by Casey Peeler
Chapter 28
Cadence
Holy crap! I’m not one to get random acts of kindness from people, but I have to say Barrick has blown my mind today. The kindness he has shown is pretty awesome considering I haven’t been very nice to him and even yelled at him for something that wasn’t even his fault. I lumped him in with my dad and it wasn’t fair.
He helps me down from the truck and into the mushy grass. I’m so glad he bought me the boots so I didn’t ruin the ones I had on. He really can be a sweet guy. We walk to the entrance and make our way around to the different activities while we wait to line up for the next ride. I’m amazed that there is so much you can do with corn. I thought we ate it, but apparently, you can make a sandbox, shoot it like a torpedo, and play a bean bag toss game with it that Barrick quickly informs me is called cornhole. He attempts to show me how it’s done and when his bag makes it in the hole, my competitiveness gets the best of me. He tries to show me what to do, but I quickly pull my arm from his and do it myself. When the bag lands far left, he gives me an I-told-you-so look. I try it again and land on the board. I jump up and down and laugh at him but he quickly informs me he’s still winning.
We don’t get to finish the game before it’s time for the ride. Barrick points to a table where there are pots of hot chocolate and apple cider. I’m not a hot chocolate fan so I vote for the cider. We take our drinks and walk up the makeshift steps to the back of a trailer filled with hay. Barrick takes a seat and I sit beside him. After the seats are completely filled, the driver tells us the history of the farm. As the engine roars, it’s hard to hear what Barrick is saying to me. He must realize it so he moves in closer and that’s when the hot cider spills all over my clothes.
“Oh shit!” I yell and everyone looks at me like I’m insane.
“Cadence, are you okay?” he questions and looks apologetically toward a mother covering her child’s ears.
“I’m fine,” I say bitterly, but as I glance toward the cute little girl I change my tune. “I’m okay but it was hot and it startled me. Ma’am, I’m sorry for my language. I didn’t expect for that to happen.” She tells me it’s okay, and Barrick smiles at me.
“I’m sorry that happened, but thank you for not going all yankee on me,” he says with a laugh and I can’t do anything but smile.
As we arrive back at the starting point, Barrick leans in to me. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asks with concern.
“I’m fine, just wet and my legs are freezing, not to mention these jeans cost a fortune, but it should come out in the wash.”
“Well, let’s get you home and cleaned up.”
Barrick takes my hand and guides me down the steps. When my feet hit the ground, I’m surprised when Barrick doesn’t let go of my hand. It’s thoughtful and sweet, but I can’t resist saying something. When I’m about to open my mouth, he lets go and I let the words evaporate into thin air.
Our ride back to Gran’s doesn’t take as long as I had expected. Barrick and I talk a lot, and he points out different places and a million different deer. I swear they are everywhere. That’s when he informs me that I’m going to have to increase my time at the barn so he can hunt. I quickly shoot that idea down with dance competitions about to start, and he says he at least had to try.
As we get back to Gran’s, I’m kind of sad to see the night end. I hate to admit it but Barrick and I had a great time, and it was nice to get away from here. He might not be as bad as I thought.
“Thanks,” I say as I begin to pull the handle on the truck door.
“You’re very welcome. I’m glad we went,” he says and I smile because I am too. “You know if you ever need to get away again, just holler.”
“I will,” I say as I step out and begin to walk toward the house with my new galoshes in my hands. As I reach the step, I hear Barrick call my name, and I see him walking toward me with a box. How could I have forgotten those? I set the shoes on the steps and walk to meet him halfway.
“I figured I’d be a dead man if I took these home,” he says with a laugh.
“Yeah you would. You sure you don’t want one?” I ask him.
“Nah, but maybe tomorrow. I had a great time,” he says and starts to walk away.
“Hey Barrick!” He turns and I take a step toward him and quickly place a swift kiss on his cheek. “Thank you for a great night,” I say and then walk to the house.
Walking into the kitchen I yell for Mom and Gran, “I’ve got croissants!”
Mom and Gran are there within minutes. “Where did you get these?” Gran questions.
“We went to Asheville,” I state.
“Oooooh,” she says as she takes a bite. “This is amazing. Regina, taste one,” she says and Mom does as we all sit around the kitchen table.
“So how was your non-date?” Mom asks.
“Good,” I say, trying to hide a smile.
“I see that smile. He’s not so bad after all, is he?” Gran smirks as I shrug my shoulders.
Barrick
She kissed my cheek. I know it was on the cheek, but she’s never this nice to me. As I pull up to my house, I can see Jade is bundled up on the front porch reading a book waiting for me. When my headlights come into view, she puts her book down and I know I have to tell her everything.
“How was it?” she questions.
“It was fun,” I say, trying to go in the house.
“Are you kiddin’ me? I let you go off with my friend, who I know you have the hots for, and you tell me it was fun?” she fires at me.
“Jade, we had a really good time,” I say with a smile.
Jade covers her mouth with her hands and gasps. “You kissed her didn’t you!” I shake my head no. “Then why you got that shit-eatin’ grin all over your face?”
“Maybe cause we had a good time, that’s all.”
“If you say so, but you know she’ll tell me everything.”
“Well, there’s not much to tell,” I say as I go in the house.
Cadence
The moment Mom and Gran leave me alone, I go upstairs to call Lauren. She answers on the second ring.
“Hey! You’re not going to believe my—” I start to say but Lauren cuts me off.
“Ohmygosh! I got an audition for the NYC Ballet! Can you believe it?”
“That’s awesome,” I say, genuinely excited for her. She proceeds to tell me everything about the audition and what’s been going on at the studio and school. Before I know it she’s disconnected the phone and has no clue about what is going on in my world. Looks like I’ll have to tell her about my non-date with Barrick some other time.