Chapter 25 Nancy
TWENTY-FIVE
NANCY
I almost feel bad for the snow facial and then leaving him in my dust, but when I get to the fence, I’m able to take a few mind-clearing breaths as I look across the yard at the large white farmhouse.
None of this has hit me yet. I haven’t fully come to terms with the giant steps I’ve taken in a matter of days.
I definitely haven’t dwelled on how I upended my life to start over with someone I don’t really know.
Sure, I could paint an excellent picture of him without his clothes on, but I don’t know the size of those clothes.
I stare so long at the house that the frosted air from my breath begins to cloud my vision, creating an almost dreamlike image.
I can’t decide if I’m more nervous about reality hitting me or the fact I’m not worried about it happening.
Before I can decide, however, Karl’s arms are wrapping around me, his warm breath tickling my neck as he catches his breath.
“That was hardly fair, wife,” he growls against my skin, causing shivers to race here and there.
I turn in his arms and laugh when I see bits of snow stuck in his eyebrows. “Life’s not fair, husband,” I reply, brushing the snow away, trying not to melt under his gaze.
“Well,” he coos, backing me into the fence, his hands grasping the top of the second board, caging me in. “I don’t have any complaints about life at present.”
Nervous energy courses through me as he lowers his face to mine. I love the anticipation of his kisses.
“Karl!” Elizabeth yells from the porch, and Karl’s head snaps up. “Sorry to interrupt.” I want to die of mortification. “Denver’s on the phone.”
“Denver?” I ask, peeking over my shoulder in time to see Elizabeth disappear back into the house.
“Next farm over.” Karl sighs, pushing off the fence. He climbs through the rails and holds out his hand, waiting for me to follow. “He’s probably going to ask for a hand with something. His dad passed unexpectedly a couple of months ago, and he’s been trying to get a handle on everything.”
“That’s sad,” I say, leaning into him as we walk across the yard.
“Yeah, he didn’t really want to do the farm thing. He’s a lot like Matt in that way.”
“Matt doesn’t want to do the farm thing?” I mimic.
Karl looks down at me, shaking his head. “Nah, he has no idea what he wants to do, but he does know it’s not this,” he gestures around the property. “It’s a good thing I did.” He chuckles.
It hits me then that if we have children, one would have to want this life in order for the farm to stay in the family. I add it to the list of things we should probably talk about as he pushes through the front door and picks up the phone his mom left beside the receiver.
I slip off my boots as he chats with Denver and wander back to the kitchen, where I can hear Elizabeth working away.
“How was the tour?” she asks, sliding a large piece of some kind of meat into the oven and then motioning to the stools at the island.
I sit, not knowing what to do with my feet.
I have the urge to swing them, but there’s something about that that feels childish, and married women shouldn’t act that way.
It’s my mother’s voice I hear when I think that.
It’s her hard expression I see, an eyebrow arched in judgment as I cross my ankles and tuck my feet behind the lower bar.
“It was great. It’s a really beautiful property,” I admit, perhaps a bit too high-pitched.
“You should see it in the summer and fall.” She sighs dreamily, sliding onto the stool beside me. “I remember my first one here. I wasn’t raised on a farm. I met Karl’s father the old-fashioned way, at a bar.”
I don’t know why this catches me off guard. I think I assumed there was some farmer dating scene. Like royalty or something. There seems to be in the equestrian world. Sometimes it’s easier when someone knows exactly what they’re in for.
“He was in the city for a meeting with the dairy board, and he and a few of the other guys were out for a night in the big city. I remember it like it was yesterday. They stuck out like sore thumbs, but Will, with his John Deere hat and Canadian tuxedo, looked right at me, smiled, touched the rim of his hat, and that was it. I was hooked.”
What is it about the Hore men? I wonder.
“Mind you, it did take him a month to get me to go out with him and then another year of him asking until I agreed to marry him, but I was pretty smitten that first night.”
“Karl must take after him.” I can feel my cheeks heat, and I look over to find her kind eyes on me.
“He does, in many ways. Will is calm, steadfast, and loyal to a fault. Karl is all those things as well, although a tad less measured when he wants something. He’s never been the most patient person.
Matt, on the other hand, is patient to a fault.
” She releases a sigh. “Together they balance one another out.”
“I’m not normally a spontaneous person,” I admit, fingers twisting in my lap.
“I’m practical and meticulous. This is…” I spin the simple gold band on my left hand.
“Very out of character for me. But,” I say, with a bit more confidence because Elizabeth seems like a woman who appreciates confidence.
“I have always had good intuition, and I didn’t have a single doubt when it came to this.
I knew people around us would, obviously.
It’s irrational. But every step beside him has felt right.
And there will be fallout. My parents, my mother in particular, may never come around.
My sister…” I pause, recalling her expression yesterday.
“Well, she’s basically a younger version of our mother, so she’ll no doubt follow suit. ”
“I’m sorry,” Elizabeth says quietly, turning toward me and taking my hands in hers.
“It’s a big deal what you two did. Don’t count them out just yet.
Give them some time to come to terms with it.
They may surprise you.” She pats my hand twice and stands.
“Now, is there anything you don’t or can’t eat? ”
I shake my head. “I’ll eat whatever,” I say, fighting back the emotion that’s bubbling up in my throat. “Can I help with anything?” I ask, standing.
Her eyes flick to the door behind me, and a small, knowing smile appears on her face as arms wrap around me. “She definitely appreciates the offer, but Elizabeth Hore is a one-woman show in the kitchen,” Karl whispers against my neck.
Elizabeth turns toward the sink, waving over her shoulder. “You kids go get settled in. I’m sure your dad and brother will be back soon.”
“Where did they go anyway?” Karl asks when we’re halfway out the door.
“No clue. Matt said they’d be gone for a bit.”
“Hmm, okay,” he huffs, leading me to the living room, where he guides me to sit down as he leaves me to dig around in a chest that doubles as a bench.
“What are you looking for?”
“Just… yes, here it is.” He holds up a large brown album and comes to sit beside me. “Figured it would be good to show you family photos.” He flips the album open, and I’m immediately met by a picture of an extremely pregnant Elizabeth Hore.
“Well, she looks happy,” I say, my finger tracing over her belly.
“She was about to meet me. Of course she was.” Karl grins, turning back to the book and flipping to the next picture.
“You already look like you got what you wanted in this picture.” I laugh at the little expression in the first picture of him, still red.
“Out, I wanted out. Apparently I was a kicker.”
We’re into his high school years when the front door opens and Matt bangs his way into the front hall.
“K?” he calls.
“In here,” Karl hollers back.
The sound of boots being removed and tossed to the side comes from our left, and then Matt is sauntering in, coat still zipped up, cheeks and nose red from the cold.
“Ah, when you’re done here, Dad and I have something for you two,” he says almost shyly.
“Oh yeah? Should we come now?”
“Nah, it’s not going anywhere. Head down the lane when you’re done.” He nods and turns back to the front door.
We listen as he puts his boots back on and leaves the house again.
“What do you think it is?” I ask, distracted by the picture of Karl in his football uniform.
“No clue, probably something ridiculous.” He chuckles. “So, would you have given me the time of day back then?” He taps the picture.
His hair was longer, sticking every which way like he’d just taken his helmet off, but everything else is the same.
“Depends, was your personality the same?”
“My personality has always been the same.”
“You weren’t ever shy?”
“Never,” he assures me. “You can’t be shy when you have our last name.”
I don’t know if he means “our” as in he and I or if he means his family, and I realize that I want him to mean us.
“I probably would have liked you. Not sure you would have liked me, though,” I say, flipping to the next page only to have Karl pull the album away and set it on the coffee table.
“Why?”
“You know the girl you met that first day, the supremely rude one?”
“Hard to forget.” He grins, eyes dipping to my lips.
“Well, I was like that. Before my accident, that’s who I was.”
His eyes narrow and his head tilts, studying me until I start getting uncomfortable with the scrutiny.
“Well, I wanted you when you were rude to me.”
“There’s no way.”
“Nancy, I. Wanted. You. Immediately.” He says each word with conviction.
“Are you sure you haven’t fallen off a horse and hit your head?” I joke.
“I’ve never ridden a horse,” he admits.
This shocks me. “Not even a pony ride?”
“A pony isn’t a horse.”
“They’re both equines,” I reason.
He shakes his head. “Not even a pony. What?” His fingers glide across my forehead. “What’s with the frown?”
“I don’t think I’ve met anyone who has never been on a horse or pony.”
“Will you show me how to ride one day?”
No, I think. “Sure,” I say with a big smile.