by Nicole James
“What are we going to do?”
“Just take a ride on the four-wheeler. We’ll have some fun, and you won’t leave Garrett property.” He grinned.
She grinned back and climbed on.
He pulled out, headed down the trail across the field, into the woods, and up to the ridge, finally stopping at the overlook. He switched the engine off, but made no move to dismount. They both sat there, looking at the view. The sun was starting to make its descent and hung low on the horizon turning the valley a golden hue.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” He reached back, running his hand down her thigh.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned her chin over his shoulder, staring at the view. “Um hmm.”
His other palm slid up over one of her forearms, stroking it. “You okay, Jess?”
She nodded. “I guess so.”
“Everybody makes mistakes, sweetheart. The key is not to repeat them.”
“I know.”
“So, next year…you’ll be going off to college, huh?”
“Um hmm. University of Georgia.”
“That’s not so far away. I may even come visit you. You could be my inside connection for some Georgia Bulldogs tickets,” Cary teased, looking out at the view.
“Sure, but you’d have to sit in the student section,” Jessie smiled.
“So, college, then what? What do you want to do with your life, Jess?”
“Keri and I are going to be roommates. She wants to move to New York after school. Said she can’t wait to shake the dust of this small town off.”
Cary swallowed, the thought of her moving away permanently twisting his insides in a knot. “Is that what you want? To move to a big city?”
“Um, no. It doesn’t really fit with my career goals.”
“Career goal? You have a career goal?” This was news to him.
“Well, yeah.”
“What is it?” He twisted on the seat to look back at her over his shoulder.
“Veterinary medicine.”
He’d had no idea she was interested in that. “They don’t need vets in the city?”
“Not large animal vets.”
His eyebrows rose. She was talking horses and cows, not dogs and cats. “Really? That’s what you want to do?”
“Surprised?”
The corners of his mouth pulled up. “Pleased.”
“Why?”
“Cause, baby-doll, you can do that right here.”
She smiled.
He turned to look back at the view. “I’m glad.”
She hugged him. “Me, too.”
He took her hand in his and kissed it.
*****
Jessie came straight home from school the next day. She parked her car and went in the backdoor.
Summer was in the mudroom doing laundry. She poured in the detergent and slammed the lid down with a bang. Turning, she spotted Jessie coming through the door. “Oh, hey, Jessie. How was your day?”
“Fine,” Jessie answered, not elaborating.
Summer cocked her head to one side. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Okay,” Jessie replied quietly, sure she knew what was coming. Summer was going to ask her about why she was grounded. They went into the kitchen and sat at the table.
Summer folded her hands, wanting to say this the right way. “Jessie, I know something happened-”
Jessie immediately straightened defensively.
Summer put her hand up. “And it’s none of my business. I know that. That’s between you and your father. I just want you to know that from my point of view,” she put her hand to her chest and continued, “And I know I’ve only been here a short time, but it’s obvious to me that your father loves you. I’m sure whatever it is that happened that made him feel the need to punish you, it hasn’t changed the way he feels about you, sweetheart. I just hope you know that.”
Jessie looked down at the table and admitted quietly, “I know that, Summer.”
“If you do ever want to talk about it, or well, anything, I hope you know you can talk to me.”
Jessie smiled. “Alright.”
Summer leaned forward on her elbows, crossing her arms, and grinned. “Um, and about dinner the other night…”
Jessie groaned and put her head down on the table. “God, don’t remind me.”
Summer giggled, looking down at the top of Jessie’s head. “Baby, it was pretty awful. But that doesn’t mean you should give up.”
“You think I want to go through that embarrassment again? Forget it,” Jessie said to the tabletop.
“Jessie, I could teach you,” Summer offered.
Jessie straightened up. “Summer, Cary actually spit it out. Did you hear me? He spit it out. You saw him. You were there. He thinks I’m an awful cook. You think I want more of that humiliation?”
Summer grinned. “Oh, but honey, wouldn’t you love to make him eat his words?”
That had Jessie pulling her head back an inch as she considered Summer’s words. God, wouldn’t she love that? She’d love that more than anything. “You really think it’s possible? You could really teach me?”
“Sure, Jessie. Cooking isn’t that hard. You just have to find a good recipe and follow it. We’ll pick a few recipes and practice them until you feel comfortable in the kitchen. Soon you’ll be a pro,” Summer guaranteed.
Jessie grinned, thinking of how she’d love to see the look on Cary’s face when she got good enough to impress him. “Okay. You’re on.”
Chapter Eleven
Steve stood at the edge of the cornfield, within sight of the house. He pulled an ear of corn off the stalk, peeled back the husk, and examined it. Then he studied the late afternoon clear blue sky, wondering how long he could hold off harvesting this year.
It was early September. In this part of the country, harvesting could start as early as late July with most farmers bringing in their crop between mid-August and early September. Some held off harvesting until as late as mid-October, which was exactly what he hoped to do.
It was a risk. He knew that. But it was a risk he had to take.
He needed a good harvest this year, and even then, he was probably only going to break even. Steve tossed the ear to the ground, frustration running through him. It was a tough pill to swallow, knowing the amount of work it took to plant and harvest a crop, only to end up just barely scrapping by year after year.
The sound of tires crunching on gravel carried to him, and he turned to see Jessie’s car pull around the side of the house and park. He glanced down at the watch on his wrist. Four o’clock. She’d come straight home from school every day since he’d laid down the law. He was glad to see she was complying, and she wasn’t giving him any grief about it, either. He hoped to God, she’d learned her lesson and wouldn’t be pulling any more stunts like the last one.
He studied her as she got out of her car, spotted him, and began walking toward him. She took after her mother more every day he noted, with her long legs and long dark hair.
God, he missed Rita. Would there ever come a day when he wouldn’t, he wondered. He missed having her to talk to about his day, especially how they used to cuddle late at night in bed and talk things over in soft voices in the dark. He missed having her help in raising Jessie. She would have done such a better job with her than he did, he berated himself.
Jessie reached her father and stopped. Reaching up to brush a strand of hair back off her face as the wind gusted around them, she smiled up at her father. “Hey, Daddy.”
“Hey, baby-girl. How was school?”
“Good. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”
Steve’s eyes drifted over her face, trying to read her. “Okay.”
Jessie looked back at her car, stalling, trying to think of the best way to bring it up. When she couldn’t come up with anything better, she just came right out with it. “I was asked to the Homecoming dance, Daddy.”
Steve felt himself straigh
tening. Jessie was a pretty girl, and she’d attracted the attention of boys all through high school, but she’d never had a long term, steady boyfriend. She’d never really taken an interest in any one boy. And she’d never accepted any of the invitations to past dances that he knew she’d had to receive. There was just no way a girl as pretty as Jessie wouldn’t have been asked.
This was the first time she’d ever talked about going to one of the school dances. He knew it was her senior year, knew every girl ought to experience that type of thing, but the thought of some guy coming around to pick her up, and her being all decked out in a fancy dress had his heart in his throat. He swallowed. “Yeah?” was all he could manage to get out.
She nodded, looking down at the ground. “Yeah. And I know I’m grounded, but I’d really like to go.” Her eyes found his then, and she whispered. “Please, Daddy.”
Steve looked off at the horizon. “When is it?”
“Weekend after next.”
He looked back at her, thinking how much he wished her mother were here and how much Rita was missing out on. She wouldn’t get to take her daughter shopping for a homecoming dress, or in the spring, a prom dress. She wouldn’t get to help her fix her hair, or take cheesy pictures of her and her date when he picked her up. “Sure, honey. You can go.”
He watched as her face broke into a huge smile, and she threw herself in his arms. “Thank you, Daddy.”
He held her tight, knowing his little girl was growing up. Soon she’d be gone, with a life of her own, and one day a family of her own. God, he was going to miss her when she went off to college. “You’re still grounded until then, remember.”
She pulled back out of his arms and nodded. “Yes, Daddy. I remember. I have to go call Keri and tell her.” Excitement written all over her face, she turned and dashed back toward the house.
A smile pulled at the corners of Steve’s mouth, and he dipped his head, closing his eyes. Can you believe it, Rita? Our little girl is eighteen, all grown up, and going to her first dance.
*****
It was late afternoon a few days later, and Summer was in the kitchen, talking on the phone that hung on the wall next to the back door. Steve walked in the back door and stopped by the kitchen table, picking up the pile of mail, and shuffling through it. Summer watched as he flipped one envelope after another from the top of the stack in his hands to the bottom. She saw the bill from the power company with the big red stamp on the envelope that read Disconnect Notice. The next one up was the bill from John Deere, also marked in red Past Due. She returned her attention to the caller speaking in her ear. “Yes, ma’am. Yes, ma’am, I’ll be sure to have him call you,” she replied into the receiver.
Steve’s eyes flicked up to her.
She hung up the phone and turned to him. “Um, that was the veterinarian’s office. They were calling about your bill.”
Steve just looked back down and continued flipping through the bills in his hand, with no reply.
Footsteps could be heard clattering down the stairs, and a moment later Jessie came bounding into the room, her smile bright.
“Hi, Daddy,” she greeted her father, as she opened the refrigerator. “Oh, Daddy. Summer and I were going to go shopping Saturday for a dress for the Homecoming dance. Can you give me some money?”
Steve blew out a breath. The dance. Shit. He’d forgotten all about the damn dance. “How much?” he asked, wondering where the hell he was going to come up with it. His accounts were about tapped out. The ’56 Chevy wasn’t nearly ready to sell yet. He still had some work to do on it, and there was no way he’d get it done in time to get the money to her by Saturday.
“Well, Keri’s dress and shoes were about four hundred, but I’m sure I can find one that isn’t so much, and-”
“Four hundred dollars! Do you think I’m made of money?” He snapped, tossing the mail on the table.
Jessie stared at her father, her eyes welling with tears. Then her eyes darted to Summer, and she ran from the room. They could hear her footsteps pounding up the stairs, and then her door slammed shut. Summer just stared at Steve, afraid to say anything.
“Shit!” he grumbled, and swiped his hand across the table, sending the mail scattering all over the floor. He ran his hands through his hair and turned to follow her up the stairs.
Summer waited a moment, and then crept part way up the stairs to listen. Steve must have left Jessie’s door open when he went inside, because Summer could hear him talking softly to his daughter.
“I’m sorry sweetheart. I was just having a bad day. Of course I’ll give you the money, and you buy the most expensive dress you can find. I’ll have the money for you tomorrow when you get home from school.”
“No, that’s okay, Daddy. I don’t have to go. It’s just a stupid dance,” Jessie responded, and her muffled voice sounded to Summer like she was speaking face down into her pillow.
“Don’t you want to go?” Steve asked.
“Yes, but…”
“No buts, then.”
Summer could hear the bed creak and then, “I love you, Daddy.”
“I love you, too, honey.”
Summer crept back down the stairs and went back into the kitchen. She gathered up the bills from the floor and put them on the table. Then she got down a big pot and started running water into it so she could start boiling spaghetti for dinner.
A few minutes later, she heard someone come into the kitchen, and she turned around to see Steve at the phone, dialing. Someone must have picked up on the other end. Without preamble, she heard Steve ask into the receiver, “You still want it?” And then, “You know what I’m talking about.”
There was silence a moment and then, “Fifteen? You know it’s worth twice that, easy. You son-of-a-bitch!”
And then, “Fine. Bring me a cashier’s check tomorrow, and it’s yours.” He slammed the phone down.
Summer watched as he grabbed his coat off the back of the chair and walked out the back door.
*****
The next afternoon, Summer carried a basket of laundry down into the mudroom and began filling the washing machine. She heard a loud engine start up, and she pulled the gingham curtains aside to look out into the yard to see what it was. “Oh, my God,” she murmured, her hand coming to her mouth.
She yanked the door open and ran down the steps. Cary was standing at the bottom and grabbed her arm to stop her when she would have run to Steve. He looked down at her and shook his head warning her silently to stay out of this.
They watched as Justin’s tow truck pulled away with Steve’s prize possession, his father’s 1970 Dodge Charger.
Steve turned, his eyes connecting with her, and she noticed the cashier’s check in his hand. Her mouth came open.
“It’s just a damn car.”
“Yes. But…it was your father’s, Steve.”
“Not another word,” he warned, as he walked past her to the house. He stopped short when he saw Pop, who had come out onto the back steps. A look of anguish came over Steve’s face. “I’m sorry, Pop,” he said, and brushed past him as he went inside.
Pop turned to Cary and Summer. “Give us a few minutes, okay?” They nodded, and Pop followed Steve inside.
He found Steve in the living room, sitting on the fireplace hearth, his head in his hands. When Steve heard him walk in, he looked up with tears in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Pop. I should have asked you first.”
“No, Steven. You were right out there. It’s just a car, just a hunk of metal.”
“It was more than that, Pop, and you know it. He was your son. It was all you had left of him.”
“Hogwash!”
“What?”
“Hogwash. What I have left of him is sitting in front of me, son. You’re his spit and image. I see him in everything you do. Like just now. That’s exactly what your father would have done.”
Steve shook his head. “He’d never have been in this mess.”
“Do you think for one minute th
at if his son or granddaughter needed or wanted for something, that he wouldn’t have done everything he could to get it? The day you and your mom drove up that driveway,” Pop pointed toward the front of the house, “was one of the happiest days of my life.”
“Pop, I’m running your farm into the ground,” Steve choked out.
“Bull crap. You work your butt off for this farm. If it weren’t for you, do you honestly think I could have kept this place, worked it all by myself? Why, this place would have been sold ten years ago if I didn’t have you here. It’s your farm now, Steven.”
“I’m afraid I’m going to lose it all, Pop,” he admitted quietly.
“Son, you’re doing the best you can. Whatever the future brings, we’ll face it together.”
Steve didn’t say anything.
Pop continued, “You know Steven, I know this wasn’t your dream, working on a farm the rest of your life, scrapping by. It’s a hard life. I know you wanted to open that repair shop you dreamed about and restore old cars full time. But you gave it up to help me with this place.”
“No, Pop,” Steve protested, shaking his head. “That dream was a long time ago. This farm is my life now. I love this place.”
“I know you do, son, and someday maybe you’ll pass it on to your sons.”
“Pop, I don’t have any sons,” Steve pointed out the obvious, wondering what crazy talk this was.
“Well, there’s still hope yet. You’re still a young man.”
“Pop-”
“Steven, you know I’ve kept my mouth shut all this time, but…Rita’s gone. You need to let go, and get on with your life. Look at what’s right in front of you.”
Steve could only stare at him.
“I see the way you look at her, son, and I see the way she looks at you.”
“Pop-”
“A woman like her, she just falls in your lap? That doesn’t happen every day, boy.”
“Pop, when she gets her memory back she’s going to go back to her life.”
“Maybe, maybe not. Maybe you could make her want to stay.”