by Ali Parker
“How is this possible?” I asked.
“I don’t know. But are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“That we should try it on another specimen?”
“Exactly.”
“Let’s do it. Let’s do another one of your corn stalk samples,” I said.
We took the bottle of cleaner to the back of the lab. He carefully set another corn stalk on a tray. I held the bottle.
“What do you think? Just a light spray, or spill the whole damn thing” I asked.
“Maybe just spray a lot on one small section. That way we have more cleaner to play with,” he said.
“All right, here goes nothing,” I said, and then sprayed a generous amount on one of the leaves right on top of the brown spots.
We both crouched down over it, looking at it. Waiting for something to happen. But nothing did, nothing right away anyway.
“How long was it? You spilled the bottle before we went to lunch?” I asked.
“Yes, way before we went to lunch. It was pretty much as soon as we walked into the lab.”
“So that was about 5 hours ago. We need to record this information,” I said.
“I’m on it,” he said, as he went to grab the binder and pulled out a new experiment sheet. He grabbed the bottle from me and wrote down the name of it and the ingredients. He wrote down the time that the corn was exposed to the chemical. This was all going very well.
“You know, penicillin was an accidental find,” I said.
“Yes, I do know that. This could be our accident, our cure,” he said, with that dashing grin.
“Wouldn’t that be something?” I said.
“I’ll take it if it works,” he said.
“Yes, let’s hope that it does. But it needs to do more than just work. It can’t harm the plants, at least not too much,” I said.
“Yes, that’s true. We should set a time limit for this corn stalk on the counter. The first one that we spilled on. How long before it would show if the chemical is bad for it?”
“Twenty-four hours I would guess,” I said.
“All right, I’ll write that down,” he said. As I watched him writing down the information, I found myself very attracted to him. Yes, I had found him gorgeous from the beginning, but this new feeling was different. He seemed very intelligent to me and that was drawing me to him. I felt my mouth water and my body start to respond to him as I watched him write things down. It was very unusual for me. I found my eyes roaming up and down his body. I was looking at him like he was a piece of meat.
“What?”
It was then that I realized he was looking directly at me. How long had he been watching me check him out? I turned away from him. “Nothing. Just waiting for you to finish,” I said, trying to talk my way out of being so embarrassed. My cheeks had turned a bright pink.
“I’m done. What now?”
“We should go tell Mr. Phillips. He has been anxious for some results. This is the best that we have so far,” I said.
“Good, good idea. Maybe he can request some more of this from the cleaning crew,” Tanner said, picking up the bottle.
“Yes, bring it with us.”
A few moments later we were walking down the hall to Mr. Phillips’ office. He was in the middle of eating a sandwich at his desk.
“Mr. Phillips, we have some news.”
“Madison, Mr. Dawson. Always a pleasure,” he said.
“Hello Mr. Phillips,” Tanner said.
“Mr. Phillips, as I said we have some news.”
“Is it the experiments? Have you had a bit of a breakthrough?”
“Well, I wouldn’t consider it a breakthrough. I would consider it an accident,” I said.
“Oh dear lord, Madison. If you break any more glass cylinders or beakers I will be forced to make you pay for them. This lab can’t keep paying for your mistakes.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. Even though he was accurate in that I was a bit clumsy around the lab, I didn’t like hearing it. “Actually, it was Tanner here that had the accident.”
“Oh dear God. Please tell me that you are not hurt. Your father would never forgive me,” he said, standing up in a panic.
Tanner laughed. “No, I’m not hurt. I accidentally spilled this cleaner on one of my corn stalks in the lab.”
“That’s it? Well that’s nothing. You have plenty of corn infected on the ranch don’t you. Just cut more down. Take Madison with you,” Mr. Phillips said.
“That’s not it Mr. Phillips. You see, after he spilled the cleaner we left the corn stalk sitting on the counter. Since then, the virus has started to clear up. The brown spots are starting to disappear. It is having some sort of reaction with this cleaner,” I said.
“What! Really? How peculiar! But that is good news!” he said, excitedly.
“Yes, we thought so which is why we came to you. Do you think you can get us some more of this from the cleaning crew?” Tanner asked.
“Yes, of course. In fact I will give you the funds to go to the market and get as much as you need. Now take me to the lab and show me this unusual accident,” he said, excitedly.
Tanner and I exchanged a smile. We both knew that we were laughing on the inside about Mr. Phillips and his strange behavior, but that’s just who he was. I liked having this little inside joke with Tanner. We seem to have the same sense of humor. I liked that about him.
We walked into the lab and showed Mr. Phillips the corn. We showed him photos of the corn before so that he could make a comparison. I felt relieved and proud of the progress.
“This is absolutely wonderful. I will go to my office and get some petty cash and you two can go to the market and get some more cleaning spray. I want you to experiment in as many ways as possible. I’ll be right back,” Mr. Phillips said, and then walked out.
I looked at Tanner and couldn’t stop smiling.
“Looks like it might be a late night in the lab for us,” he said.
“Yes, you’re probably right. But the time will fly by because this is so exciting,” I said.
“Yes, it is. But I insist that you let me order dinner for us later. None of that cafeteria food,” he said.
I laughed at him. “You’re already thinking about food? We just ate.”
“Yes, I’m a growing boy. Always hungry,” he said.
But it was the way he said ‘always hungry’ that made the smile leave my face. He said it with a tone of desire. A spark was in his eyes, and I knew that spark. I swallowed. We just stood there, staring at each other. I felt the tension between us grow thick again. It was chemistry. What was happening between us? This was not like me. I was not one to get involved with guys, it was a waste of time. But this Tanner Dawson was growing on me. Just the way he looked at me with those hazel eyes hypnotized me.
“Here you are!” Mr. Phillips said, bursting into the lab. I pulled my eyes away from Tanner’s.
Mr. Phillips slapped down an envelope on the counter. There was a sheet of paper next to it. I grabbed a pen and signed for the petty cash, this was standard.
“Now get to work you two. This is very exciting! I know that you two will figure this out. I always knew it,” Mr. Phillips said, and then walked out.
“Come on, I’ll drive,” Tanner said, taking off his lab coat.
“All right, just let me grab my bag.”
I suddenly felt nervous that I was going to be sitting next to him in his truck. I would be very close to him. Not to mention riding around town with him. Would people see us together? What would they say? All of these thoughts started to roam through my head. I was getting very anxious. This was not like me at all.
“Ready?”
“Yeah,” I said.
Sitting next to him I could smell his masculine scent. I was very aware of how close to his body I was as we sat in the truck. I liked that he had a rough pickup truck like this. It was unassuming and it looked like a work truck, not a truck to show off in. I admired that in him.
; We drove through town but the grocery store was very close to the college.
“All right then. Let’s go get us some virus cure,” he said, turning the truck off.
I laughed. Climbing out of the truck, I closed the door, then turned to see a blond in a truck staring at me. Her eyes narrowed in anger. She was pretty, very pretty. The kind of young woman that everyone wanted to dance with at the dance hall. I realized then that she was giving me a dirty look because I was with Tanner. He didn’t even notice. I turned away from her and followed him into the store. I looked at him as he grinned that dashing grin and wondered how many women he had been with. How many more of those looks would I get from women all over town just for sitting in the same truck as him?
We didn’t linger in the store, and quickly bought 10 bottles of the cleaner and put them in the truck.
“What’s going on? You suddenly got quiet?” he asked.
“I did? I didn’t notice. I was just thinking about the cleaner,” I said, lying and trying to cover it up. Really, I just couldn’t stop thinking about that girl.
“Yeah, me too. I can’t wait to get back and experiment with this,” he said as he put his right arm on the back of the seat behind me. But only because he was looking over his shoulder backing out of the parking space. I realized that I liked having his arm there, it gave me a sense of security if only for just a moment. Then he pulled it away and started driving.
We worked for five hours into the night. Tanner insisted on buying dinner, so we ordered Chinese food and ate in the communal lounge area just down the hall from the lab. It was then that I decided I needed some answers. I just could not stop thinking about that woman.
“So, you and your brothers must be tight. Y’all have quite the reputation in town,” I said arching a brow at him as I took a sip of my hot tea.
He smiled at me. “I won’t lie Madison, we can get a little rough. We probably get into more troubles then we should, but we are just boys being boys. Most of us have grown out of it anyway,” He said. “The last few years I have been busy with school and taking more responsibility on the farm to really get into trouble.”
It was an honest answer. I felt guilty for trying to get information about the woman I saw and his dating habits by asking such a question thinking it would lead to that. Instead, he was honest and open about himself, and the rumors about his brothers. I had to admire that.
“Listen, why don’t we take it out of the lab tomorrow. Come out to the farm. We will experiment on site. Put some of these cleaning supplies on a small section of the crops and see what happens.”
“Yes, I think I would like that.”
“So would I.”
11
Tanner
I buttoned up the green and white plaid shirt. Looking in the mirror I had to admit that it went well with my hazel green eyes. I rolled up the sleeves to the elbows, showing off my tats. I’d already had breakfast and everyone else was already at work out on the ranch. They all thought that I was going to the lab and I wanted to keep it that way. They could get really nosey and start questioning everything and of course make fun.
“What the hell is all of this? This is what you wear to go to the lab?” Connor said, walking in.
“Hell—” I said, rolling my eyes realizing that I wasn’t going to get away now. “I thought you were out in the barn. What the hell are you doing sneaking around my room anyway?”
“If you must know, I was in my room changing into my favorite jeans to go take the horses out with Abi. You know that I like to ride in my Wranglers,” Connor said. But he wasn’t going to let it go. He crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway.
“What?” I said.
“You going to tell me why you’re all dressed up like that, cowboy?”
“My lab partner is coming to the ranch today, all right. So sue me if I don’t want to look like a slob. The college is spending money on this, we might as well show them some respect,” I said, trying to lie my way out of it.
“Oh, so this is all for the girl. She’s your lab partner now, not just the girl you work with at the lab,” he said with a big smile.
“Oh, shove it,” I said.
“So that means that you don’t like her in that way then.”
“No, I don’t. She is a work partner and that’s all,” I said.
“So, is she single, then? I mean, if you’re not interested then maybe I—”
I turned around and looked at him. “Connor, keep comments like that to yourself if you know what’s good for you.”
“I knew it. There it is, you do like this girl that’s coming over.” He hooted and hollered with glee.
“What? Who’s coming over? I didn’t hear anything about someone coming over. Is it a girl?” Abi rattled away, coming into the doorway.
“Oh great. Thanks,” I said, looking at Conner.
“You are welcome,” he smiled.
“What in tarnation is going on here? Somebody better tell me real quick,” Abi put her hands on her hips.
“The girl that Tanner has a crush on is coming to the ranch this morning. The one from the lab.”
“Connor, you—” I balled my fist at him, but he just laughed wildly.
“No, I don’t like that one bit. You invited her here? Why wasn’t I told about this?” Abi said.
I cocked my head to the side and looked at my sister. She was very possessive toward the family and her reaction was no surprise. She didn’t want any outsiders coming in. She was always suspicious of women coming to steal the family fortune.
“Abi, it’s not like that. Now, I can count on you to not be a dick. She is just coming to help with the plants. We’re real close to finding a cure,” I said, taking a step toward her.
“Mmm-hmm, and that’s why you’re wearing your Sunday shirt? Looks real nice. But not something you wear when working on the crops,” she said.
“Why you little—” I said, putting my arm around her neck and drawing her to me and rubbing my fist across the top of her hair.
“Don’t Tanner, I hate it when you do that,” she said, as she squirmed out of my hold and stomped down the hall.
“Good luck with that,” Connor said.
“Thanks a lot, jerk,” I said, grabbing my straw hat.
“So, when is she getting here? I want to get a good look at this woman,” Connor said, rubbing his hands together. I narrowed my eyes at him. He laughed and walked down the hall.
“I really need to get my own place soon,” I mumbled.
Taking one last look at myself in the mirror, I pulled on my straw cowboy hat. I pushed the stray strands of hair into it. Then I headed downstairs. I saw a car coming down the road as I stood on the porch. It was her. Connor stepped out onto the porch next to me and crossed his arms.
“Connor, what are you doing?”
“I thought about what you said, that the college is doing a lot for us. It’s my responsibility to make sure that our guest feels welcome.”
He had a big smile on his face and I just rolled my eyes. Just then the car came to a stop in front of the house. The door opened and she stepped out. I was stunned when I saw her. I’d never seen her looking like this before. Her long sandy blond hair was down. I’d only seen it in a braid before, but today it was loose. It sat underneath a straw cowboy hat making her look like the proper cowgirl. She was wearing cut off blue jean shorts with a fitted blue tank top tucked into them. The brown cowboy boots that she wore came up to her knees. My mouth practically fell open. I was used to seeing her in jeans, a t-shirt, and all covered up with a massive lab coat.
“God almighty. Now I can see why you got all dolled up. She is a looker isn’t she?” Connor whispered to me as he jabbed his elbow into my rib.
“Keep it together brother,” I said, walking off the porch. Connor followed of course.
“Hey Madison,” I said, suddenly feeling a little bit nervous out of nowhere.
“Hi Tanner, it is lovely out here.”
Co
nnor cleared his throat.
“Madison, this is my brother Connor.”
“Older brother,” Connor said, reaching his hand out for hers.
Madison smiled and shook his hand.
“So, my brother tells me that you two spend a lot of time together, a lot of time having chemistry—” Connor said.
“Using chemistry,” I interrupted.
“Oh, of course,” Connor smiled, with a cheesy grin.
“Well, what do we got here?” Dylan said, coming out of the house with a cup of coffee in hand.
“Are none of y’all doing your duties yet? What’s the holdup?” I threw up my hands.
“Ma’am, my name is Dylan Dawson. It is a pleasure to meet you. Can I get you some coffee? Some water? My brothers are clearly not gentlemen, having offered not a thing,” Dylan said, with all the charm he could muster.
“Don’t get too close miss, he will bite,” Wyatt said, coming out of the house after Dylan. I rolled my eyes. Would there be no end to this?
Madison laughed. “He looks harmless enough, but I will take that warning seriously.”
“My name is Wyatt Dawson ma’am. I’m the eldest of this bunch of roughnecks.”
“Madison Dryer. I work at the college, and I’ve been helping your brother with the problem y’all are having out here,” she said, shaking his hand.
“Oh—so you’re the one,” Wyatt said.
Madison looked at him with confusion, and I immediately interrupted.
“Well Madison, why don’t I show you around first before we get started,” I said.
“Yes, I would like—”
“Connor, I thought you were going to help me run these horses?” Abi said, galloping up on a horse with one trailing behind her.
“Abi, this is Madison. Madison this is my sister, Abi.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. It must be a lot of work being the only sister around all of these boys,” Madison said, with a big smile.
