“Muddin’?” I asked.
“You really are from the city, aren’t you?”
I gave him a dirty look. “You’re hilarious.”
He grinned. “I know I am. Muddin’ is when you take your truck or four-wheeler and find mud holes to go through—the deeper, the better.”
“That doesn’t sound fun at all.”
“It is when you actually do it. If you’re ever allowed off the farm, I’ll take you sometime.”
I snorted. “Yeah, like that will happen.”
“Your grandpa isn’t that bad of a guy once you’re around him for a while. He just has high expectations for people.”
“He’s an asshole. Always has been, always will be. He’s not happy unless he’s making someone miserable.”
“I disagree. I heard what he told you yesterday. If you do what you’re supposed to, he’ll let you have free time.”
“My grandfather shouldn’t have talked about why I am here or what the rules are with you and your dad in the room. It’s personal.”
Landon shrugged. “Hey, I don’t judge. It sounds like you screwed up. So what? Everyone screws up occasionally.”
“Yeah, but not everyone gets caught dealing drugs.”
Landon’s eyes widened a bit. “That sucks. Did you end up in jail?”
I shook my head. “No, my mom was the one who caught me. That’s why I’m here. Either I come play farm girl for a summer, or she’s going to turn Joel and me in for drugs.”
“I’m assuming Joel is the boyfriend your grandpa mentioned last night?”
“Yeah.”
I didn’t comment any further than that. I was sure he was thinking about the statutory rape comment my grandpa had also mentioned.
“So, you’re still with the guy?” he asked.
I glanced up to see him watching me. “Yeah, I am.”
He nodded as he turned back to the stall. “I see.”
“I thought you weren’t going to judge me.”
“I’m not. I was just curious if you were still with him.”
I almost laughed as I realized what he was doing. “Is that your subtle way of asking if I have a boyfriend?”
Landon didn’t look up as he said, “Nah, I was just being nosy.”
I studied him as he continued to clean another stall. He really was attractive, but he was definitely not my type even if I wasn’t with Joel.
“I’m going to give you a friendly piece of advice,” I said.
“And what’s that?”
“Don’t get attached to me, Landon. I’m fucked-up, but I’m okay with that. I embrace it. I fight, I drink, and I smoke weed. I like heavy metal music and piercings. I’m the total opposite of you.”
He finally stopped shoveling and turned to face me. “You’re not the total opposite of me.”
“How so?”
He grinned. “I drink, too.”
I rolled my eyes as he turned away.
“My bad. We’re soul mates.”
“Nah, but don’t worry, I wasn’t hitting on you. Your virtue is safe with me.”
I snorted. “I lost that long ago.”
Landon burst out laughing but made no comment. He really didn’t seem that bad, but I wasn’t about to let my guard down around him. I was here to put my time in and then go home. After this summer, I would never see Landon again.
We finished cleaning the barn without any further conversation. Once we were done, I waited on the four-wheeler while he drove the tractor to wherever he needed to dump the fertilizer. It was hot out today, and I felt like I was on fire by the time he brought the tractor back.
“Took you long enough. I’m burning up,” I said when he walked over to me.
“Sorry, I was trying to hurry.” He glanced down at me. “You might want to change your shirt when we get back to the house.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re lily white, and your shoulders are already turning red.”
I glanced down to see that he was right. “Damn it. I don’t want to wear another shirt. I’m hot enough as it is. I’ll just put some sunblock on.”
“I hope you have something strong. If not, you’re going to be hurting by tomorrow.”
I scooted back as he climbed onto the four-wheeler with me. As soon as he started it up, I wrapped my arms around him. I felt a little better now that the sun was up, and I could see where we were going, but I was still nervous.
Landon and I were both sweaty from working in the barn all morning, but I didn’t mind. He actually smelled kind of good when he was sweaty—not that I noticed or anything. Instead of stopping at the main barn like I’d expected, he pulled the four-wheeler into the same spot where my dad had parked his car yesterday.
“What are we doing?” I asked.
“It’s time for lunch, and you need to put on sunblock.”
“Oh, duh.” I hadn’t even realized what time it was, but now that he’d mentioned food, my stomach started growling.
He helped me climb off the four-wheeler, and then he walked beside me to the house. I was shocked when he held open the door, but he didn’t seem to notice. I wasn’t used to people being polite.
“I’m going to run up to my room to shower and put on sunscreen,” I said as I pulled off my boots.
“Make it quick. We need to get the chicken coop done, too.”
I gave him a one-fingered salute before heading up to my room. I grabbed another spaghetti-strap shirt and jeans before hurrying to the bathroom. I knew it was stupid to shower when I would get all gross and sweaty again, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t used to smelling bad. Hell, I wasn’t used to sweating. I took the fastest shower on record and rubbed sunscreen on my shoulders and arms before dressing. Hopefully, it would keep me from burning.
By the time I made it back downstairs, Landon had finished his lunch, and he was leaning against the sink, talking to Gram. They both shut up when they saw me coming through the door. I gave Gram a questioning look, but she just smiled and shoved a plate filled with food into my hands.
I sat down and started eating the biggest lunch of my life. It was apparent that Gram wasn’t kidding about making me gain weight while I was here. I ate most of my hamburger and a few fries before handing the plate back to her.
“Thanks, Gram.” I kissed her cheek and then followed Landon out of the kitchen.
We shoved our feet back into our mud boots and walked outside. Landon left the four-wheeler where it was and headed for the main barn. I followed him, dreading the job in front of us. I’d had enough poop for one day.
He walked over to another orange Kubota and climbed on. “You can stand on here beside me or walk to the coop. It doesn’t matter to me.”
The chicken coop was only about fifty yards away from the barn, so I decided to walk rather than get on the tractor with him.
“I’ll walk.”
He nodded as he started the tractor and pulled it out of the barn. I stayed a few feet behind him as we made our way to the chicken coop. He pulled the tractor in so that it was close to the door, just like he’d done this morning. Once he was off the tractor, he grabbed two shovels out of the loader bucket and handed one to me.
“Come on, kid. Let’s go have fun.”
I laughed. “Yeah, shoveling chicken crap is equivalent to a party around here.”
He winked at me, and then he opened the door and stepped inside. I followed and almost gagged at the smell. While this morning hadn’t been pleasant, it was nothing compared to the smell of the chicken coop.
“Fuck, that’s nasty!”
“Just wait until we start shoveling. Hurry up, so we can get this over with.”
Neither of us spoke this time as we shoveled. I wasn’t about to open my mouth in here. Nope. No way. I had no idea how Landon wasn’t bothered by the smell. At least, he didn’t seem to be, not as bad as I was. I caught him wrinkling his nose a few times as we worked.
After nearly two hours, we finally finished. I handed Lando
n my shovel and ran out of the chicken coop like my pants were on fire. I needed to escape that smell before I threw up. I dropped to the ground and just lay there. I was stinky, I was sweaty, and I was pretty sure I would never get that smell out of my nose.
“You gonna make it?” Landon asked from nearby.
I rolled over to see him standing above me. “I doubt it. I think I’d prefer jail at this point.”
He laughed as he held out a hand to help me up. “I seriously doubt that.”
“At least it wouldn’t stink as bad. Ugh.”
“You know, I’m kind of disappointed in you.” His tone was serious, but I could see in his eyes that he was laughing at me.
“And why is that?”
“Your grandpa gave me this whole speech about keeping an eye on you because you’re trouble. Then, when you get here, you look like a badass with your dyed hair, piercings, and tattoo. I’m disappointed to see that you’re really just a whiny chick.”
I flipped him off, and he lost his serious expression as he laughed.
“Fuck off, Cowboy.”
“That wasn’t very ladylike.”
“Good thing I’m not a lady,” I said, using his words from yesterday.
He grinned. “Come on, Alexandria. Let’s go water the animals. I forgot to do it after lunch.”
I shook my head. “You’re a horrible teacher, forgetting your duties already.”
He ignored me as we walked back to the barn.
I could already tell that I was going to like this guy. I just hoped that he wouldn’t fuck me over before I left.
Landon helped me with my chores despite the fact that I was supposed to do them on my own. I thought he’d planned to make me suffer through them on my own, but he’d taken pity on me after I dropped one of the five-gallon water buckets and soaked the front of my jeans. I hated feeling weak, but damn it, those fuckers were heavy. It made me feel even worse when I watched him pick up two of them, acting like it was nothing. I was pretty sure he could have carried two ten-gallon buckets and thought nothing of it. Hopefully, my arms would get used to the weight before too long. If my grandpa saw him helping me, we’d both get in trouble.
After we finished watering everything, we walked back toward the house.
“What now?” I asked.
“We need to go check on the cattle and do the rounds on the water springs.”
“What the hell are water springs?” I asked, picturing actual metal springs covered in water.
He grinned. “Your city is showing. The water springs are what feeds the ponds out in the grazing fields. We keep an eye on two of them, especially when it gets this hot. If one starts to dry up, we have to move all the cattle into the other field.”
“Oh, okay.”
“Come on, we have to take the four-wheeler again.”
“Yippee,” I mumbled as I followed him over to where he’d parked it earlier.
He climbed on and scooted up, so I could throw my leg over. After I was situated, he started it and slowly drove down the gravel road leading to the main road. Despite the rocky road, I didn’t cling to Landon like before. I was okay as long as hills weren’t involved. We stopped by a gate about a mile away from the house. He hopped off and opened the gate, motioning me to pull the four-wheeler through.
I shook my head. “Not a chance, buddy.”
“Come on, it’s in first gear! I swear, you won’t kill yourself by moving it six feet.”
I debated for a second before scooting forward. Fuck this timid Lexi. That wasn’t who I was. I grabbed the handlebars and pushed the gas, shrieking when I jerked forward. Without even thinking, I grabbed the hand brake and squeezed tightly. The four-wheeler stopped dead, and I nearly flew over the handlebars.
I looked over to see Landon holding his stomach and laughing. Fucking asshole. I flipped him off before releasing the brake, and I pushed the gas again, slowly this time. The four-wheeler started creeping forward. Once I was past the gate, I pulled the brake again and waited for Landon to get back on.
He appeared beside me seconds later, still grinning. “That was hilarious, City.”
I ignored the nickname as I glared at him. “That wasn’t funny. I could have fallen off.”
“I doubt anything would have been bruised besides your pride and possibly your ass.”
I said nothing as I scooted back, so he could climb back on. He took his time as we went through the field. He was careful when we came up to any bumps. Now that we were off the gravel road, I clung to him, terrified that we would roll, as we climbed the steep hills.
Jesus, West Virginia needs less fucking hill and more level ground.
We rode in silence for a few minutes before I noticed the first cow at the bottom of the hill. As soon as we reached the bottom, I saw the rest of them were all hanging around a small pond, standing in the shade.
I smiled when I saw a few baby calves running and playing in the field around us. “Aw, they’re so cute!” I squealed.
I could feel Landon’s shoulders shaking as he laughed silently, but he made no comment about how girlie I’d sounded. I couldn’t help it. Cows were boring and huge, and they scared the ever-loving shit out of me, but the babies were cute.
We circled the field a few times as Landon checked to make sure they were all there. I expected them to run when we approached, but they simply stared at us as we drove past. Maybe they weren’t so scary after all.
“They’re all here,” Landon said.
“Why wouldn’t they be?”
“Coyotes have been thick around here lately. They got two of the calves this spring.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know what to say to that. I felt bad for the poor little guys the coyotes had taken.
“See how close all the cows are standing to each other? Even the calves stay close to the herd.”
I nodded and then realized he couldn’t see me. “Yeah.”
“They’re always together but not this tight. And the calves are usually all over this field. I’d say the coyotes have been after them again.”
Landon impressed me. For being so young, he certainly knew a lot about this stuff. To be truthful, I felt a little inadequate around him. All I knew how to do was be a smart-ass and deal drugs.
“You’re good at this stuff,” I said.
He glanced back at me and smiled. “Thanks, I think—unless you’re making fun of me.”
“Nah, I’m being sincere for once. It’s cool how you know all of this farming stuff.”
He shrugged. “I’ve been around this my whole life. It’s hard not to pick up on things. We need to check the spring for this field and then head over to the next.”
I was silent as we climbed the hill again and made our way down the other side. We stopped next to what I assumed was the water spring. I waited as Landon hopped off and checked to make sure things were okay.
Once he was finished, he climbed back on and continued driving. Instead of going right, back to the gate we’d come through, he went left. I clung to him as we went sideways across a hill. I had no clue how he wasn’t scared shitless. It was taking everything I had to lean up, but he didn’t seem bothered at all by the gravity trying to pull us down.
The ground leveled out for a bit, and I could see another gate up ahead. We pulled up to it, and Landon climbed off to open this one, too. He didn’t have to tell me to pull through this time. I just did, being careful not to push the gas too hard like last time. Once I pulled through, I scooted back and waited for him. He surprised me by pushing me forward and climbing on behind me.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Letting you drive.”
He acted like it wasn’t a big deal, but my eyes widened.
“There is no way I’m driving this thing,” I stated. Nope. No way.
I wasn’t going to be responsible for wrecking the damn thing and having my grandpa rip me a new asshole.
“It’s easy, and I’ll help you. Come on, City, you can do it.”
“Why do you keep calling me that?” I asked.
“Because Alexandria is too damn long, and because you’re city through and through.”
“I don’t like it. I feel like you’re insulting me,” I grumbled.
“Fine, I’ll think of a new nickname. Until then, you’re City.”
“Just call me Lexi.”
It felt strange, telling him to call me something only a few people did, but for some reason, I felt okay with letting him in enough to do that. After all, he’d done nothing but help me.
“Lexi? Hmm, that’ll do, but I’d still like to call you City. I like it when you act all pissy.”
I gunned the throttle, making him fly backward. He yelped as he grabbed my waist to keep from falling off.
“Damn it. Fine. I’ll call you Lexi.”
“Thank you.”
I waited for him to release his hold on my waist, but he didn’t. I didn’t say anything about it as I slowly pushed the gas and steered the four-wheeler across an obvious path through the field. I tried to ignore his hands on me, but it was impossible. They were warm and so large that the tips of his fingers touched each other as he wrapped them around my stomach. I didn’t know how to explain how I felt with his hands on me, but I liked them there, and that bothered me. I didn’t want another guy’s hands on me. I wanted Joel’s hands and Joel’s alone.
“They’re right up ahead,” Landon said, pulling me from my thoughts.
I hadn’t been paying attention, but now that I was, I noticed a few cows standing together in front of us. I kicked the four-wheeler up another gear as we approached. I’d expected to see several cows, like before, but only five or six were here.
“Why are they separated from the others?” I asked.
“Because they’re pregnant. This field is a lot smaller, so we can find them quicker, and it’s flat, so we don’t have to worry about them having their calves on a hillside.”
“Oh, I see.”
“They’re all okay. Just keep going straight. The spring is about a mile away.”
I did as he’d told me. I carefully steered around large rocks and holes. I had to admit that driving a four-wheeler was kind of fun—at least while we were on flat ground. I wasn’t sure I could handle driving on the hills.
Breaking Alexandria Page 7