Chapter 21
Ariana
My phone pings and I look down. I’m expecting calls or texts from a half dozen people as the re-opening is approaching. But instead, it’s a video call from my brother, Sam.
“Hey,” I say as I accept it.
“Hey, how’s life?” he asks. I feel sort of bad. I haven’t spoken much to him or Lucas in the past few weeks.
“It’s going. How are things?” I ask as I save some graphics for the re-opening and email one of the local artists.
“It’s fine. I heard Mom talking to your dad again,” he says, lowering his voice as if he might be heard.
I stop what I’m doing and stare at him. “What’d she say?” I ask.
“It’s not what she said, it’s what he said,” Sam answers in a hushed voice.
I wait for him to continue.
“He thinks you’re just…what were his words…”
“Trying to prove a point,” Lucas says as his face comes into view. “Hey, Ari.”
“Hi, Luc-puke,” I tease, using a nickname I gave him as a baby.
He rolls his eyes. “Anyhow, Mom agreed with him that your...what did he call it?” Sam asks Lucas who groans.
“So-called job,” Lucas states.
“Right, your so-called job is short term and you’ll be home soon and can work for him. He wants to have you do some sort of event planning or something like that. Anyhow, it sounded super boring. Just thought you should know. Oh, and his girlfriend, Kimberslut, she totally told him your job is not real and you’re just trying to chase a guy or something,” Sam says.
“Sam, don’t call her that,” I scold, even though I love his nickname for her.
“Whatever. She’s a total you-know-what,” he states.
“Yeah,” I sigh, “you’re not wrong, but she’s been weird lately.” I decide not to tell them too much. They are too young to understand. “Anyhow, I think she’s gone for another day or two.” I frown as I try to remember when she is coming back. I’ve been so busy, I haven’t been thinking about it. Or maybe, I just don’t want to. I feel the clock ticking on me telling my dad.
“I hope her flight gets delayed or they ruin her luggage or something,” Lucas says.
“Guys, thanks for calling with the intel, but I’m swamped with work. Can we catch up next weekend?” I ask.
“No can do. I have a party and Sam here is going to some sort of geek convention,” Lucas says.
“It’s a robotics competition,” Sam growls.
“Yeah, a geek convention, like I said,” Lucas teases.
Sam punches his arm.
“Behave, you two. I’ll talk to you soon,” I say.
They wave bye and I hang up, shaking my head at their ridiculousness. I decide I’ll call my father this evening. I’m out of time. I’m dreading his angry outburst but at least it won’t be in person and Eric will be here with me when it’s over.
Thor meows as Joy walks back in from getting lunch. She sets a sandwich on my desk.
“Elisha made Ari’s favorite today. Turkey Reuben on focaccia. It’s so good,” she says.
“Sounds yummy,” I say as I look out the window. It’s a beautiful day. One of those spring days that threatens to be warm enough for shorts, but doesn’t quite reach that temperature.
“I’m going to see if we have any good strawberries to go with this,” I say as I get up and pat Thor on the head. I walk over to the farmstand. Looking around, I spot some strawberries just as a young man comes in and says hello to Kingsley.
“Hey, Kevin,” Kingsley says. I realize it’s one of the bartenders from Max’s Restaurant in town.
“Hey,” I say to him.
“Oh, Ariana, right?” he asks as he picks up some basil.
“Yep,” I reply.
“What brings you out here?” I ask.
“Oh, we’re running low on basil because some new guy put it in the freezer instead of the fridge. So I’m picking up some to get us through till tomorrow,” he explains.
I grimace. “Sounds like that guy had a bad day.”
He shrugs. “I guess so. It’s tough being the new guy. I should know.”
“How long have you been here?” I ask.
“About nine months now,” he replies as he sets his produce on the counter.
“You like it here?” I ask.
He nods. “I’m from a small town, so it feels very homey here. My town wasn’t by the ocean though, so that part has been nice,” he says.
“It is nice, isn’t it? It’s like everyone here really knows each other,” I state.
“Small towns are like that. They become like a family instead of just neighbors. I like the community vibe of it,” he says.
“Kevin?” I ask. “Would you be interested in making some mocktails for our re-opening event? If Max wouldn’t mind, that is. I mentioned it to him, but he’s been out of town, so we never cemented anything.”
“Sure. I’ll talk to him, but I’m sure it’s fine. He just got back yesterday,” he says with a smile.
“Awesome. Let me know. Well, I’m off to eat lunch. Nice talking to you,” I say to him.
“Same to you, Ariana,” he says as he checks out and starts talking about some local Ultimate Frisbee league with Kingsley.
Eric pulls me into the animal barn as I walk back to the office. He pushes me up against a wall and kisses me. The strawberries nearly go flying.
“Sorry,” he says with a grin as he pulls back, “couldn’t help myself.”
I giggle. “Behave,” I whisper.
He shrugs. “What’s the fun in that, little catastrophe?”
I roll my eyes. “Lunch is here.”
“I’ll be in soon. I need to get the tractor loaded up with some hay to take out to Earl after I eat,” he says.
“OK,” I reply with a nod and a quick peck on his cheek before I turn and head to the office, grinning like a fool. How is my life this great? I have an amazing guy, a great job, and I live in the perfect place. Maybe I can get Eric to go to the beach with me this weekend. We could take Barkley.
If I can just survive telling Dad, then life might be truly perfect. I look over at the tractor, Eric is putting hay on it. He has so much to do. I decide then and there that I’m going to do it for him after I eat. He deserves a quick break and Earl taught me how to drive it last week. It isn’t really any harder than the truck.
I eat as quickly as I can. This is followed by giving Thor little belly boops. How can a kitten be this adorable?
“You spoil him,” Joy states as she looks over her computer monitor at me, her well-drawn right eyebrow raised.
I shrug as I look back down at Thor. His eyes are open now and he stares up at me.
“Just look at him. He’s so freaking cute. I can barely stand it. Aren’t you, buddy?” I say in a baby-talk voice as I kiss his big belly again. I turn to Joy. “I’m going out to help Eric. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Alright,” she says, barely looking up as she types.
I head out to the guesthouse and change into some sweatpants and these big boots I bought at Heather’s thrift shop. I needed something practical, and this was all I could find. I make my way over to the tractor that’s all loaded with hay. I spot the place out in the field where it needs to go, and I climb up and find the key in the ignition. I roll my eyes. It’s so typical. I never would’ve dreamt of keeping a key in the ignition at home, but here, I know no one would touch this thing. I start it up and am pleased when I manage to get it started.
“You can do this,” I give myself a pep talk. With a nod to my nerves, I remember what I was taught and managed to start driving the beast of machinery. I smile proudly. See, I can do this. I make it to the west field and start down the dirt path in between planted fields. It needs to go along the edge down by the drainage ditch.
I get closer to the drainage ditch and start to turn. A movement to my left startles me. Eric is racing toward me, waving his arms. I wave back smiling as I finish the turn, but then I feel the left side of the tractor start to sink.
“Oh no,” I mutter as I attempt to get it moved out of what I assume is a soft spot along the ditch, but I can’t. It sinks more and more. The right side of the tractor begins to elevate. And then I feel it leave the ground. Everything happens so fast. One minute I’m inside the tractor and the next the tractor is on top of me and I’m in the ditch.
“Ariana! Ariana!” Eric’s panicked voice comes closer, and I hear him running. He slides down along the side of the top of the tractor and peers beneath it.
“I’m OK. I’m…ouch!” I yell as I try to free myself. I start to panic as I realize my leg is caught at a strange angle under the tractor.
“Earl! Get Buck! Call nine-one-one,” Eric yells and then looks back down at me. “We’re going to get you out. Can you feel your leg?”
“I—I d-don’t know,” I stammer as I feel my body begin to shiver.
“Fuck, hold on, baby,” he says, his voice laced with concern as he whips off his flannel button-down shirt, revealing a tight-fitted gray shirt underneath. He ducks under the edge of the tractor roof and covers me. “You’re in shock, Ariana. We have to keep you warm.”
“A-am I—I g-going t-to d-die?” I ask, my voice trembling. I suddenly feel so cold.
“No. You are not going to die. I won’t let you. We’re going to get you out from under there and then get you checked out and you’ll be back home in no time,” he says calmly. I reach up behind me and he grabs my hand. “Do you hear me? You are not going to die.”
“I’m s-scared,” I admit. And I mean it in all the possible ways. I’m scared I’m falling for him. I’m scared I’m going to die. I’m scared my dad won’t love me anymore if he finds out what I’ve done. I’m scared I’ll mess up and ruin everything. I’m scared that I might have already messed up everything.
His other hand comes down to caress my cheek. I feel him wipe a tear. I didn’t even know I was crying. “Don’t be scared, baby. I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”
“P-promise?” I ask, my bottom lip wobbling.
“Cross my heart and hope to…never mind. Yes, I promise,” he says gruffly.
“It’s ‘cross my heart and hope to die,’” I state, this time managing to say it without trembling.
“Yes, it is. See, you’re already feeling better if you can remember that,” he says.
“Oh God! You think I might die, don’t you?” I ask suddenly scared shitless. Is this it? I go out on a farm under a tractor. Katia will never let me live this down, even in death.
“Stop it. You aren’t dying,” he reiterates.
I hear lots of noise. Eric’s head pops out of view and then leans back down. “The ambulance and fire truck are here. We’re going to get you out. I’ll be right back,” he says, and before I can beg him not to leave, he’s standing, but I can still see his feet.
“Yeah. Under here. Her leg is pinned,” he says to someone.
A young man’s face appears. “Hey, Ariana?”
I nod.
“I’m Carson. I’m a local EMT. I’m going to assess you real quick and then we’ll get you out from under this tractor, OK?” he says with a smile as if it’s no big deal I’m pinned under here.
“OK,” I whisper.
I suddenly have a blood pressure cuff on my arm and he’s holding a finger to my pulse on my wrist. Then he leans up and yells, “Gonna need the bird. Yep. Call them.”
His face is back down in my vantage point. “Hey. So, I just like to air on the side of caution. We’re going to send you on a little helicopter ride to City General once we get you out of here, OK? Just to be cautious. And that way if you need surgery, you’ll have the best surgeons waiting and ready. Hopefully, you won’t, and you’ll be back here later today, but let’s just make sure. Alright?”
“A helicopter?” I say, my nerves starting to fray. I feel sheer horror take over. I am dying. I’m such an idiot. Why did I think I could do this?
I hear Eric and Carson talking but only hear a few words. “Trauma center.” “Amputation.” “Blood loss.” “Blood type.”
And then everything begins to fade into a fuzzy blackness. The last thing I hear is Eric’s voice. “Ariana! Stay with me, baby! Don’t leave me!”