rita is dusting the wood furniture in the sitting room.
“We will be back before dark, Rita. Are you sure you can stay that long?” Haddie waits for Rita to answer but Rita just nods instead. “I’m not expecting anyone in tonight so feel free to make yourself something to eat as usual and when you’re finished dusting the furniture just straighten whatever needs it and be sure and check the front porch. I think the trash can out there needs emptying. There’s some muffins on the stove top if you haven’t eaten yet.”
“Alright, Ms. Haddie. I will get it all done and don’t rush back. I need the hours, so I can buy that sundress I was telling you and Sage about a few days ago. Trask asked me to the barn dance, so every hour means I can look more special for that hunk of man.” Nick rolls his eyes and I smile and give Rita a little wave bye.
“You should save your money and bake that man a cobbler. That man can never get enough cobbler at the church functions. That’s the way to get a man is through his stomach. My Walter didn’t care if I was wearing a potato sack as long as I had a smile on my face and a cobbler on the table after dinner. You girls have it all wrong these days.” I let out a little laugh at that. Nick has stopped by the front door. I don’t say anything and walk over by him as we wait for Haddie to join us.
“I know Ms. Haddie, we’re having cobbler for dessert.” I snicker under my breath and Nick looks at me sideways, but I can see the laughter in his eyes too. I think the innuendo went right over Haddie’s head because she gives Rita a small smile and joins us at the door.
Nick opens the screen door, but I still haven’t seen around him. When he moves and holds the screen door open for Haddie and myself, I get my first look at the red truck sitting at the curb in front of the bed-and-breakfast. The paint job is faded, and I see a small dent in the passenger side door. I am in awe. It’s just like the farm truck in all the old pictures I have seen. It’s a 1959 Apache Chevy step-side truck. I can’t stop myself from running to it and I want to raise the hood to check and see if it has the original motor in it. Nick and Haddie come up beside me.
“Do you know trucks or are you in that big of a hurry?” Nick asks, and I can hear the humor in his voice.
“I love this truck. It’s like the ones in all the farm pictures I’ve seen. I showed my dad the pictures and he liked it too. Can I see the motor?” I ask Nick with my sweetest voice.
“You are full of surprises girlie. I thought you would be a fan of those foreign- made sports cars a lot of young kids drive these days; never would have taken you for an American-made classic.” Nick steps up to the truck and pulls the release for the hood and opens it up and steps back. I know I am grinning from ear-to-ear. I look at the original 235 6-cylinderengine. I can tell this truck has been taken care of. I try to shut my gaping mouth.
“It’s a beauty. This truck is worth a lot of money even with the dent and faded paint. You have taken such loving care of it. I am sure that dent has an amusing story and all paint jobs fade. Your truck just has character to it. You are a lucky man.” I look around and Haddie is already in the truck.
“I bought old red from my uncle with less than a thousand miles on it. His family was growing too big and they were moving to a bigger town. Everyone else that bought them bought the blue, but I knew red was my color and I had to have it. I needed the truck to help on the farm, and the memories in this truck make it priceless to me.” He lowers the hood and I step over to the passenger side door. “We still have a lot to see today but I’m glad to know not all young people have lost their good sense.” I don’t know what to say to that, so I keep smiling. My head is so far in the clouds right now that I won’t come back to earth for a while and it’s then that I realize it has been such a long time since I have smiled so much or felt such happiness. I hope this farm deal goes through, so I can stay here. I feel at home here and I’m not so lonely.
The trip to the farm is filled with beautiful country scenery of wildflowers, green trees and grass, and a countryside that has been left untouched by city lights and busy streets. There is a friendliness that you never see in the big cities; everyone waves at each other and Haddie told me the name of each person and where their family homes are. The traffic isn’t bumper to bumper and there are no blaring horns. The air is fresh and not filled with exhaust fumes and smog from the big factories. I take the scenery in and savor it. I know I’m being rude by not being a part of the small talk between Haddie and Nick, but I’m afraid I will miss something in the countryside, When we turn off onto a rock driveway it brings my attention to what Haddie is saying.
“Sage what has you so interested out that window? You would think you had never been for a drive in the country before. Did you hear what Nick asked you?” Haddie asks me, trying to pull my attention into the conversation.
“I’m sorry, it’s just so beautiful out here. What did you ask me Nick?” I need to pull myself out of my own head and pay attention. I want this man to know how much I want this farm, so I need to be listening when Nick is talking in case, I come up with answers to any questions he may have.
“I said when we turned onto the rock road it’s the drive for the farm so everything you are see
ing on the road is part of the farm. That last drive was your neighbors, the Stillmans and you have the Hillhouses on the other side. Their homes sit further back on their properties, so you shouldn’t see much of them unless they’re being nosey or one of the boys comes over to give you a hand on the farm. Donald Stillman will be a bossy old cuss to you. He doesn’t believe a woman can do anything but cook, clean, push out babies, and then be arm candy at social gatherings—excuse my bluntness. He and Skeeter have two sons. One is bleeding him dry of his money chasing some darn dream of being someone famous. I think the last thing I heard is he wants to be a singer. He’s a drifter and useless on a farm. He’s afraid he might get a blister on his soft hands. The older boy, Trask, is a hard worker but he’s a skirt chaser.” Nick looks at me to see if I’m still listening and when he sees that I am he goes on. “The family on the other side are good people. They mostly raise beef and they farm some. Joseph and Dolly have two sons too but the younger one, Hawkins, hasn’t shown his face in this town since he ran off with his older brother Botie’s fiancée. Joseph had a heart attack when he was younger so anything stressful on their farm Botie takes care of it—but Joseph does try to help. Botie wakes with first light and works until everything gets done but he’s never too busy to help a neighbor or friend. He’s skittish around women and I can’t say I blame him.” I stare at Nick. He has been rattling things out and it almost makes me grin at him; if I wasn’t afraid he would be upset.
“Listen to you going on. You say the women in town gossip and just listen to the things that have come out of that mouth of yours. No one has ever said what Branton is off doing and Hawkins is just a little lost right now. The good book says not to judge. Hawkins’ will come back to his good senses. Everyone just needs to give him time. He’ll miss his family and he must know that they will never accept his relationship with that hussy,” Haddie says with conviction.
“Don’t start swearing like a sailor at this late time in your life.” Nick teases Haddie and he starts laughing. Haddie slaps Nick’s arm playfully.
“You old fool, hussy is not a curse word. It’s just frowned upon. I’ll ask for forgiveness tonight. Can you say the same?” Haddie is still being playful. I like seeing this part of her.
“Not supposed to ask forgiveness for something you plan on doing again. That woman tore those boys apart and I have worse words for Talia than hussy.” I can tell Nick doesn’t like this woman. I look back out the window at the land and try to take it all in. I see a barn off in the distance. Everything is so green. We turn a corner and I see the farmhouse and my jaw drops. This place is everything I have dreamed of and more. It’s a white-framed two-story house with a big front porch that even has a swing and two rocking chairs on it. I feel the tears trying to leak out of my eyes. My dad would’ve loved this place. I hold it together because I feel Haddie and Nick’s eyes on me. I can’t get all emotional or I won’t be able to convince Nick this is what I want, and that I can do this. If I need to hire some farmhands to help then that is what I’ll do, but I am determined. The truck comes to a stop in front of the house and I see the roses growing in front of the house and ivy climbing the trellis at the end of the porch. I open the door and get out. I notice there are two men walking this way from the barn, but I wasn’t aware that Nick had anyone working here. The sun is in my eyes, so I can’t make out if I have seen the two in town. It’s not like I have met very many of the people in town and the ones I have aren’t overly friendly. They had rather stare than have a conversation with me. I have come to understand that’s just their way at keeping me at arm’s length until they know if I’m going to hang around or be on the next bus out of town. To tell the truth; if this deal with Nick doesn’t work out, then that may be exactly what I do. Seeing this farm has just shown me how much this is what I want in my life and I won’t stop until I get it. Dad always said make a plan and stick with it until you achieve it.
Chapter Five
Botie…
I hear that old truck of Nick’s coming up the drive and I finish driving the last nail in the loft ladder I just repaired. I don’t know why Nick was in such a hurry to get the repairs done around here—they have been this way for years. Nick is a frugal man if I put it nicely and downright cheap if I don’t. Most older men around here are the same way. They have lived through the lean years and were taught how to stretch a dollar. I was taught the same lessons. I have also learned the hard way that everything that is beautiful is not worth the effort. That’s one lesson I will never forget and one that I am not interested in repeating. I just wish I could forget the memories that go with that lesson.
“Nick is here, and he has some people in that old truck of his with him. I think one of them is Haddie, but I couldn’t make the other person out; they were too far away. Is this why Nick wanted us to hang around until he got here this morning?” Trask, my best friend, walks in the barn through the back door he’d been repairing.
“I don’t know why Nick wanted us here this morning. I just know he said to be here, and he would get here as soon as he could. Why would Haddie be with him?” I have heard rumors that Nick was thinking about selling this place again. I don’t believe he’ll sell this place but maybe Haddie is going to help Nick pack some of Christine’s things up. The last time I was in the house it looked exactly like Christine had left it. Her afghan still lying across the back of the sofa and her rubber boots still by the back door. I don’t know if I will ever feel the kind of love that Nick and Christine had—the same love my mom and dad have. Women these days don’t know fidelity. All they want is the next thrill or thing that glitters. I don’t think the chance at love outweighs the pain of failure.
“Dad said that he heard in town that Nick is going to sell this place to some drifter and that pissed him off. He called Nick last night and tried to purchase the property and everything that goes with it from him, but Nick shut him down. Nick knows the first thing my dad would do is bulldoze the house to the ground. I think that would kill Nick even if he didn’t own the place anymore. I hope this drifter is ready for the hell my dad will give him.” Trask and his dad have a complex relationship. Donald, his dad, is a hard man. He thinks because he has the biggest ranch in Kendall County that his word should be law and everyone else is below him. In my experience, monetary possessions can never replace a family that loves you. I know Trask loves his dad, but I also know that Trask doesn’t respect him for many reasons. In a lot of them Trask is justified in my eyes. Donald has stepped away from the work at the ranch to be able to stay in Austin and San Antonio and hob knob with the other rich ranchers while expecting Trask to do everything. His wife Skeeter expects and demands it most of the time. It is beneath them to be in our small town of Comfort, but their ranch makes their money so someone must do the work. Trask’s younger brother, Branton, has moved away from Comfort and only comes back when he needs Donald to get him out of some situation—usually having to do with money—that he has gotten himself into. Branton is the golden son that Donald and Skeeter have put all their hopes in. They think Branton will marry a celebrity or someone with more money than they have who can invest more money into the ranch, and provide bigger contacts to make their ranch world known. Instead of relying on the ranch they have built from the ground up they think they can find an easier way to get to the next level. Trask has ideas to turn the ranch into a more prosperous enterprise, but it’s a long-term commitment and not anything that would put cash into his parents’ hands immediately. His family doesn’t listen to him, only the golden boy. Trask is the son that decided to stay home and go to a community college and work his ass off for his dad and Branton went to the big-name school and was thrown out the first year. Go figure. Branton and my brother, Hawkins, have a lot in common.
“I guess it’s time for us to go and ask Nick what he has planned instead of making presumptions. We sound like the gossips in town.” Trask smiles at that. Everyone calls the ladies at the church town gossips, but we all know how anything
that’s new or if something changes in the community the word spreads like a wildfire during drought season. The men in our town are as bad as the women. I walk over and put the hammer back in the old wooden toolbox. I don’t want to give Nick anything to fuss at us over. Trask and I walk out of the barn and I see Nick stopping his old truck in front of the house. I squint my eyes from the bright sun, and they adjust in time to see one of the most beautiful women I have ever been blessed to see getting out of Nick’s truck. Trask and I both look at each other and then back to the woman. We have slowed our walking towards the house. Nick may need a few minutes to show the woman around the house.
“Isn’t she something? The women around here are going to hate her. She’s the hottest thing I have seen around here since. . . well hell, ever.” I can’t argue with Trask’s observation. “Think I’ll ask her to dinner in town. I bet we could find something to occupy our time. She’ll have all the guys asking her out if she sticks around.”
“Have you thought that maybe she’s married or engaged?” I laugh at the face Trask makes.
“If she doesn’t tell then neither will I. We can keep it on the down low. In fact, that sounds like the perfect relationship to me. I get what I need and so would she. I don’t need or want a relationship and married women can’t ask for a ring the day after you bag her.” I cut my eyes to Trask. This is one of the things that Trask and I don’t agree upon. There are only a few dozen single women in Comfort close to our age. Younger women are too immature and want to party too much. Too much alcohol and five in the morning wake-up calls don’t mix. They are down for the no relationship thing for a while but then the parents or friends come into the picture and the subject of weddings always comes up. Women our age or older go from dinner and a movie straight to calling the minister. I will never be in a committed relationship again. I don’t want the heartache and a married or spoken for woman is off my radar. I won’t go there, and the way Trask talks about bagging a woman or the details of his sex life with whatever woman is disrespectful if you ask me. You can do the deed and walk away and not be disrespectful. I am a grown man but if either my mom or dad heard me talking about any woman the way Trask does, I would be getting a trip to the wood shed. One of Dad’s rules is to never disrespect any female and it’s a rule I always try to live by. It’s right up there with the rules to never strike a woman and always protect them.