by Amelia Adams
“I bought pumpkins from your grandparents for years, and I was so upset when I didn’t see the stand out this year. It just wouldn’t be Halloween without Daniels’ pumpkins.”
“I agree,” Melissa said. “We were just running a little late.”
The lady bought twenty pumpkins, one for each of her grandchildren and a few for her front porch. She paid cash, which replenished the change in the money box—thankfully—and Melissa breathed a sigh of relief. Things would be all right. She could feel it.
Business remained brisk all the rest of the day, and several other people echoed their relief that the stand had finally opened. Melissa knew that the pumpkin stand was a local landmark, but she hadn’t realized just how much people had genuinely loved coming there and just how much it would be missed if it didn’t open. This was something her grandparents would have loved to see—evidence that their years of hard work had created a legacy.
Pressing on the back of her brain, no matter how busy she got, was the question of Benjamin McClain. What had he done to her field? There was no doubt that it had been him—he was the only explanation. Was he some kind of magician? How was this even possible?
She left the booth just long enough to run inside and throw together some sandwiches. When she got back, Mike reported selling another hundred pounds of pumpkins. Had sales always been so good the first day? Was some of the magic that had revived the pumpkins also making them super irresistible to people driving past?
At sunset, she took down the shingle, and Mike threw a large burlap tarp over the pumpkins remaining on the bales.
“That was amazing.” She leaned against the stand and took a deep breath.
“What time should I come back?” Mike asked.
“Um . . . eight? Does that sound about right?” She wished she knew. There was so much to figure out.
“I’ll be here.” He disappeared into the twilight, and she headed up to the house.
After kicking off her boots and sinking onto the couch, she pulled out her phone. She needed to talk to Benjamin, but she realized that she didn’t have his telephone number. A quick search pulled up the McClain Boys’ Ranch, but who would answer? She hated calling random people—she got tongue-tied more often than not. But if she wanted to talk to him, she’d have to take that chance.
Taking a deep breath, she dialed. Of course, it was now after six, and maybe no one would answer. She could leave a message—that would be a ton easier.
“McClain Boys’ Ranch—this is Brittany.”
Melissa was so startled to hear a live voice rather than a message, she almost forgot how to talk. “Um, hi. I’m looking for Benjamin.”
“I can transfer your call to his cell phone.”
“Oh, I don’t want to bother him,” Melissa said. What would he think of her, hunting him down like this?
“It’s no bother at all. Hang on one second.”
Melissa heard a click, and her heart started to pound even harder. She was just about to hang up and forget the whole thing when Benjamin’s mellow voice filled the receiver. “This is Benjamin.”
“Um, hi. This is Melissa. Melissa Daniels. From the pumpkin patch.” As if he would have forgotten who she was.
“Hi, Melissa. How are you?”
“Well, I’m confused, actually.” She heard the crunch of gravel outside and stood up—her parents had just arrived. Maybe they could help her sort through this.
“How can I help you?”
“It’s the pumpkins. They’re growing.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“No, you don’t understand. They’re growing. Like, yesterday they were dead, and today, they’re growing. They’re big and orange and perfect. How did you do it?”
He paused. “Well, I can’t just give you the recipe for my special fertilizer. It’s a family secret.”
“No fertilizer could do what happened out in my field today. Please just tell me what you did—I’m dying of curiosity over here.”
He paused again, then chuckled. “I can’t let you die, so I guess I’ll tell you. But not on the phone. Could I come over tomorrow, maybe at lunchtime? I’ll take you out for a sandwich and we’ll talk, all right?”
“All right.” She said goodbye and hung up, wondering what he wanted to tell her that he couldn’t just say over the phone, but then her parents knocked on the door, and she had to get up to let them in.
“Mom! Dad!” She gave them each a hug. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“I’m not sure why we came,” her dad said, winking. “Your pumpkins look just fine to me, from what I could tell in the dark.”
“Come in and put your stuff in the bedroom, and then I’ll tell you about it,” she said. “Well, what I can tell you. I’m still not sure what’s going on.”
She mixed up some cocoa and threw a frozen lasagna in the oven while her parents settled in, then handed around the mugs and launched into her story.
“I’ve heard stories about the McClains, but nothing like this,” her mother said when she finished. “That’s amazing.”
“What’s this fellow going to say when he comes to pick you up?” her dad asked. “I’m not sure I want you going off with him.”
“Because people who make pumpkins grow are dangerous?” Her mother laughed. “Honey, murderers don’t usually have such peaceful hobbies.”
“I didn’t say he was a murderer. I’m just saying it’s odd.”
Melissa held up a hand. “Yes, it’s odd, but I feel perfectly safe with him. I just need to know if the two of you will help run the stand while I’m gone. Mike will be here to bring up new pumpkins from the field, and we do also let people walk around and choose their own, but we need someone to handle the money.”
“I’ll do that,” her mother volunteered. “You go spend time with this young man.”
“Sure, sure. Just let her wander off.”
“Dear.” She swatted her husband’s arm. “There’s something you don’t know—he’s very handsome.”
“And that makes everything all right? I don’t think so. I’d like to have a few words with him before you take off, young lady.”
Melissa smiled. “Okay, Dad. You can have a few words.”
Her parents ate bubbling hot lasagna with her, then turned in for the night. She was pretty tired too and wanted to go to bed, but then her gaze fell on the DVD Benjamin had brought over, and she hesitated. This movie apparently held the secrets of the McClain family—she should watch it before she fell asleep. She took it with her to her room, popped it into her laptop, and snuggled into her blankets. Hopefully she’d have a little more understanding before her actual date with Benjamin the following day.
Not that it was an actual date, but . . . you know.
Chapter Six
Peter McClain set down his newspaper when Benjamin came into the house and plopped down on the couch. “Hey, Dad,” Benjamin said. “Anything exciting going on in the world today?”
“Always. I don’t imagine that’s what you’re here to ask me about, though.”
“No, it’s not.” Benjamin settled back and ran a hand through his hair. “I’ve got myself a little situation.”
“Your mother already filled me in. Sounds pretty intriguing.”
“Yeah. But there’s more. Now the young woman in question wants to know how I made her pumpkins grow, and she’s not taking my excuses for an answer.”
Peter nodded. “I didn’t expect that she would. She’s not like the other women you’ve met, Benjamin. She’s not looking for surface answers—she likes to know the truth, even if it’s uncomfortable.”
“So, you’ve had some feelings about this situation?” Benjamin almost used the word “premonitions,” but he knew his father didn’t care for that.
“I have.”
“And?” Benjamin drawled out the word. “Am I going to have to beg to get it out of you?”
Peter chuckled. “No, I won’t make it that hard on you. Things are changing for us
, son. New people are being brought into our lives, people who will have a tremendous impact on our family.”
“Female people.”
“Exactly. First was Tiffani, and now . . .”
“You’re saying I’m going to marry Melissa Daniels?”
“She’s the one, son. Are you ready for her?”
Benjamin exhaled. “If it’s time, I guess I have to be, right?”
“That’s generally a good idea. I have to say, though, I thought you’d be more excited. Don’t young men typically look forward to finding the loves of their lives?”
“I’m excited. I’m just . . . surprised. We’ve been so busy with the ranch, it hadn’t crossed my mind to be on the lookout for love.”
“You and your brothers won’t find love in the ordinary way, son. They’re being brought to you by forces I can’t explain, but I don’t argue. I just nod and smile.”
Benjamin smiled. He’d learned from infancy not to argue with those forces either. It never paid, and they always won. Thankfully, they always worked for the good of his family, and if they were bringing Melissa Daniels into his life, he really couldn’t complain about that. She was smart, funny, and definitely intriguing, and the fact that she was beautiful didn’t hurt either. She was also quirky, but that wasn’t a bad thing, and it would be fun to discover just what all those quirks were.
“So, are we all getting married, then?”
Peter nodded. “Every one of you in your own due time. Our family legacy has to be carried on.”
“Why are we this way, Dad? When did it start, and when will it end?”
“You didn’t come here with easy questions tonight, did you? Fact is, son, I have no idea. This is just how it is for our family. Maybe we’ll understand it someday, but for now, it’s enough that we honor the gifts we’ve been given and use them to bless the lives of those around us. That’s what you do when you’re different—you find ways to make it a blessing.”
Benjamin had heard his father’s philosophy several times throughout his life, but this time, it seemed to apply to him more personally than ever before. “How badly did I mess up by siphoning power off Melissa’s field, Dad? That wasn’t blessing her life.”
“No, but that’s how you met, and that meeting will bless both your lives. It’s being turned to the good, son. Don’t doubt that.”
The cuckoo clock on the wall chimed, and Benjamin stood up. “Gotta go,” he said. “Daniel and Ephraim brought their boys over to play board games tonight, but it’s bedtime and I’ve got to help wrangle the herds.” He paused. “Is it natural that I’m pretty much scared to death?”
Peter laughed. “More than natural. In fact, I’d be worried about you if you weren’t.”
“And it’s okay to tell her? About us, I mean?”
“Well, if you’re going to marry the girl, she’s got to know.”
“I just don’t want to scare her off. I mean, she’s already a little skittish.”
“Your mother told me.”
“So … did you tell Mom I’m going to marry Melissa?”
“Of course. You don’t think I could keep a secret like that from your mother, do you?”
Things started to click in Benjamin’s head. “So she knew that when she came out to the pumpkin patch with me yesterday?” No wonder Lillian had been so excited to go.
“She did. Maybe it was a little unfair that she got a heads-up before you did, but you weren’t quite ready to know. You are tonight.”
Benjamin chuckled as he walked back to the cabin he shared with Caleb. His parents were definitely a force to be reckoned with.
***
Benjamin smoothed down his hair in the mirror for the third time. He’d never been this nervous about picking up a date before, but then, this was no ordinary woman. This was the woman he was going to marry, and there was a lot riding on this conversation.
“You look mighty fine,” Caleb said, leaning on the doorframe of the room they shared. “I’d say yer as purty as a picture.”
“Shut up,” Benjamin said good-naturedly. “Just wait till it’s your turn. We’ll see who’s teasing who.”
“My turn’s a long ways off,” Caleb replied. “No woman in her right mind would want to tie herself to me. She’d always be worried that I’d fall off a cliff or something.”
“If you’d stop walking along the edges of cliffs, she wouldn’t have so much to worry about.” Because Caleb’s gift was the ability to sense danger, he often took risks he shouldn’t, but adrenaline was his stress relief, and there was always a lot of stress on the ranch.
“Yeah, like that’s ever going to happen.” Caleb shook his head with a grin. “Go get ’em.”
“I’ll be back before the boys get home from school. I really do want to finish the work on the greenhouse.”
“I’d say the greenhouse has slid way down your list of priorities.”
That was a pretty fair assessment.
Benjamin checked his hair one more time, grabbed his hat, and headed downstairs. He wasn’t sure how to start this conversation with Melissa, but given how pointed her questions had been on the phone the night before, he figured she’d probably take the lead.
When he pulled up to her property, he found an older couple running the pumpkin stand, and Melissa walking across the grass toward him. She looked good, wearing a blue denim dress with a black leather jacket over the top. Her hair was curled on her shoulders and bounced a little as she walked.
He hopped out and was ready to open the door for her when the older man approached. “Hello there,” the man said, stretching out his hand. “I’m Melissa’s father. I understand you had something to do with her miraculous pumpkin patch.”
Benjamin glued a smile on his face. “Well, I don’t know if I had anything much to do with it, sir. I just brought over some fertilizer.”
“Son, you and I both know there’s more to the story than that, and I hope you’re ready to come clean with my daughter.”
“I am. That’s why I’m here today.” And he hoped beyond all hope that she’d accept it and wouldn’t go screaming into the night. Well, into the afternoon—it wouldn’t be night for several hours yet.
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“Dad, I think we’re good,” Melissa said, intervening. “I’m ready if you are, Benjamin.”
“It’s good to meet you, sir,” Benjamin said, giving her father a nod, then turning and waving at the woman who had to be Melissa’s mother. She seemed a lot less severe than her husband—maybe she wouldn’t be such a hard sell. She dimpled up and waved back.
“We’ll be back in a little while,” Benjamin promised as he helped Melissa into the truck.
When he climbed back in on his side, Melissa raised an eyebrow. “You’re only keeping me for a little while?”
He grinned. “Well, I’d like to keep you longer, but the boys will be coming home in a couple of hours.”
“And you’re their supervisor?”
“I’m one of several. With thirty boys, we need all hands on deck.”
She nodded. “So, I watched the movie last night.”
He glanced over at her. “And did you like it?”
“I did, quite a lot more than I expected to. It explains where your mother got your names, but it doesn’t explain how you fixed the pumpkin patch, and it also doesn’t explain one other very important question—how did she know she was going to have seven sons? It’s pretty gutsy to head off on a naming convention like that when you don’t know what your family is going to look like. What if she only got to Caleb and the rest were girls?”
Benjamin nodded. He’d been right about how smart she was. No one else had ever asked that question about knowing she’d have seven boys. Just the fact that she had them must have been overwhelming enough. “Listen, I’d like to take you into town for some chicken-fried steak, but this really isn’t a conversation we can have at the diner. Do you mind if I pull over here while we talk, and then we can head in and eat
?”
She glanced around. They were still on the simple dirt roads that led from farm to farm. “Sure.”
He drove on to a small pull-out, then cut the engine and rested his hands on his knees. His heart was pounding a million miles an hour. Adam had mentioned how difficult it was to tell Tiffani about their family, but Benjamin hadn’t understood what he’d meant until this moment. “My mother knew she’d have seven sons because my father is the seventh son of a seventh son for generations back,” he said, thinking he’d start with the simplest question first. “We can’t even trace when it first began. It’s just how the McClains are.”
“Really?” Melissa twisted a little in her seat belt to look at him more directly. “So your youngest brother—Gideon—he’ll have seven sons too? No daughters?”
“That’s right. His wife could name their children after the colors of the rainbow if she wanted to, and she’d be pretty well assured that she’d make it through the whole list.”
“Well, in the first place, those would be some pretty silly names, but in the second place, wow. That’s kind of hard to believe. Are you sure you didn’t just make up that story to tease me?”
He mimicked her actions, twisting in his belt so he could meet her gaze head-on. “I love teasing people, but I’d never joke about this. My family legacy is too important to me.”
She studied his eyes for a moment before nodding slowly. “I believe you,” she said at last. “I don’t know why, because it’s absolutely crazy, but I believe you.”
“Thank you,” he said. That was one hurdle managed.
“But what about the pumpkins?” she went on.
She didn’t forget a thing, did she?
He exhaled. “That one’s going to push the limits of your belief just a little bit further.”
“Why? What’s going on? Mike, my helper, thinks someone’s playing an elaborate joke on me. Is that what this is? Did you bring your thirty boys and six brothers over to my farm in the middle of the night and cover it with pumpkins so I’d believe in your magic fertilizer?” There was a note of humor in her voice, but it was laced with a little bit of pain and cynicism, and Benjamin flinched.
