As if in agreement, he stood, shook, and went back to eating his dog food.
~
Duke felt the heavy beats from the music inside his house at the same time he heard it. He paused before unlocking the front door and going in. He neared the kitchen and stopped when he saw Avalon.
She bopped her head to the music, hair whipping up and down, while clapping her hands at Khanrad. The dog kept jumping up on his hind legs to put his front paws in her hands so they danced together. The image brought a grin to his face and that was when she caught sight of him.
Avalon’s relaxed expression faded and she turned to silence the music. “Sorry about that.”
“You don’t need to be sorry. I didn’t realize you liked rock music.”
“I’ve always liked it, but I guess I rediscovered how much I enjoy having music playing when I was doing all of that driving.”
They got lunch and Khanrad claimed a spot underneath the table near Duke’s feet. A question had been bothering him since she’d come home and now seemed a good time to ask.
Avalon watched him from across the table. “What is it, Duke?”
“Why didn’t you tell your family about us when we decided to get married? You said you wanted to surprise them later. And you said you weren’t sure your parents would approve.” He paused. “What was the real reason?”
She considered his question and twirled some strands of her hair around a finger. “Honestly? My family is really close. Years ago, my older sister met and married a man in a very short amount of time. It was so bad, they got a divorce a month later. Since then, she’s married again and they’re really happy and expecting their fourth child. But that mistake was the unspoken example to the rest of us on what not to do.” She paused. “I respect my family. If they’d talked to me and presented their cases for why we should slow down and not get married yet, I probably would have listened to them.”
Duke rubbed his temple with a single finger. He studied her face and longed to erase the lines of concern around her eyes. “Do you wish you had talked to them first?”
She weighed his question. Dread filled his stomach as he wondered what her answer might be.
“That’s complicated.” When he said nothing, she continued. “If we’d waited, we would have gotten to know each other better. And we’d have had the opportunity to become familiar with the extended family we were marrying into.” She shrugged. “I think my family is great, but what if you don’t get along with them?”
Duke raised an eyebrow and he found her words amusing. “I doubt I would get along with them worse than my mother gets along with you.”
Avalon chuckled. “Probably true. Now, if I’d known how your mother would be, things might have ended differently.”
She winked and he saw she was kidding. At least mostly. Avalon deserved an award for having to deal with Loretta as much as she had.
She put her wadded-up napkin on her plate and pushed it away. Using her thumb, she brushed crumbs from the corner of her mouth. Once his eyes had focused on her lips, he had a hard time not remembering the many kisses they’d shared.
A particular question he’d continued to mull over surfaced again. This time, he let himself put it into words.
“Do you regret marrying me?”
Surprise spread across her face and she shook her head immediately. “No. Maybe we went about it the wrong way. But I don’t regret it. I never have.”
Duke released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He stood up and walked around the table, pulling a chair up to face her. His knees touched hers as he sat and reached for her hands. “I’m glad. Because I’ve never regretted marrying you, either.”
It was true. There were a lot of things he wished he’d done differently in the last few months. But making Avalon his wife wasn’t one of them.
She smiled, her blue eyes drawing him in. He reached up to tuck a few errant strands behind her ear and caressed her cheek with a finger.
“Are you sure it’s okay to ride the ATV while you’re pregnant? Maybe you should stay here until your appointment when you can ask the doctor.” Color touched her cheeks and he liked that he’d put it there.
She nodded, a shy smile on her face. “I’m fine, Duke. I asked at the appointment before I got back. She said that, as long as I’m not over tired, I don’t have any restrictions. But I appreciate your caring.”
Of course he cared. The last thing he wanted was for anything to happen to his wife or their unborn baby. “I guess we’d better get back to work, huh?”
“Probably.” She glanced at Khanrad. “Should we take him with us?”
“Not today. But I’ve been thinking about that and I’m going to buy a box to put on the back of the ATV so he can ride along with us. I’ll get it ordered tonight.” He looked at his watch. “Since it’s already after one, it should be a short afternoon. He’ll be fine.”
Chapter Ten
Avalon rode behind Duke, her arms around his waist, as they checked on rows and rows of lettuce. The plants had already grown a great deal since she’d returned. The furrows between rows were muddy.
Duke stopped the ATV and turned it off.
“What’s wrong?”
He motioned to the furrows. “I closed the gates. There must be a leak. Come on, let’s go check it out.”
She nodded and wrapped her arms tighter around him as they sped away.
When they pulled to a stop, Duke got down and offered her a hand.
Avalon wished she were more familiar with the whole process. “What am I seeing here?”
“This gate leads to one of the irrigation canals. There are a bunch of them — like a vascular system that feeds all the farms in the area. I open the gate and it directs water down the furrows to saturate the soil and keep the crops hydrated. When the seeds are first germinating, we use sprinklers to keep them from washing away.” He nodded at the flooded furrows. “It’s a good thing the crops are as far along as they are. If this had happened when the seeds were sprouting, we could have been in trouble.”
He closed the gate and made sure it was secure.
“What happened?”
“I closed this gate myself. Someone else opened it again and left it that way.”
She studied the rows of lettuce, the growing green leaves seemed to glow in the sunlight. “But why?”
Duke scanned the land as though he hoped he might find a clue. “I wish I knew. But if this had run all night, the money it would’ve cost in water alone... Depending on how bad it was, the erosion could have harmed a number of crops, too.” He turned his gaze on her. “I’m wondering if someone’s out to damage the farm.”
Avalon’s breath caught in her throat while the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. With a glance over her shoulder, she swallowed and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
Duke watched her carefully. “I’d like for us to stick together when you come out here.” His eyes traveled to her midsection. “If someone’s causing trouble, I don’t want anything happening to you or the baby.”
A chill swept down her spine. “There’s a big difference between stealing vehicles or messing with the irrigation gates and trying to cause us harm.” She shivered.
He put a hand on her back between her shoulder blades and left it there. “I’m sure I’m overthinking it. But I’d rather be safe than sorry any day of the week.”
His touch, along with his kind words for her and their child, warmed Avalon’s heart.
~
Duke’s mind swirled with different scenarios as he and Avalon checked on the fields. The crew hired to weed the rows of lettuce was busy working. Everything seemed under control and for that he was grateful. It was odd how, on the outside, things seemed normal.
The sun dipped below the horizon as they headed home. Duke took a hand off the handle of the ATV and covered Avalon’s clasped around his waist.
He liked this — the way he and Avalon were today. He’d been keeping h
er at arm’s length again since finding out about the baby. There were questions and many things he wanted to say. But how to begin?
Duke wished he knew. He concentrated on the way her arms reached around him as they headed home.
They locked the ATV up in the garage and approached the house. They could hear Khanrad scratching the door as he anticipated their return. When they opened it, out leapt a bundle of fur and energy, tail slicing the air in his excitement.
Avalon laughed as she patted his head. “I’m going to run inside and use the restroom.”
Duke nodded as he focused his attention on the dog. “Did you miss us, boy? We’ll try to figure out a way to take you with us soon. But it was good to know you were watching over the house while we were gone.”
He played with Khanrad, throwing a tennis ball as the dog chased it down and returned it time after time.
A few minutes later, the front door opened again. Duke turned to see Avalon. Her expression oscillating between shock and amusement. “You need to see what your dog did while we weren’t here.”
“Uh oh. My dog?” He patted his leg. “Come on, Khanro. What’d you do?”
He followed Avalon into the house. The scent of chicken fajitas filled his nostrils and made his stomach rumble as he followed her into the kitchen. His eyes went to the floor where a bag of bread lay torn open, only a few slices left inside the plastic. Another bag had been torn to shreds. He moved it around with the tip of his shoe until he was able to read the word tortilla. “So much for fajitas.”
Avalon stood, her spine straight and her hands on her hips. She pierced Khanrad with a glare that would’ve had Duke cowering on the floor. Which was exactly what the dog was doing.
Duke watched the standoff between them for a few moments and finally had to chuckle. Her gaze swung to him and she maintained her serious expression for another second or two before the corners of her mouth turned up and she joined him.
Khanrad seemed confused, his ears standing up as he listened to their laughter.
Duke retrieved a broom and dustpan from the closet and cleaned up the mess. “I guess we’re going to need to lock up the food while we’re gone from now on.”
“You think?” Avalon scratched Khanrad’s ear on the way to the pantry. “We’ve got tortilla chips in here. How do fajita nachos sound?”
“That sounds great.” He pointed a finger at Khanrad. “No nachos for you.”
~
The sun headed for the horizon and the air cooled as Duke and Avalon worked to pull weeds from the garden behind the house. She hoped to expand the area and have a much larger garden in the spring. Because it’d been neglected over the last month or so, there was more maintenance to do than usual.
They worked side by side in silence until she sat back on her knees and watched him. It took a few moments before Duke noticed her and paused. “What is it?”
“How do you feel about the baby?” She inhaled slowly. “Anything you have to say is better than what I imagine you’re thinking.”
Duke’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
Avalon’s mind went back to a conversation her family had years ago. Her mom and sisters talked to her dad and Lance and the discussion became spirited.
“I remember Lance once telling me that women make things way too complicated.” She paused. “Maybe you’ve been trying to decide whether I’m telling you the truth or not since you found out about the baby. But do you know what’s going on in my head?” He shook his own. “I’m wondering whether you’re angry at me. Are you happy about the baby or upset? Should I push you about it or leave it alone? Are you scared, too, or are you taking it all in stride?”
One eyebrow rose and he watched her as though she were a bomb that might go off at any moment. “Are you serious?”
She shrugged. Oh, yeah. She’d had a lot more than that going through her mind, wondering what might be brewing in his.
Duke rested a knee on the ground. “I had no idea. And it’s not all black and white for me, either, you know. If it were, things would be much easier.”
She waited, praying he would share his thoughts. Or at least give her some kind of clue. He plucked a couple more stubborn weeds out of the soil before considering her again.
“I was angry at first. I still don’t agree with your reasons for not telling me about the pregnancy.” He tossed the tiny weeds in a pile. “But I’m not mad now. Maybe hurt is the right word.”
Avalon let her eyes close. “That’s the last thing I’d wanted to do. I needed you to know that I came back for you. For us. I was afraid you’d think I came back only because of the baby. Whatever I decided to do, I knew it would make one thing or another more difficult. I made the best choice I could. I didn’t tell anyone else. I wasn’t going to until you knew.”
“I appreciate that, although I wish you’d just told me the day you came back. It still bothers me that you kept a secret like this from me.” He jerked another weed out of the ground. “If you could go back and decide again, would you choose differently?”
She contemplated that a moment. “Honestly? Right now, I don’t know.”
“Fair enough.” They worked quietly for a bit before he said, “Are you really scared?”
“Terrified.” Avalon looked him in the eyes. “I don’t feel ready for this. I have no idea what I’m doing.”
His expression was open and relayed his understanding. “I’m happy about the baby, Avalon. But I’m scared to death about becoming a parent with the role models I had growing up.” His hazel eyes met hers. “Maybe the timing could have been better, but this baby is a blessing no matter what’s going on in our marriage right now.”
His words made her heart lighter than it had been in days. He was right. This baby was a blessing and, regardless of what was going on between them, he or she was conceived out of love.
“You’re nothing like either of your parents, Duke. This baby will be lucky to have you for a daddy.”
He gave her a small nod, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth and a sparkle in his eyes. She’d meant each word. They may have their issues, but she’d seen how he taught the kids at the camps over the summer and had no doubt he would be an amazing father.
Avalon may not know his parents well, but she knew them enough to recognize that Duke’s life would be very different if God hadn’t had a hand in it. Who knew where he’d be if he hadn’t been determined to steer his life in a different direction. She truly respected him for doing that because it couldn’t have been easy.
The whole situation only made her more aware of how good she’d had it growing up. Sure, there’d been arguments with her parents and siblings. Their life hadn’t always been easy and her family was never rich. But her parents relied on God in their lives while they had a lot of love and respect for each other. She’d seen it every day growing up and it shaped her into the person she was now.
They finished the weeding and he motioned to a nearby stump. “Have a seat and take a break. I’ll water.”
Avalon did as he asked, grateful for his kindness. Her back ached after bending over the garden. She watched as he saturated the plants with water. The smell of warm, wet dirt drifted to her nostrils and she took in a cleansing breath. She loved that scent. Growth. New life.
When they’d first gotten married, she’d had doubts about becoming a farmer’s wife. Now, she couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.
“You said you came to Arizona originally to go to school. You seem to be close to your family. Why didn’t you stay in Texas?”
She blinked at him, wondering momentarily whether he had been reading her mind.
“All of my siblings went to college there. I never was the studious type and I wasn’t sure I wanted to go to college at all. When I decided to give it a try, I figured I would have less self-imposed pressure if I went out of state.”
“What did your family think of that?”
Avalon shrugged. “I always marched to the beat of a
different drum. My parents were sad to see me leave, but they understood and supported me.”
“I remember you mentioned you left college after your sophomore year.”
“Yeah. Being away from home and the pressure helped. I was doing fine, but I didn’t like it. In fact, I counted down the days till the end of the semester.” She remembered the dread she felt every day she headed to class like it was yesterday. “By the end of my sophomore year, I decided it wasn’t worth it. I thought about going back home to Kitner and decided I wasn’t ready for that yet, either. I was going to be the only one in my family who didn’t graduate from college.”
“It’s not for everyone,” he said. “I went to college and I got a degree in agriculture with a minor in business. But I did it specifically to help me run this farm better. If that hadn’t been the case, I don’t know that I would’ve gone to college either.”
“I regret the money I spent on those two years. What a waste.”
“It brought you here. It wasn’t a complete misuse.” He gave her a wink and turned his attention to the plants he watered. “But I know what you mean. There are a lot of great degrees and reasons to go to college. But I feel bad for all the people who go for four years, rack up a lot of debt, and then spend most of their adult lives paying those loans back. Especially when they work in an area completely unrelated to their degrees.”
Avalon nodded, glad he understood. “I held several jobs in different office situations and I got bored. I was on my way through Yuma, trying to decide what to do next, when I saw the ad needing people to help teach the kids’ classes. Of course, you know the rest of the story.”
Duke grinned at her and shut the water off, coiling the hose before dropping the spray nozzle onto the pile. He went to stand in front of her and then crouched down so they were eye to eye. “I’m glad you stuck around instead of heading back to Texas.”
Finding Courage (Love's Compass Book 3) Page 8