“Doesn’t sound too hard,” I said as I started scanning. I saw two bad beans and picked them up and tossed them in the bucket.
“Nah, it’s really not and once ya get used to it, it goes by really fast.”
We went through fifteen buckets before Lisa said we needed to get over to the corn house. There were enough bags of beans to bring up to the office so we needed to start bagging the corn. It only took us around forty-five minutes to go through the beans, so we had about the same amount of time to do the corn.
When we got to the corn house, the heat was already causing the sweat to run down my back. It wasn’t so bad when I was in the shade, but out in the open it was brutal.
Lisa walked up to one of the stands she showed me the day before and picked up one of the green sacks. She placed it inside the hole on top and wrapped the top around the rim. “Place the bag in the holder like I told ya yesterday. Then put thirty ears in each bag.”
I grabbed a stand and moved it over to the truck that was backed up with a load of corn, and then put the bag in it.
Reaching for the corn, a question popped into my head, but I waited for her to finish her bag before I asked so she wouldn’t lose count. “Do we toss bad corn too or just bag it all.”
“Nope, just bag it all.”
That sounded simple enough and it was. If you grab two ears at a time and count by two then it was possible to get a bag done pretty quickly. The only hard part was closing it up and moving it out of the way. “These things are freaking heavy,” I complained as we both finished a bag and moved it to our growing pile. “How do they get to the office?” There was no way I’d be able to do it; I knew that for sure.
She wiped at her forehead and pulled a small fan out of her back pocket, turning it on. I definitely needed to get one of those. “Don’t worry. We don’t have to carry anything. Landon will be here in probably twenty minutes or so with the truck to load the bags.”
My eyebrows shot up in surprise at the mention of Landon’s name. I remember her saying that he didn’t work on this side of the farm. “Oh, okay good.”
“So what’s it like havin’ a surgeon for a dad. I bet that’s really cool.” She stood there with the pocket fan, leaning against the tailgate of the truck. I finished off my bag and followed suit.
“It is really cool. When I was little, I used to think he performed magic or something because these people would always end up getting better.” I chuckled at my memory. “He had hoped one day I’d want to follow in his footsteps,” I mentioned as I moved dirt around with my boot. “But it’s just not for me. Plus being in school for, like, seven years is not my idea of a good time,” I scoffed. “It’s hard enough going to college. I couldn’t imagine doing it for seven years.
Lisa nodded. “Yeah, I couldn’t do it either. Which is why I went for a two-year program. Do ya know what ya want to go to school for?”
I shrugged. “Not really. A couple of years ago, I really wanted to be an art student, but my parents shot that down. They said it wasn’t a career and weren’t paying for it. Now, I have no idea, but I’d love to work in art galleries or museums.” I smiled at Lisa as I thought about it. “That would be my dream job.”
“You sound passionate about it.” I shrugged and kept my eyes to the ground. “You should totally take those classes and go to school for what ya want. You want to love what ya do every day. Besides, we only live once. Do what makes ya happy.”
I looked at her with appreciation. She was starting to sound like Erin. “I really wish it was that easy.”
“Derek is doing what his parents want, but he loves agriculture. Landon, on the other hand, did the same thing you’re doin’ now,” she blurted. “Doin’ what his parents wanted instead of what he wanted. Don’t get me wrong; he loves the farm, but he’s got other dreams. Dreams he’ll never follow because he wants to keep his parents happy. Plus he’d have to do school all over again.”
I frowned at this information, knowing exactly what he must have gone through with his parents. “What exactly did he want to major in?”
“Mechanical Engineerin’,” she said with a smile.
“Wow.” That would be a hard course. “You said he loved cars so I could see that as a career for him, but isn’t that tough?”
She nodded her head and put her little fan away. “Yeah, but he would’ve loved it,” she said as she picked up another bag. “I’m totally not trying to be a Debbie downer either.”
“No, I understand. I appreciate what you said. I know there has to be a way to get through to my parents because I definitely don’t have the money to pay for school.”
We counted out corn and bagged up two more bags before she started talking again. “He asked about ya, ya know,” she said as she finished tying up her bag.
I was reaching for some corn, but stopped to look at her. “He, who?”
She laughed. “I’m sorry. I have a habit of blurtin’ shit out when I’m thinkin’ about somethin’, so just ignore most of the things that come out of my mouth.” She looked at me with a smile, and then reached for more corn to bring them closer to the edge. “He, as in Landon. I had dinner at the Johnson’s last night.” She turned to me. “I overheard Landon askin’ Derek about the ‘new girl’.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “Okay, so he was asking about me.” I didn’t see what the big deal was.
“Landon doesn’t ask about girls. Girls are the ones who ask about him.” She dragged the bag of corn to the pile. “I just thought I’d tell ya,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “He might be extra flirty.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, joy,” I said unenthusiastically. I was really in no place for a guy to be flirty with me. Especially now after everything I learned about Jason. “What’s the deal with him anyway? Has he always been a player?” I asked as I grabbed another bag and got it ready.
She laughed. “That’s the thing. I wouldn’t really call him a player. The girls know he doesn’t date, but they throw themselves at him anyway. He’s the bad boy ‘round here so all the girls swoon thinkin’ they can change him.” She shook her head and laughed. “I told ya, it’s comical. You’ll see eventually.”
“So he’s never had a serious girlfriend?” I asked, just as I heard a truck door close.
“That my friend is a whole nother story.”
I turned just as Landon walked in, and oh, my God. He was wearing the same thing he wore yesterday, holey dirty jeans, a fitted white t-shirt, and boots. But that was not what had me standing there with my mouth partly open. He was wearing a cowboy hat. I’d never seen anyone in real life wear one before and it looked damn good on him. I could feel the girly tingling in the pit of my stomach.
He smiled at Lisa, as he got closer, only giving me a quick glance. Good, maybe I won’t get flirty Landon.
“Hey,” Lisa said, “we’ve fourteen bags ready to go,” she pointed toward our pile.
“Okay. Derek said he’d meet ya at the house,” Landon drawled in a deep raspy southern voice.
Oh, boy, his southern accent sounds so sexy. This can’t be a good thing.
I looked up at the ceiling and let out a slight sigh. Why do men have to be such assholes?
“Hey, you all right?”
I looked down at Lisa standing right next to me. “Yeah,” I said, wiping at my forehead. I looked at Landon who was scrutinizing me.
“You might need some water, city girl. We don’t want you getting dehydrated on your first day.” His comment wouldn’t have bothered me if he didn’t have an edge to his voice.
Where the hell did that come from? I raised an eyebrow at him and gave him my best ‘fuck off’ look. This was exactly why I was saying ‘screw you’ to all men. I was usually a nice, quiet person, but this guy was asking for my ‘fuck you’ persona.
“Yeah, we do need some water. I’m sweating my ass off,” Lisa complained as she walked over to the small fridge on the far side of the wall, close to where the bags were waiting to be loaded. Sh
e walked back to me, with her back to Landon, and handed me a bottle. “If only that expression was true. I’d have a smaller ass,” she laughed. I cracked a smile, but it fell from my face when I noticed Landon standing just behind Lisa staring at us. What the hell was his deal? “Well, I have to head to get the eggs and bring them to the office. I’ll be back in a little bit, so just keep stackin’ the bags.” She backed away with a wink.
“The four wheeler is on the side of the building,” Landon said to Lisa as she made her way outside. “And don’t take all day; we’ve got more loads coming.”
“Shut your face, Landon,” she yelled over her shoulder as she turned the corner, causing the side of his mouth to curl up.
I turned back to counting the corn so I wouldn’t be caught staring at him again. Hopefully, he’d just grab the bags of corn and go, but I wasn’t that lucky. I counted to twenty when I noticed him move out of the corner of my eye. He was walking to the little fridge. The heat had really spiked in the past hour and I was wishing I had one of those mini fans Lisa had. They should think about getting fans. It would be nice to have some air blowing on us even if it was hot air. All the dirt from the ground would probably blow everywhere though, so that would be a bad idea.
I turned my head slightly, watched as he opened a water bottle, and tilted his head back, chugging half of it. Sweat was dripping from his neck down to his V-neck t-shirt, soaking the material. I half wished he’d pour the water down the front of his shirt so it would stick to his skin. Then I’d be able to see what he was hiding underneath. Yes, I said I didn’t want anything to do with men right now, but I wasn’t blind and this guy would probably make me drool. Although the vibes I was getting from him showed a cocky asshole.
After watching him chug the whole bottle, I looked back and concentrated on my counting. I had twenty lined up and needed more. We’d used all the corn closest to the edge, so I’d have to climb onto the bed of the truck and move the corn so I could reach it.
Hearing Landon behind me, I turned to see him carrying two bags of corn. I could see his biceps and forearm muscles straining with the weight. I was betting he didn’t even have to work out. Working on the farm probably caused all kinds of ripples to form on his body.
Get it together, girl. Focus on the job and not his body.
Looking back at the corn, I decided I’d hop up onto the truck as lady-like as possible. Turning so my lower back was against the tailgate, I rested my hands flat against the truck and hopped up into a sitting position. I could feel the dirt and pieces of cornhusk sticking to the sweat on the back of my legs, but I knew I’d get dirty and hell would freeze over before I started complaining. I’d never been one of those girls and I didn’t plan on turning into one either.
Pushing myself up, I stood and looked at what I had to work with. About a quarter of the corn had been bagged, so the rest of the bed was filled high. I just needed to figure out a way to push it closer to the edge without all the ears rolling off into the dirt.
Not knowing what else to do, I leaned down and gently started rolling the ears toward the edge so they wouldn’t roll off. I reached to the back of the pile, thinking I should start there. If I could make the pile not so high, it would be easier to move later on. Digging my hands under the corn, I pulled toward me causing corn to roll and topple all over my legs and feet. The one thing I noticed about bagging all this corn is that it’s wet and sticky. So now, I had it all over my legs and some of it really smelled bad.
“What’re you doing?” There was that edge in his voice again.
I turned to see Landon standing at the end of the truck.
“Hello, Captain Obvious, what does it look like I’m doing?” Answering sarcastically probably wasn’t the best way to answer the boss’s son, but I couldn’t help it. He fueled the smartass in me. Maybe I had a problem with blurting things out too.
He raised an eyebrow at me and I could have sworn I saw the start of a smile on his face, but I wasn’t sure. “Hop on down,” he gestured with his gloved hand, “and I’ll move it for ya.”
I wanted to say, ‘no, really, I’ve got this under control,’ but then I saw his gloves. I definitely needed a pair. It must have been sweetcorn because the juices were all over my hands causing my fingers to stick together. Plus the smell that was wafting up from the corn sitting on top of each other in this heat was really foul, making my hands stink. So instead, I said, “Great, thanks,” as I walked to the edge and jumped off, not so gracefully.
He jumped into the bed of the truck like a pro and stood there for a moment assessing the pile. I, on the other hand, stood there and assessed him from the backside. The back of his shirt looked soaked through with sweat and I could tell his butt really filled out his jeans. It was definitely round and muscular and I wouldn’t be lying if I said that was a real turn on.
Then, without hesitation, he reached in, grabbed an arm full of corn from the top of the pile, and brought it down closer to the tailgate. He repeated this process eight times. Then he gently shoved the corn closer to the edge with his boot.
I stood there and watched the entire time. He snuck glances at me a few times, but kept quiet. Then, without a word, he hopped off the truck and walked toward the bags of corn.
“Thanks,” I mumbled to his retreating back. I’m sure he didn’t hear me, but I really didn’t care. He was nice to look at but his talking skills needed some improvement.
I continued filling my bag as Landon walked back and forth, carrying the bags to his truck. When he got to the last two bags, I watched him walk out. I knew he wouldn’t be coming back in, but I wanted to make sure he left so I could focus on what I was doing. His presence had a magnetic pull and I was forced to watch his every move. It was weird.
I heard the truck door close and sighed with relief. I lifted my hand to my face to wipe away the sweat, but as soon as my hand got close I almost gagged. Reaching down, I grabbed my shirt and used that to wipe my face instead, not wanting that awful smell all over my face. Then I went to the little fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. I drank half of it then used the other half on my hands. I had to keep bagging corn, but at least the smell wouldn’t be so bad.
I wasn’t sure how much time went by before Lisa showed up, but I had bagged another 8 bags by myself. She walked in with a smile on her face. “Hey, sorry that took so long. Nan wasn’t feeling well so she asked me to stay up there for a bit to take care of the customers.”
I finished tying up my bag and dragged it over to the pile. “Oh, I thought you went to see Derek,” I said as I used my forearm to wipe the sweat from my forehead. I was pooped. This had to be the hardest work I’d ever done. But it wasn’t even the work. It was the heat. If it was air conditioned, I’d be fine.
“Yeah, I did. He was up there with me and then Landon showed up with the corn. It seems like he’s in a bad mood today. Ya know how sometimes ya can just look at someone’s facial expression and can tell when they’re pissy?” she asked me and I nodded my head. “Well, that’s exactly what he looked like when he arrived at the office.”
“Hopefully, he keeps it to himself, because sweating your butt off in the heat does not equal a great mood by the end of the day,” I laughed.
“Don’t I know it? Durin’ that time of the month, I need to wear a sign that says ‘Don’t fuck with me!’ Derek learned the hard way.” We both laughed. I was not looking forward to that time at all. I had horrible PMS. I guess we’d see how that all worked out.
“I’m really glad I met ya the other day.” She smiled at me genuinely.
I gave her a half smile. “Me too.” I could definitely use a friend around here. “So, what’s next? Are we supposed to keep bagging corn? Because I have to be honest, I’d like a change of scenery and this smell is bad. I need to clear out my nose,” I said disgusted.
She laughed. “Yes, actually. I was coming to get ya so we can go to lunch.”
I looked around. “It’s ten thirty already?” I asked in disbelief.
There was no way I had been working for four hours already.
“No, actually. It’s only ten, but I’m hotter than hell and want to take a dip in the pool. Ya game?”
She smiled at me like she knew I would be and she’d be right. I smiled back at her. “Damn right I’m game.”
The thought occurred to me that everyone might have the same idea, but I’d worry about that after I cooled off in the pool.
Six
After stopping at the office to clock out and grab my purse from the car, Lisa and I got on one of the four wheelers and rode to the Johnson’s house. I was looking forward to jumping in the water and cooling my skin off.
When Lisa pulled up to the house, she parked the four-wheeler under a big oak tree. “I’m parking it here so the sun isn’t shinin’ on it the whole time we’re over here. You’ll thank me later by not having your ass melt to the seat.”
I laughed at her sentiment. “Thanks.”
We walked the few yards to the house and entered the back gate. The house was two stories with blue siding. There was a carport attached to the side and a big screened-in patio on the back, which was where Lisa was leading us.
“Are you sure it’s all right for me to be here?” I felt weird walking into someone’s house when I hadn’t even met them yet.
“Yeah, you’re fine. Mrs. Johnson knows ya started today and I told her I’d bring ya for lunch. Besides, Derek told ya she prepares lunches that day in the diner.” She smiled. “I promise she’s nice. You’ll like her.”
Drifting into Darkness Page 6