Chapter 11 Nora #2
“Well, grown-up kids,” River amended. “Like the one driving the truck right now.”
Mr. Williams gave a chuckle from his spot beside them.
“Kids can be a real help on a farm though,” River said. “A lot of my friends in school lived on farms, and they did all kinds of chores in the mornings. I used to help out sometimes.”
“What chores?” Pixie wanted to know.
“Things like feeding and taking care of animals,” River said. “Like grooming the horses, mucking their stalls, and feeding them. Or milking cows.”
“Mucking?” Pixie echoed.
“Well, horses don’t have bathrooms,” River said carefully. “So they do their business in their stalls, and then it’s the farmer’s job to clean it out and put down fresh straw. That’s called mucking.”
“Poop?” John-John popped up from Nora’s shoulder to ask brightly. “Do you mean poop?”
“Uh,” River said, looking a little torn, like maybe he wasn’t sure whether or not he was supposed to condone kids saying poop.
“Yes,” Nora said, barely biting back a laugh. “That’s exactly what he means.”
“Everybody poops,” Pixie said wisely, quoting a book their mother had read to them when they were smaller.
“Well, horses certainly do,” River said. “Keeping their stalls clean is a really important chore.”
“They have big poops,” Pixie said. “Right?”
“Very big,” River agreed, nodding.
The little Williams girl was giggling now and both her grandparents were smiling along with her.
“I want to see,” John-John said right away. “I want to look at the poops.”
“Maybe tomorrow,” River offered, quirking a brow at Nora.
“If we get up very early, maybe we can help take care of the horses, John-John,” she told him gently.
“Okay,” Jacob called out from the cab. “Everybody hold onto your hats. We’re heading up the hill.”
John-John put his hands on his head with a smile, but as soon as they left the level drive for the hillside, Nora knew John-John wasn’t going to like it. The path was a lot rougher, and the engine got even louder working to pull them up.
“No,” John-John whimpered. “Too bumpy.”
“This is the hillside that leads to the Christmas trees,” Nora reminded him. “Look up there at all the beautiful evergreens. We’re going to be just like Farmer Bear.”
“Farmer Bear doesn’t ride on a hay truck,” John-John said. “He walks up the hill.”
“We’re almost there,” River put in, leaning over to John-John so that the little one could see his face easily. “But if you want, we can ask Jacob to stop the truck, and you and I can walk the rest of the way.”
“I can get out?” John-John asked.
“Absolutely,” River told him. “Not everyone likes a big bumpitty-bump ride.”
“Bumpitty-bump,” Pixie echoed, then cracked up.
John-John perked up, looking at his sister.
“It’s funny,” Pixie said, her hair bouncing as the truck bumped up the hill. “Bumpitty-bu-u-u-u-mp.”
John-John laughed suddenly, and Nora had to smile too.
“Bumpitty-bu-u-u-u-mp,” he repeated, letting the bumping of the truck make the nonsense word sound even funnier.
This time Pixie laughed and Josie Williams joined in.
River caught Nora’s eye, and she mouthed the words thank you to him.
He nodded back, that same strange expression in his dark eyes that she’d seen yesterday.
The cold breeze picked up, lifting her hair as they entered the fragrant rows of evergreens. Before she knew it, the truck was coming to a stop on its own without anyone having to get out and walk after all.
River jumped out and stood by the back of the bed, helping Jacob to hand everyone down until they were all stretching their legs and drinking in the delicious pine scent.
All around them, rows of trees seemed to stretch in every direction. But the truck had pulled up in front of a small stand. Next to the stand was a canvas-covered table full of saws and a sign that said, Please return.
“Each group can grab a bow saw,” Jacob told them. “Adults only though, please. And if there’s a certain kind of tree you’re looking for, let me know and I’ll help you find it.”
He pointed out a couple of sections, including the balsams, but Nora was too busy watching the kids to pay much attention. She worried that those bow saws might be irresistible to the curious duo.
But being here with River made everything so much easier. While she wrangled the kids, he chatted with Jacob and then grabbed a saw.
“Ready?” he asked as he rejoined them.
The kids locked their gazes onto him, like sunflowers turning toward the dawn, and she watched River transform from a serious soldier to a twinkly-eyed young man, like magic.
“The balsam firs are up this way,” he told them, and they all tromped off among the beautiful trees.
River had announced earlier that the air smelled like snow, which made the kids and her giggle. How could you smell snow?
But as they walked, she noticed what looked like a snowflake drifting down, followed by another, and another.
“It’s snowing,” Pixie said, her voice soft with wonder.
“You smelled it,” John-John said, turning to River.
“Told you,” River said, winking at Nora again and tapping his nose. “Now do you believe me?”
She heard herself laugh, even as her cheeks heated.
“Yes,” John-John said solemnly.
“We can’t smell snow in the city,” Pixie said.
“Maybe in the city there are too many other smells for us to notice the one that says snow is coming,” Nora suggested.
“If that’s not a sign that people should live in the country, I don’t know what is,” River teased.
“I like the country,” John-John decided. “It’s like a park.”
“The whole thing is kind of like a park,” Nora agreed, chuckling a little at the idea.
She tried not to think too hard about how things would be when she had to bring him back to the city after the holidays.
Maybe when he’s in kindergarten and I’m not paying for preschool anymore we can move to a bigger apartment, closer to one of the nicer parks, she reminded herself.
That was certainly progress. A week ago, she had been wondering how much longer they could even make it in their current place.
She smiled as River demonstrated how to catch a snowflake on his tongue, which sent the kids both darting around trying to catch one of their own. It was coming down now, but still light, tiny flakes that melted when they landed on her cheeks—the perfect snow for choosing a Christmas tree.
“You okay?” River asked, slowing down slightly to walk beside her.
“This is magical,” she told him. “Thank you so much for making it happen.”
His gaze moved to the kids, and she could see his eyes soften as he took in their joyful antics.
“It’s my pleasure,” he told her, his voice a little husky. “Truly.”
They walked on in companionable silence, enjoying the peace of the late morning.
“Look,” Pixie said suddenly, pointing to a wooden sign in the ground. “That says balsam fir.”
“Here we are then, kids,” River said. “We need to choose a tree. Do you want advice on how?”
John-John nodded his head up and down, a serious expression on his face.
“Okay,” River said. “We’re looking for a tree that has nice green needles all the way around. We want it to stand up nice and straight. Nora wants it to be nice and big, right, Nora?”
“Right,” Nora agreed.
The kids were practically wiggling in place with excitement.
“But,” River said. “It has to fit into the house. So when we find a good one, I’ll stand next to it, and we’ll see if it’s taller than my hand.”
He stretched one arm over his head and wiggled his fingers.
The kids took off down a row of trees, chattering excitedly about a tree here and there before scampering around it and then taking off again.
“I feel like I’m in one of those Christmas movies,” Nora said.
“Me too,” River said.
Nora laughed.
“What?” he asked, his tone teasingly defensive. “I watch them with my mother.”
“That’s really nice,” Nora told him.
She desperately wanted to ask him how his private chat with his mother had gone, but she just didn’t have the nerve.
“I’m sorry that was awkward this morning,” River said suddenly, as if he had read her mind. “I meant to let her know you and the kids were visiting. I just hadn’t gotten to it yet. But I should have realized that she might stop by unannounced.”
“Oh, I was fine,” Nora said. It was a little fib, but she certainly didn’t want to make him feel bad. “I hope she was okay.”
“Oh, yeah, of course,” River said.
But his guilty smile told her that he was probably fibbing a little too.
“I guess people are seeing us out together now,” she ventured, vaguely gesturing in the direction of the hayride.
“Nora, we’re not doing anything wrong,” River said, stopping in place and fixing her in his dark gaze. “I know I’m not the one you wish was here, but as long as you’re not ashamed to be here with me, I’ll never be ashamed to be here with you.”
I know I’m not the one you wish was here…
He was talking about Edward. About a million thoughts ran through her mind—so many things she could say… But River was searching her face for an answer.
“I’m not ashamed,” she heard herself tell him, meeting his eyes so that he could see that she meant it.
“Good,” he said, a quick expression of pleasure flashing across his handsome features before he turned away from her.
“This one,” Pixie yelled out.
“This one,” John-John echoed happily.
“That’s our cue,” River said.
He turned back to Nora and for a moment she had the instinct that he was going to grab her hand.
Instead, he just gave her a gentle smile, and they headed off together.