Her chin went up and she strode to the sink, placing her hands on the edge of it. Her back was stiff, and her shoulders moved with each breath she took. Turning around, she glared at him. “The family farm is dying, Dusty, because of corporations like the one you’re thinking of selling out to.”
“Now wait just a minute,” he said, ready to defend a decision he hadn’t completely made. “I’m not selling out.”
“Are you losing money?”
“That’s not the point,” he said, trying to keep his voice calm and even.
“You’re right. The point is that land is something you don’t just give away, especially if it’s been in the family for a long time. You do everything you can to keep it.”
“Kate—”
“People come and go, Dusty. They move in and out of your life. They die. And sometimes they leave you something precious. Something that will be forever. Like land.”
Dusty wasn’t sure how to answer her. He knew she loved farming. He’d watched her work harder than anyone throughout all of harvest. He knew it wasn’t a hobby for her, but something that meant a lot to her. But he also knew she didn’t understand his situation.
He’d heard a rumor that the Clayborne farm was seeing some hard times, and he thought about offering to lease his land to them with the hope it would help. Not knowing their situation, he didn’t know if it would solve their problems or make them worse. The only way to find out was to ask.
“Do you want to lease my land, Kate?”
She shook her head. “No, that’s not what I want. And I’m surprised you even have the nerve to ask.”
Aggie got up from the table and moved to place a hand on Kate’s shoulder. But it was Dusty she spoke to. “Kate’s not upset with you,” she said, ignoring the fierce look Kate gave her. “She’s angry with me.”
Kate twisted away and moved to the other side of the room, not looking at either of them. There was no doubt she was angrier than he ever remembered seeing her.
“Why?” he asked, looking from one to the other. Kate refused to make eye contact and crossed her arms over her chest. “If I’m asking something I shouldn’t, I’m sorry,” he said to Aggie.
Aggie sighed and took her seat at the table again. “It’ll be no secret soon, if it even is now. I told Kate a few weeks ago that I was planning to lease the farmland to someone. It’s getting to be more than she and I can handle, and we’re losing more money than we’re gaining.”
Dusty nodded. He’d heard much the same from others, all over the country. Friends were doing the same in other areas, and it was one more reason why he was considering selling. His current tenant might be in the same situation before long, meaning Dusty would have to find someone else to lease to. Or sell to. At least selling to Red Hill Farms meant he wasn’t selling it for a housing development, as some were. It would remain farmland. But he didn’t think pointing that out would help. Kate didn’t understand that it was possible he’d get more out of it now than later on. It was a business decision for him, and nothing else. For her it was much, much more.
He turned to look at her standing in stony silence on the other side of the room. “I’m sorry, Kate. I know how much farming means to you.”
“You have no idea.”
“Kate,” Aggie said, a warning tone in her voice. Turning to Dusty, she gave an apologetic smile. “I think it would be better today if you’d go on back home. We can start on the machinery tomorrow.”
The look on Kate’s face was a mixture of relief and pain, but Dusty didn’t know how to help. “We’ll do whatever needs doing to get it ready for whatever you decide to do,” he told Aggie. “Won’t we, Kate?”
But Kate didn’t answer and, instead, left the kitchen without a word. Dusty knew her heart was breaking and wished he could comfort her in some way. But nothing he could say or do would change the situation.
“TRISH AND I ARE headed into Lawton for parts,” Aggie called to Dusty the next day. “We shouldn’t be gone long.” With a wave, she climbed into the pickup and pulled away.
As soon as he had arrived at the farm, Dusty had gone to drive what Aggie referred to as the “good tractor” around to the machine shed, where it would be closer to the tools they might need to get it in tiptop shape. But the tractor hadn’t wanted to start, and after looking it over with Kate’s silent help, they discovered there were more than minor repairs that needed to be made on it. He hated that Aggie would have to pour more money into it, but if it wasn’t running, it would bring less money in a sale. The cost of parts could make a difference in the profit they could make if it was in good condition.
He had cursed the machine, calling it every obscene name he’d learned over his years on the circuit. It still sat forlornly at the edge of the field adjacent to the house, where they had started other work on it while waiting for the needed parts. His mood hadn’t lightened a bit.
He hadn’t slept a wink all night, still going over the past few days in his mind. The image of Kate in the dress she’d worn on Friday night at the Blue Barn hadn’t dimmed in his mind. The memory of her response to him that night was as fresh as if it had just happened. And the argument the day before about farming still preyed on his mind. The day didn’t promise much good.
As the pickup drove out of sight, he cautiously made his way to the tractor where Kate stood, muttering some of the same things he had earlier.
“They’ll be back with the parts in no time,” he told her, needing to say something.
“Hand me the big wrench,” she said without looking up.
He dug through the tool box and finally found it on the ground, then handed it to her. She took it without even a thanks, a glance or a “go jump off a cliff.” Tired, his patience with her was wearing thin.
“About the corporation thing—” He couldn’t finish. No matter what he said, it would be wrong. “You used to at least talk to me,” he grumbled instead.
“I don’t have anything to say to you,” she answered briefly.
He weighed his next words before speaking. “I’m sorry about Friday night. You just looked so—”
“Forget it.”
“I wish I could,” he muttered.
The wrench slipped from her hand. “Damn!” she snarled.
He gently moved her aside. “Would you let me do this?” he asked, severely exasperated with her obstinacy. The woman had the biggest stubborn streak of anyone he knew, including his mother. He picked up the heavy wrench where she’d dropped it, and anger filled him. She didn’t have any business wrestling tools almost as big as she was.
Feeling her eyes on him, he looked up to find her with her finger in her mouth. “You hurt yourself.” He set the wrench down and reached for her hand to take a look at her injury, but she jerked away. “Kate, we need to clean it up.”
“I can do it.” Turning on her heel, she stalked to the house.
He watched her, feeling angry and powerless at the same time. “Fool,” he muttered. By trying to make things better, he’d made them worse, and he hoped he hadn’t damaged his friendship with her. Somehow he would find a way to get back to the way things were before the Blue Barn. Even before that first kiss on the porch.
Slipping the wrench back on the part she’d been attempting to loosen, he gave a hard tug. Sweat soaked his T-shirt, but the stubborn bolt finally came free.
By the time she returned he had the part off. He checked her hand without her being aware of it and felt easier when he saw a bandage on her finger.
“I got it off,” he pointed out.
She picked up the wrench and put it in the tool box. “Now if they’d just get back with the part.”
“It shouldn’t be much longer,” he assured her. “Aggie called the part number into the dealer before they left. It’ll be ready and waiting. They’ll be back soon.”
Kate fidgeted, looking up at the slowly darkening sky. “I hope you’re right.”
Dusty followed her gaze. “There’s a storm moving in,�
� he commented, noting the dark, heavy clouds moving in quickly from the southwest.
“I know.”
Catching the note of fear in her voice, he decided to divert her attention. “Do we need to take this pulley off?”
Kate nodded, taking another glance at the sky. “We’ll need the crowbar.” She made a move to get it.
“Why don’t you let me?” he asked, beating her to it.
“Are you sure you know how?”
With a grin he hoped would take her mind off the weather, he chuckled. “I do, but you can talk me through it anyway if it’ll make you feel better.”
He knew he’d hit a nerve when her shoulders stiffened. He hadn’t meant to but he didn’t comment. Positioning the crowbar, he started prying the pulley. He wondered how she ever managed to do it by herself. And wondered, too, why the approaching storm made her so nervous.
“Does Aggie have trouble driving in the rain?” he asked, knowing how protective she was of her family.
Her eyes darted to the sky again, and she shook her head, but she never looked directly at him. “She’ll pull off the road if it gets bad. Or she won’t start out into it, to begin with. She probably has more sense than I do.”
Dusty couldn’t argue with that. Kate had obviously learned a lot of things from her aunt, including her muleheadedness, he guessed. But Aggie seemed to have enough sense to know what she shouldn’t attempt. Kate always seemed determined to prove something. She didn’t need to prove anything to him. He’d seen her do more than a lot of people did and knew she could handle just about anything.
And wear anything. He shoved the memory of her in the dress from his mind.
When Kate shivered in a chill wind that was getting stronger, Dusty longed to wrap his arms around her, but he hesitated to do anything. Gritting his teeth, he gripped the crowbar tighter and pried. The pulley wheel snapped off.
“That’s it,” Kate said, retrieving the part. Large drops of rain hit them both as she straightened.
“I’ll get the crowbar,” he told her. As he grabbed for it, the first bolt of lightning flashed in the dark sky. Kate let out a yelp that was drowned out by a deafening clap of thunder. He quickly scaled the tractor ladder and threw the crowbar and toolbox in the cab.
The rain came down in buckets as he scrambled down and hit the ground again. Kate shivered next to him. “Let’s get to the house,” he shouted.
But Kate stood frozen, staring at the sky as the rain hit her face.
“Kate, come on, let’s get inside,” he shouted, hoping to get her moving. When it didn’t work, he grabbed her hand and tugged. “Let’s go, hon. We’re getting soaked.”
She finally allowed him to pull her along, but she never took her attention from the sky.
He shoved open the door into the kitchen and sent her in ahead of him, closing the door behind him and making sure neither of them slipped on the rain that had blown in with them.
“What’s that?” he asked, hearing a long, loud beep.
She stood near the window, watching the blowing rain outside. “It’s the storm alert radio.”
He found the radio in the hall on a small table and listened to the warning being issued. “It’s a thunderstorm warning,” he said when he returned to the kitchen. She still stood at the window, and he walked over to her. Outside, the rain came down almost horizontally, making it difficult to see anything.
And then he heard the hail begin to hit the sides of the house. “Come on, Kate, let’s get away from the window.”
“Just like before,” she whispered.
“What?” And then he remembered she had lost her parents in a tornado. “Let’s find someplace to wait this out,” he told her, hoping this was nothing more than the bad thunderstorm the warning had indicated.
He led her down the hall and into the living room. Looking around, he noticed heavy draperies on the windows. After settling her on the big sofa, he went to close the drapes, in case hail might break the windows. He could still make out the announcements coming from the radio in the hall and listened for word of anything worse than what they were experiencing.
So far, so good. Hopefully there would be only rain and the hail beating down, and maybe that wouldn’t last much longer. He winced, thinking of the tractor and the damage that might be done to it, but there wasn’t anything he could do.
He sat on the sofa beside her and pulled her close. She was soaked and cold, and he wrapped his arms around her, cradling her and stroking her wet hair. She didn’t resist.
The lights flickered twice and then the power went out completely, leaving the room in darkness. The storm radio, obviously running on batteries, continued to issue the warning. “Just like before,” she said again.
He wasn’t sure it would help, but he wondered if talking about the storm that had taken her parents’ lives would help. “How was it then?” he asked.
She turned her head to look at him for a moment, and he saw her close her eyes. “Bad,” she said. “Trish and I were at school. She was at the high school and I was in middle school, down the street.”
“So you weren’t together?”
She shook her head. “We all thought it was a drill.” She opened her eyes to look at him again. “Do you remember those?”
“Sure do,” he said, trying for a smile. “Out in the hall, on our knees, and bent over facing the wall, our hands clasped at the back of our heads.”
“That’s it,” she said with a shaky smile. “And we heard it outside. The wind, the hail. And then it was quiet, like it was all over, but it only lasted for about half a minute. Then there was a roar.”
He didn’t want her lingering on the memory. “But the school wasn’t hit.”
“No, it wasn’t. When it was over, they tried to keep us there, but I sneaked away and ran to Trish’s school. I knew she’d be scared, and I found her. She was on her way to find me.” She stopped for a moment, but continued before he could form words that might comfort her. “We were supposed to stay there. We both knew it. But we only lived a few blocks from the schools, so we started home. And the closer we got, the worse the damage was. We were a block from our house, and we could see trees that were twisted like pretzels and some ripped from the ground. Roofs were torn off. Cars had been tossed here and there. Debris from houses and buildings was everywhere.”
“Kate, maybe this isn’t a good—”
“No, it’s okay,” she told him. “It’s good to talk about it. I never did.”
He realized she had relaxed a little and that the storm outside was letting up. The hail had stopped and the wind had died down some. “Okay,” he said. “Whatever you think is best.”
She took a deep shaky breath and continued. “We weren’t far from our house, and we could see people around it, moving things out of the way. When we got closer, one of the neighbors met us and turned us away from the house. She was crying and hugging both of us, and she said Mom and Dad had been trying to get in the basement, but they didn’t make it.”
Dusty blinked his eyes, warding off the sorrow he felt for her and her family. “I’m so sorry, Kate.”
Turning in his arms, she pressed her hand against his face. “It’s all right, Dusty. Trish and I were very lucky. It could have been worse. The schools might have been hit, and to think of what might have happened then—”
The power returned, and only seconds passed by before they heard a door slam and voices. Dusty eased away from Kate, made certain she was all right and started for the kitchen.
“There you are,” Aggie cried when he reached the entry hall. “We saw the lights go on when we drove up. Is Kate all right?”
“She was terrified,” he said, still a little shaky himself. “That was one hell of a storm. She’s in the living room.”
Aggie nodded and started down the hall. “She’s been terrified of them since she lost her parents. We try to stay with her and help her through it when we can, but we couldn’t do it today.” She turned back to give him a s
ad smile. “I’m glad you were here and she wasn’t alone. I’m sure it helped.”
Unable to speak, he nodded and headed for the door. Feeling as if he’d been sucker punched, he climbed into his pickup and drove home, fighting the muddy roads. When he finally made it to his house, he killed the engine and pressed his forehead against the steering wheel, his fingers still gripping it. His head felt as if it would explode. He knew he should go on into the house and take a couple of pills, but he wasn’t able to move. All he could think of was Kate.
He wasn’t in love with her. He’d never been in love with anyone. But he was damn close with her.
Chapter Ten
Kate sat at the O’Brien dinner table and wished she hadn’t accepted Jules’ invitation. If she had known Dusty would be there, too, she would have stayed home and worked on a way to continue farming. Dusty was his usual charming self, but after pouring her soul out to him the day before in the storm, she wasn’t interested in spending the evening with him. She was embarrassed for having allowed him to see her biggest weakness. It wouldn’t happen again.
Everyone was enjoying the strawberry crêpes dessert she’d brought, and she was flattered that Jules and Tanner considered her a friend, so the evening wasn’t turning out as bad as she had feared it would. Jules had assured her on her arrival that she and Tanner weren’t matchmaking, but she also admitted it wasn’t such a bad idea. Kate had laughed at her honesty. She only wished she could have been more help in persuading Dusty not to return to bull riding. Deep down, she knew he would be leaving soon. She had to accept that, but doing so was becoming more and more impossible by the day. If anything were to happen to him, she would never be able to forgive herself.
“This has been a wonderful dinner,” she told Jules as they all began to leave the table.
“Thank you,” Jules replied, “but most of the credit goes to Bridey. She’s the real cook in the family.”
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