42. Mason
Chapter 42
Mason
September 2023
Pulling up the long drive leading to Holden’s in-law’s farmhouse I can see all the hard work they’ve put into this fall festival. There are hay bales piled in multiple areas, they’ve got galvanized tubs for the apple bobbing contest they’re putting on for the kids, and some of the animals have been moved into the closer barn for the petting zoo portion. There are so many people running around making sure everything is done and I’m just amazed at how they transitioned this space in such a short amount of time.
The main house reminds me a lot of my parents. White siding with black shutters, wrap-around porch, with plants and flowers everywhere.
As I get closer to the house, I see Holden waving me toward the side driveway where all their cars are parked. I pull in beside his pick-up and turn the car off before getting out.
“Wow, everything looks great already! I don’t know what I was expecting but I can honestly say it wasn’t for most of the work to be done already.” I say while looking around at everything that’s already set up and everyone here who’s been volunteering to help.
“Ha. They’ve got it down to a science, man. Every year they get together at the end of the festival to see if there’s anything they could have done differently to make things better for the visitors. I think they’ve found their groove this year, though. When Jessalyn and I got here there was already so much done.” Holden says before giving me a one-arm hug while we do a quick handshake with our free hands.
“It’s so good to see you, man. It’s been a long couple of months between work and trying to maintain this long-distance thing with Callie. This short vacay will be exactly what I need.”
“I was just telling Jessa that I don’t know what’s going on, but work has been wild lately. Both with current cases and new clients. Even though there’s going to be a lot going on and a ton of people here I think it’ll be a good break for all of us.”
“I can’t wait. What can I do to help? I’m excited to meet your in-laws.” I ask, motioning towards the barn where I can see a group of people standing around talking.
“Yeah, let me go introduce you to them and then we can see what else needs to be done,” Holden says, turning to walk away.
“Hey. Sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to introduce y’all to my best friend, Mason. Mason, this is my mother-in-law, Joanne, and my father-in-law, Jack. This is Jessa’s aunt and uncle–Mary and Donald.” He says, pointing to the other couple standing here with Jessa and her parents. “Mason and I went to college together. His girlfriend will be here in a couple of days with Jo Ellen.”
I shake all of their hands and thank them for allowing us to come visit for the week. Joanne and Mary are both wearing kitchen aprons and from the splatters all over it, I can tell they’ve been busy in the kitchen. Jack and Donald are both in faded jeans, flannels, and worn cowboy boots.
“It’s so nice to meet you, Mason,” Joanne states with a smile before adding “I can’t wait to meet Callie. I’ve heard so much about the both of you.”
“Good things, I hope,” I say, laughing lightly.
“Of course. All good things. Mary, Jessa, and I are going to head into the house and get some more of the appetizers made up for tonight. You’re more than welcome to stay for dinner if you don’t have anything else going on, Mason.”
“Thank you for the offer. I’d love to stick around for dinner.”
They turn to head back into the house and Holden, Jack, and Donald motion for me to follow them out to the barn. “We’ve got a few more bales of hay to move and another galvanized tub to move. The hay is stacked in the barn to the left, and the galvanized tub is in the barn over there.” Jack points over towards the chicken coop. “Do you and Holden mind grabbing those while Donald and I finish going over the supplies we’ve gathered?”
“Absolutely.” I say while Holden says “Of course, sir.”
“Thank you both. The help is very much appreciated. The tub will be going over by the stack of hay with the photo op cut out. The hay bales will...” he starts while looking around to figure out where they’d be best placed. “Ah, over there. Stack them by the fence for the petting zoo.”
Holden and I wander off towards the chicken coop to grab the tub first. After getting it placed by the photo op, we go to grab the gator and load the hay bales on before stacking them over by the fence.
Being here makes me miss the farm life so much. I honestly don’t know how I’ve survived living in the city for so long. The city has pros and cons, for sure, but I’m pretty sure I would have ended up back in Georgia whether I found Cal or not.
“Hey, man! The place looks amazing! Is there anything I can do to help before we need to run and get the girls?” I ask, pulling Holden into a hug and gently patting him on the back.
“I think they’ve got it just about covered but I do need to grab a few more animals and move them to the front barn if you’d like to help with that.”
“I think I can manage that,” I say locking my car and placing my keys in my front jeans pocket.
“So, how’s Callie feel about meeting all of us?” Holden asks as we walk past the main barn towards the smaller one settled to the left of the house.
“She’s so nervous. I think she believes that you have predetermined feelings about her because of how wrecked I was in college.” I glance out over the field taking in all the animals that are wandering through the grass, no worries in sight. If only our lives were that easy.
“Ugh, man. I would never hold that against her. You were the one to end it but even still... it was many years ago and y’all were children. Okay, technically adults but children.” He says before stopping to face me.
“I know that man. I’ve told her multiple times that she has nothing to worry about. It’s just what she does. She worries. And I do my best to squash her worries. I’m sure Jo Ellen has even tried telling her a time or two that she has nothing to worry about with y’all’s family.”
“I sure hope she sees that we don’t think differently of her because of that whole mess.” He says before starting to walk again.
We make it to the barn and as Holden opens the door, I’m hit with the smell of farm life. When I reached my teen years it got to the point where it bothered me, and I started to hate it. Now that I’ve been away from that life for a while I miss it. I miss the early morning farm chores, taking care of the animals, and the smell. That scent alone brings back many memories of my childhood.
“ Mason, Josh. We got y’all something. Come out to the backyard.” Dad hollers through the back door.
We take off running to the back door swinging it open hard enough that it smacks into the cabinet sitting behind it. As soon as the screen door opens, we hear it before we see it. We look at each other with a surprised expression before running down the back steps and out to where we can see Ma and Dad standing.
“Is that what we think it is?!” Josh hollers as we run through the yard.
“Well, I don’t know. What do y’all think it is?” Ma says, laughing.
“It sounded like a HORSE!” we scream in unison.
“Well, come on, and let’s go check out the barn. I think that’s where I saw it go.” Dad says, grabbing each of our hands and pulling us across the yard to the barn. When we’re close he lets go of our hands and says, “Now go open that barn door and see what was just delivered.”
We tore off through the grass as fast as our legs would allow us, ripped open the barn door, and gasped at the little pony that greeted us with the sweetest neigh.
“Josh, I think we need to call him Caramel,” I say laughing, trying to hold back the tears of excitement.
“I agree!” Josh called back.
We named him Caramel due to his coloring and unlike the other animals on the farm, he was ours. Where the others had jobs to do, he was our pet.
I’ve always loved being part of a farm and watching the inner workings of all the animals and farm hands, but having one of the animals that you can get closer to, love on, and grow up with was one of the best parts of my childhood.
“There’s four ponies and a few goats in here that still need to be moved up to the barn out front. I’ll tackle the sheep if you want to grab the horses.” Holden says, walking towards the stalls where the sheep are watching us carefully.
“I can handle that,” I throw over my shoulder, walking over to where the leads hang from the side wall of the barn.
Holden’s in-laws have this barn organized in such a way that reminds me a lot of the barn on my parent’s farm. Down to the hooks holding up the leads. Dad always used to tell us “Knowing where the tools are that you need will make the job more enjoyable” and I never understood that until I was much older and on my own. That saying can be referenced to really anything in life.
Holden and I gather the animals and walk them through the field and into the barn where the petting zoo will be held. They’ve got a nice crew of animals for the kids to interact with. The four ponies and goats that we brought in, two sows and a handful of piglets, three sheep, and two ducks. They’ve been putting on this fall festival for years and all the animals are used to human interaction and very docile.
Once we’ve got the animals secured in their stalls and food and water available, we close up the barn and make our way across the front lawn to where everyone else is standing around talking. We’ve about made it there when my phone buzzes against my thigh.
Callie : I can’t wait to see you! Shouldn’t be too much longer!
Me : Holden and I will be waiting with a huge sign to embarrass y’all!
Callie : You better not, Mase!
Me : I guess you’ll have to find out! See you soon!
“Callie just messaged me that they’re in the air. We should probably head that way so we can make it in time.”
“Yeah, it takes about a half hour to get to the airport from here plus the time it’ll take getting parked and inside to greet them. We probably should have already left, but it’ll be fine.” Holden says before walking up to his parents to let them know we’ll be back.
I wave to his in-laws and follow Holden over to his SUV. I need to make sure to chat with them when we come back. I didn’t get a chance to since they were in the middle of making sure all the vendors were going where they needed to go.
The ride to the airport is all about my upcoming conversation with Callie about moving to Georgia. The last time we talked about it was over FaceTime so he couldn’t gauge my body language, and this gives him the chance to see that I’m one hundred percent committed to moving back down there.
“I’m happy for you, man. I know you’ll handle the transition well and everything will work out exactly as it’s supposed to. When are you going to talk to Callie about it?” Holden asks.
“I really wanted to tell her in person while we’re down here but there’s still some things I need to take care of in New York. I spoke with my parents about it the other night and they both basically said the same thing you did when I asked your opinion. So now it’s just waiting to hear back about the paperwork we filed to give Logan full ownership of the building and then also dealing with my apartment lease.”
“I get that, man. I agree that it should probably be an in-person conversation, but I also understand your reservation about bringing it up before you know for sure. That’s a tough one. How do you think she’ll take it?”
“See, that’s the thing. I don’t know how she’ll take it. I know how I hope she’ll take it, but she could surprise me. This is something I’ve put a lot of thought into because I don’t want to force her into something more or make her feel like I’m moving us ahead on my timeline. I simply just want to be down here with her so that we have the best chance at getting it right this time.” I say, focused on the moving tree line out my window.
“I think that’s what you need to tell her then. Let her know you’re not moving down here to rush her. That you just want to be able to give this relationship everything you’ve got.”
“You’re right. I’m most likely going to have to talk to her about it over the phone and I hope that’s the right way to go about it.”