Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
George
The old barn is quiet, sunbeams sneaking in through the ancient cracks and crevices, highlighting dust particles in the air.
I stand in front of a wooden work table marred with notches, nicks, and age and gently tie a purple ribbon around the base of my creation.
Holding it up in front of my face, I twist the bunch of dried lavender interspersed with snow-white daylilies from side to side in my hand.
Madison’s wedding bouquet.
Hanging over my head are rows and rows of small bundles of lavender stems secured with twine.
They’re suspended upside down in the dry, cool, and well-ventilated space.
When we had our first bumper crop several years ago, I turned the historic old barn into a drying space.
Most of the harvested lavender bundles will be sold, used to make farm-fresh products like the purple soap at the Wild Daisy Inn.
But today, the special bouquet in my hands will be a gift for my bride.
I smile, knowing she’ll be pleased. The first time she ever laid eyes on the lavender fields, she was overcome with the impulse to laugh and skip down the scented path. Her joy was infectious back then, and I covet the same reaction when I present her with these flowers in less than an hour.
I stare at the sage green sepals and ashy purple tips that are crispy to the touch, the strong floral scent comforting and familiar. The interspersed white daylilies I chose are called White Snow. I can’t wait to tell Madison the flower name. She’s always been so interested.
I handpicked every one of the huge ivory-white flowers with glowing green throats.
I might’ve gotten carried away because the buckets outside Pop’s house are overflowing with them.
I hope Jenny and her crew were able to decorate with some simple arrangements for the reception. I should go check and make sure.
Sweeping the cut ends of my creation into a small waste basket, I tidy the area before I start for the barn doors with the bouquet in my hand. I’m startled when my eyes land on the silhouette of a man standing in the shadows.
“Hey,” Kip mumbles quietly, taking a bold step toward me.
“Hey,” I reply with a furrowed brow. “Did you forget something?”
He shakes his head. “No. I, uh, I need to talk to you. It’s important.”
I’m confused and fumble with the bouquet to look at my watch. “I don’t have time to talk. I’m getting married.”
“I know.”
A thought rattles me. “It’s not Pop, is it?”
“No, it’s not Ralph, I swear.” He holds up three fingers. “Just give me three minutes. You can spare a friend three minutes, can’t you?”
The little hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, and I hold my breath. Clutching the flowers in my hand, I clear my throat. I can do this.
“Like I said, now is not a good time, Kip. Whatever it is you have to say to me will have to wait until after my wedding.” My voice is steady and composed. I will not have this man ruin my special day.
“You can’t marry Madison.”
A husky laugh escapes my throat. “Are you kidding me right now?”
“No.”
Kip takes two more steps forward, and I can see the worry in his eyes. It confuses me.
“Please. Hear me out.”
I grit my teeth, the anger inside of me bubbling like hot lava about to erupt.
“You better talk fast,” I growl, swiping my free hand across my clean-shaven face.
A flash of trepidation crosses his features before he speaks. “You can’t marry Madison… because she doesn’t love you.”
I press my eyes together tightly and furiously shake my head back and forth. I quickly count to five under my breath, my hand surrounding the base of the bouquet becoming a death grip. My voice comes out in a yell when I force myself to look at him.
“Why would you say that to me?”
“Because I know, George,” he hollers back.
He tries to get closer to me, but I back up. “No. Get away from me. You’re just mad I won’t sell the house and part of the land to you now. You’re trying to trick me like you always do. Madison loves me. Do you hear me? She loves me!”
“Then why did she ghost you for so long, huh?”
I freeze, every molecule in my body coming to a halt. Kip takes advantage of my muteness and continues.
“She told you she quit her job, right?” His words come out fast, like an auctioneer.
I don’t answer.
He’s frantic, and digs his cell phone out of his back pocket. He presses a few buttons before he shows me the screen. “Then why is Madison still receiving company emails, huh? She has an out-of-office reply on her corporate account. She lied to you, George.”
I want to throw up as I look at the screen, my eyes scrolling the message.
Thank you for your email. I am currently on vacation and will have limited access to messages. For urgent matters, please contact Kevin Phillips. Otherwise, I will respond upon my return.
Her return? My mind goes into a tailspin.
“You’re my friend, George. And friends tell each other the truth. A wedding is not a vacation. It’s a lifelong commitment. She knows how valuable this farm is. She’s trying to trap you. When she found out Ralph was near the end, she made a beeline here, knowing she was running out of time.”
I want to escape the confines of the barn and hide. I want Kip to shut up.
“Mark my words, she’ll take over and sell this place. Do you want that to happen? You won’t have a chance without me by your side.”
“She loves me,” I repeat. My voice is barely a whisper, and my hands shake as I stare at the dirt floor.
“No, George. That city girl loves money.”
I’m panting now, unsure how to process Kip’s words, my free hand fisting at my side.
“You wanna know the real reason why she disappeared all those weeks?”
“Why?” I rasp.
“Because she was wheeling and dealing for her company, that’s why. Madison makes six figures! Why would she give that up to move here? Have you ever been to her place in Atlanta? Seen how the girl lives?”
I jerk my head and stare at Kip. I don’t dare tell him I’ve never even seen a photo of her place. Madison and I never discussed it.
“I did some investigating.” He scrolls through his phone again, amped up like he’s trying to prove something. “Take a look. This is the high rise in downtown Atlanta where she lives.”
He shoves the picture in front of my face. The shiny promo shot of her building, lit up at night and encircled by skyscrapers, appears to be in a glamorous neighborhood, like in the movies. I can’t imagine Madison or myself living in such a place.
“Condos like hers go for more than a half a million dollars in this building, George. Again, why would she give that up to move here? Huh? Why would she give that up for you?”
My knees shake and wobble, and I crumble to the ground. Kip kneels in front of me, his words turning cruel.
“You’re not a high-class guy, George, and you know it.
Heck, everybody in this town knows it. And believe me, a woman like Madison needs a man that can take care of her monetarily.
She needs expensive things. She’ll probably want to travel.
Have you thought about that? What are you gonna do when she wants you to get on an airplane, huh?
I mean, you’ve never even set foot outside of Heartsboro. ”
I drop the bouquet on the dirty floor and cover my ears with my hands. I’m completely overwhelmed and losing control.
Kip keeps talking and saying things like “gold-digger” and “opportunist.” I’m in a high state of anxiety and can’t take it anymore, the thought of his words being the truth annihilating me. He tries to touch my shoulder, but I aggressively push him back and roughly pin him to the dirt floor.
The loud thud of my fist punching his face reverberates in the rafters, followed by another hard right hook connecting with his jaw.
Kip raises his arms to cover his face, blocking subsequent blows, screaming at me to stop.
But I can’t stop. Years of anger and frustration are pouring out of me like a damn bursting.
The only thing that ends my assault is Kip’s shocking counter punch to my face.
My vision goes blurry, and my entire head feels like it’s echoing.
What am I doing?
I scramble to my feet and rush out of the tension-filled barn into the blinding sunlight. My ears are ringing, the pain in my cheek spreading to my teeth, my nose, my temples, and radiating down my neck.
I’m emotionally distressed, and I need to calm down and process my feelings. I wish I could talk to Pop about this. He would know what to do. But I can’t run to him now. My grandfather is too weak and drugged up to help me. And the house is filled with too many people. They can’t see me like this.
I sprint through the vacant fields with my mind focused on the only place of solace I can think of.