by Nella Tyler
She looks so much like her mama! I can barely tell she’s mine. I wondered if Titan was going to somehow accuse me of having cheated on him to justify abandoning me. I took a deep breath and put the thought aside, reminding myself that borrowing trouble never worked out well.
She’s pretty smart, too. I wish you could have gotten to know her a little better when she was just born.
That was as close as I would let myself come to scolding Titan about the situation anymore, at least unless he said something to me outright. It wasn’t fair to Adelyn to make her a bargaining chip or a piece of baggage to saddle on her father. I had made my own choices, and I loved my little girl; she was so much more to me than her father had ever been.
Maybe I’ll get a chance to make up a little bit for lost time soon, Titan replied. What else have you been up to lately?
That question struck me as a little odd; I could almost understand Titan developing a sudden interest in his daughter, but he had made it clear to me, more than once, that he wanted little to nothing at all to do with me, that he was perfectly happy with the girl he’d moved out east to be with.
Pretty much the same as always, I wrote back. I can’t do as much out in the fields as I used to do, but I’m helping Mom a lot more around the house, so it’s about what I would have expected. What are you up to these days? Everything good out on the East Coast?
I took a sip of my wine and tried to understand what could have suddenly awakened Titan’s interest in anything at all to do with me. He had been so gung ho about how good his relationship with the other woman was the last time we’d had any contact; he had even said that he wasn’t at all interested in coming back home.
I got a new job a little while back, Titan replied to me. I’m trying my hand out on some electronics repair out here. It pays pretty well. I nodded to that response.
It had never really been that Titan was stupid, per se; he’d been something of a class clown, the kind of guy who would joke through most of the class, but then manage to pull at least a solid B on the test a few times a semester. If he’d taken school more seriously, he might even have done better than I had, but he’d never thought there was any reason to take it that seriously when he knew enough skills to get himself a decent job.
Sounds like your life is getting pretty exciting out there, I told him. I’m surprised you’re interested at all in anything to do with this sleepy old town.
Titan sent me back a laughing emoji and I rolled my eyes. He’d sent it to me so many times before, that I couldn’t doubt it was him. His sudden interest had made me wonder in the back of my mind if it wasn’t his girlfriend, checking up on him, or one of his friends, or someone else just being nosy, hacking his phone. But it was definitely my ex.
Things are just starting to settle in enough for me to really think, he explained.
Not getting bored, are you? Should I catch you up on all the town gossip? I had another sip of my wine and glanced back in the direction of the rest of the house.
Get me up to date on all the hot news, Titan suggested. I thought about what would have any chance to appeal to him and we began chatting about our lives, comparing what we were doing.
I told him more about Addie, including what we’d done for her first birthday and the different trips that I had taken her with me on. I left any mention of Cade out of the texts, not because I had any concerns that it would ruffle feathers, but I didn’t want to complicate matters.
I heard about Titan’s new life out East and tried not to feel envious at how glamorous it all sounded. I knew for a fact that he wasn’t living some big, rich life, but the fact that he’d gotten out of town, that he had someone to love and to love him in return, didn’t seem quite fair, considering that he’d abandoned me to achieve all of it.
I tried not to let myself think of what I would have, how my life would be different, if Titan had never gotten me pregnant. If he’d just abandoned me while we were engaged and I hadn’t had anything holding me back, I wouldn’t have followed him…but I might have left. I might have gone to Oklahoma, Virginia, or almost anywhere else in the country and started over.
Titan and I talked, all told, for almost a full hour, and I sent him pictures of his daughter and answered his questions about her development. I was supposed to take Addie to the doctor again soon to get more vaccinations, and Titan said that he was glad that I wasn’t one of the crazy anti-vaccine people.
I told him about the new expansion on the farm, and he said that he was pleased for my father and pleased for me to have more disposable income.
For the first time, it actually felt weird to talk to my ex. Even when I’d been badgering Titan for some kind of contact with his daughter, it had never felt weird to me; it had always felt straightforward and correct.
But talking to him now made me feel like I was doing something wrong, something almost shameful. I wasn’t interested in him, at least, not in any romantic way. I had grieved over the way he’d abandoned me, and I had cried over the fact that I’d been left for a woman that Titan hadn’t even met until after he’d decided to leave me, but I had come to terms with the way that things were.
I wasn’t weak enough to want him to come back for my own sake, but if he was interested in getting to know Addie, in being a father to her, then I owed it to my daughter to make the effort to get him on board and to encourage him to get to know her. She would thank me later, even if I had to put in hours of discomfort to talk to the man.
After the hour, Titan messaged me to tell me that he had to turn in; it was an hour later on the east coast, if not more, and I could understand that he wanted to get rest, eat, and shower before he had to go back into work. I needed all of those things myself, and I was working a job I’d been doing for most of my life.
As I told Titan goodbye, I wondered to myself once more what had spurred his sudden interest in Addie. It didn’t make any sense to me and the message that he had sent talking about how settling in had made him curious, I couldn’t make any sense of it at all.
This was a man who only maybe half a year before had told me he had no intention of coming back into town, and no interest in having anything to do with his daughter. For him to go through such a massive change in his outlook, I had to wonder if something had changed, or if something had occurred to him somehow. I put my phone back into my pocket when I heard my mom calling out for dinner, and tried to put the idea of Titan out of my mind for the rest of the night.
Chapter Thirty
Cade
We were only a few weeks away from harvest, and the days were the hottest that I could remember them being maybe in my entire life; certainly they seemed hotter than they’d been the previous summer. I was pretty sure I’d sweated through every inch of my clothes at least twice, and as I started gathering up the tools I’d been using at the end of the day, all I was thinking about was how good a cool shower would be, along with a nice, cold beer and a good meal.
Watermelons were coming in droves, and I’d bought one the day before, cut it up, and put it in the fridge. A little grilled chicken, some watermelon...sounds good. The thought of dinner made my mouth water, and I took a swig of water to control the rumbling of my stomach.
I checked to make sure everything I’d brought out to the field with me was on the cart, and then started back towards the house. I’d put everything away, get whatever input Bob Nelson had for me, and then I’d shove off for the day. The week was about half-over, and I was looking forward to seeing Autumn that weekend; we were supposed to be going swimming together, maybe beat the heat a little bit with Addie in tow.
I had just barely reached the edge of the field, closest to the house, when Tuck came flying out of the shed where the Nelsons kept their equipment and tools. “Thief!” I stared in shock as Tuck descended on me, stalking forward, his face set in angry lines. “We do you the favor of hiring you and you thank us by stealing?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I held up my hands, steppi
ng away from the cart.
“You stole from us!” Tuck stopped maybe a couple of feet short of me and put his hands on his hips, staring me down. “You know, I really shouldn’t be surprised. You lied about your intentions and then you stole from us.”
“I haven’t stolen anything!” I crossed my arms over my chest, glancing at the cart. “You can check. Everything I took out is on there.”
“Oh, trust and believe I’m going to check your cart and your truck,” he said, nodding firmly. “I’m going to be looking for the sprayers and the irrigation hose you took.”
I frowned; more than angry, I was completely confused. Tuck and I had been working on the irrigation system earlier in the day, but the thought of stealing anything at all—much less from the Nelson farm—had never occurred to me. I had no idea where he could have gotten the idea that I would steal from his family, much less that I already had.
“What the hell is wrong with you? Why would I steal equipment—why would I steal anything from you?” I shook my head, in disbelief. Was it because Tuck knew about me and Autumn, and wanted to do something to get me fired before anything more could happen between me and his sister? Or was it just more of Tuck’s resentment towards me? “You’ve been trying to start shit with me from the beginning, and I’ve never given you a reason.”
“What’s wrong with me? You come in here, and you get a job with my dad that we don’t even have to offer, and you steal equipment to sell it to… I don’t even know who you plan to sell it to-”
“Hey, now. What’s going on?” Bob Nelson strode up to where Tuck and I stood, and I felt a quick rush of relief, followed by even more anxiety. I knew that there was nothing to Tuck’s accusations, but Bob would be inclined to trust his son over a stranger.
“He stole from us,” Tuck said, looking at his father but pointing at me. “You need to fire him as soon as we find out where he’s got our equipment hidden.”
“That’s a mighty heavy accusation, son,” Bob countered. “What’s your evidence?”
“I was just in the storage shed, and a bunch of the irrigation hosing and the sprayers are missing,” Tuck said. “You know he could sell those off for cash easy, Dad.”
“Pretty limited market to that,” Bob said, giving me a quick, almost amused look that made me feel a little better about the situation I found myself in. “But missing equipment isn’t necessarily stolen equipment.”
“You know he stole it!” Tuck glared at me. “He’s just been waiting for the opportunity-”
“To sell second hand farm equipment?” Bob shook his head. “You were both working with the irrigation system and the spreaders today.” He turned and looked at me. “Where was the last place you were working?”
We walked out to the part of the fields where Tuck and I had been working; Tuck looked sulky, but I felt nothing more than anxious to prove that there was nothing to the accusation that Bob’s son had thrown at me.
Bob searched my cart, and didn’t find anything that shouldn’t be there, and then we wandered around the area where Tuck and I had been working on the system; after a few minutes, we came to the part of the field that was Tuck’s responsibility. There, Bob spotted a pile of hosing and a few spreaders settled on the ground near a chair that Tuck used to take a break during the day and a few of the tools that Tuck had used to repair the irrigation system.
“This seems to solve the mystery,” he said mildly, picking up the items and looking at his son. “Unless you think there’s more hose and more spreaders that we’re missing somehow.”
Tuck’s face contorted, and he looked like he was about to scream. I saw his nostrils flare as he tried to get control of himself, and I didn’t dare look at Bob or change the expression on my face. It was as obvious as the sun that Tuck was on the verge of a total meltdown.
“You maybe ought to consider apologizing for making such a serious allegation against someone you have no cause to hate,” Bob told his son.
“I don’t need an apology,” I said quickly. “It’s been a long, hot day-”
“I’m sorry I accused you of stealing,” Tuck interrupted. His voice was barely under control. He turned on his heel and stalked out of the fields, back towards the house.
Bob let him walk away without any further comment, but I watched Tuck, pretty certain that at any moment I would see him turn around, his anger overcoming his better sense. He disappeared past the fence, and Bob shifted his weight on his feet, and turned to look at me.
“I wanted to thank you,” he said.
“Thank me?” I shook my head, confused.
“You’re a hard worker, Cade. I know my son is being an ass towards you more often than not, but I see how you are. You’re a more mature person than he is.”
“He’s got a lot on his mind, it seems to me,” I said, embarrassed that Bob felt the need to defend his own son or to say something negative about Tuck, no matter how much Tuck had earned it.
“He’s got his head in the clouds,” Bob said, shaking his head. “Obsessed with what’ll happen to the farm after I’m gone.” He smiled slightly. “He thinks you’re showing him up on purpose. I think you’re just a decent, hard-working person.”
“I appreciate you saying so, sir,” I said, nodding at the compliment. Bob gathered up the misplaced equipment and we headed back to the shed in silence together. I put away the tools I’d been using, made sure that the cart was in good shape, and started back towards the house where I was parked.
“I was thinking, Cade,” Bob said, stopping just short of the front porch.
“Yes?” I found my keys, but I didn’t move away from the old man.
“I know I originally contracted you for the season, but do you think you’d be interested in some off-season work, as well? It won’t be as many hours, but it’d be a nice bonus for you.”
“What would you need from me?”
Bob shrugged. “We’ll be burning out the fields, turning down the soil, getting everything ready for fall and winter.”
“Doesn’t sound like too much work,” I said, feeling a little doubtful. “How long would you need me for?”
He shrugged again. “Maybe another couple of weeks. The burning is the real challenge: we don’t want to set the whole county on fire, after all.”
I grinned in spite of how stressed I still felt at Tuck’s accusations. They hadn’t come out of nowhere, but I could hardly accuse him of trying to set me up.
“I’ll think about it,” I said. “I’m happy to work for you a bit longer. I just need to make sure that I have some work lined up to get onto after you don’t need me anymore.”
Bob nodded approvingly. “Let me know if you think you can swing another couple of weeks after harvest,” he told me. “Get home safe. I’ll have a chat with Tuck about what happened today.”
I shrugged off the situation. “I’m sure it was just a matter of heat and forgetfulness. No harm done.”
Bob gave me a long look, but smiled slightly. “I’ll see you again tomorrow, Cade,” he said, turning towards the front door. I gave my keys a toss and caught them, and then walked over to my truck. I unlocked the door and climbed in, wishing that I’d had a few minutes with Autumn instead of talking to Bob about Tuck coming down on me with a false accusation.
I couldn’t help but wonder what was behind Tuck’s attack; he had made lots of comments about how friendly I was with his sister, and he had made no real secret about the fact that he resented my presence on the farm as his father’s employee. I’d heard from a few of my friends in town that he was bad-mouthing me to whoever would listen to him, though I had no idea why.
I started up the truck and pulled around, headed away from the farm. I would have to square things with Tuck before the end of the season, whether or not I stayed for off-season work with Bob. If I had any intention of having a life with Autumn beyond what we’d been up to so far, I would have to make peace with her brother.
I hoped that once the work was over, Bob would trust
me enough that he wouldn’t be angry with me for dating his daughter. If I took the extra work in the off-season, it would delay us being open for that much longer—I was pretty sure that Bob would have the same attitude towards me getting involved with his daughter as he’d already shown.
I shook off the thoughts of Autumn, Tuck, and Bob, and focused on the road home, stretched out in front of me. I’d take the chance to talk to Autumn about continuing to work for her father, but the opportunity was a good one—and I could use the extra cash.
In the meantime, I would just keep my head down and take things as they came. I thought about my plans for after work and they looked just as good as ever: I’d go home, get a shower, and have some grilled chicken and watermelon for dinner, and a cold beer. A good night’s sleep would put the whole mess with Tuck behind me.
I couldn’t quite push away the image in my mind of sharing those plans with Autumn, no matter how hard I tried to focus on just the plans. I definitely would have rather had dinner with her.
Chapter Thirty-One
Autumn
I felt a little nervous as I stepped out of the shower. I was supposed to be meeting with Cade, but my mom, who I’d talked into taking care of Adelyn for the afternoon and evening, didn’t know that.
After my argument with Tuck, I had considered telling Cade that we’d have to wait until the off-season to really see each other more often, but I knew I couldn’t make myself wait. I liked him. I might even come close to loving him, if we had a chance to really try.
I dried off and started thinking about the date Cade and I had arranged. I felt a little bit guilty about hiding the fact that I was seeing him from even my mom, but until Cade was in the clear with respect to Dad, I couldn’t be open about seeing him.
