Chapter 14
Dakota
When I awoke this morning, Jack was already up and fixing himself a bowl of cereal. He was happily munching away when I came into the kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee.
“I started it when I got up.” Jack motioned to the coffee pot. “I hope it’s not too strong.”
“Thanks, buddy.” I smiled as I grabbed a mug from the cabinet. “I’m sure it’s great.” Jack has tried several times to make coffee but always seems to be off with the measurements. He’s been getting better, though. I always drink it without complaint because I know he’s trying to help.
“I’m helping again today, and Hank says if we finish early, we can go to the creek. I wanna enjoy the last few days of summer.” School was starting next week, and as much as I was loving having him home, I was ready for school. It would help us establish a routine, and Jack needed friends.
“Sounds good. Make sure you listen to Grandpa and Hank.”
“I will.” He smiled as he placed his bowl in the sink. He waved as he rushed out the door and toward the barn.
I spent the better part of the day finishing up the data entry, but I got everything organized in a way so that I can see where we should be cutting costs and get a better idea of the budget we should be following. I’d walked down to the big house to meet my mom for lunch and mentioned to her that I’d like to talk to Dad after dinner tonight. She’d agreed that it was time, but didn’t seem too optimistic that he’d make time for it. I knew my dad, and I knew this was hard for him, so I was probably going to have to ambush him the first time before he gave in and listened to me.
I called Louise on my walk back to the house to confirm dinner for Saturday, but she didn’t answer. I left her a message to call me later so we could talk. Something was going on with her, but she didn’t seem ready to talk about it yet.
“Mom!” Jack came bursting through the door, water dripping from his shorts, and his hair stuck up in every direction. “You need to come, quick!” He turned and rushed back outside.
Panic set in, and I ran after him. “Jack?! What’s wrong?” I looked around frantically.
“This way!” He was way ahead of me, running though the tall grass and past the trees along the border of the farm. All I could see was his head bouncing along as he ran. In my mind I was picturing some terrible accident that had occurred with one of the hands and imagining that they sent him for help.
“Slow down! What’s wrong?” I chased after him. It didn’t even occur to me that I didn’t have my phone or anything else with me. I skidded to a stop when I reached the creek. Hank and Bo were lying across tubes in the water, and Johney was sitting on the bank in a pair of wet jeans. “What’s wrong?” I tried again, and they just kinda looked at me. “Hank?”
“Nothing’s wrong. Why would something be wrong?” He flipped off the tube and stood in the water.
“Mom! Watch!” Jack called my attention over to where he was standing in waist-deep water. He flopped forward onto his stomach and began swimming. After a few feet, he stood up and wiped his wet hair out of his eyes. “Did you see?” He grinned as if he hadn’t just almost caused me to have a heart attack. I took a deep breath to calm myself before smiling with pride. “I can swim now. Hank taught me.” He flopped down again and swam a few more feet.
“Wow! That’s great.” I started to laugh because it was the only thing I could manage to keep from crying. A mix of emotions flooded me. Alex and I had tried for years to do something that Hank managed in a few weeks.
“I hope it’s ok.” Hank climbed out of the water and stepped in front of me. “He wanted to surprise you.” Water dripped from strands of his hair, landing on his shoulders and chest. His tanned skin sparkled in the sunlight as a few droplets made their way down his midriff. I swallowed as I watched them. His feet shifted in the soft mud of the creek bank. “My eyes are up here,” he teased.
My head snapped up, and I blushed from being caught staring. “Sorry.” I nibbled my lip. I glanced over his shoulder to see Jack splashing away, completely oblivious to what was going on between Hank and me. “You taught him to swim,” I whispered.
“He’s a quick learner.” Hank glanced back at Jack. “Hey, Jack! You think your mom remembers how to swim?”
“Maybe?” He shrugged. It took me a second to realize what was happening, and in that moment, Hank lifted me into the air and tossed me over his shoulder.
“Put me down!” I pounded on his back. The muscles flexed as he waded back into the creek. “Hank!” I pleaded.
“If you say so.” He chuckled before dropping me into the water. It wasn’t deep, but I didn’t have my footing, so I completely submerged before splashing to the surface. When my head popped up, everyone was laughing, including my son.
“Mom! That was so funny.” Jack giggled as he held his belly.
“Ya think so?” I turned and stomped through the water to where he was standing. I took my arm and flung a wave of water in his direction.
“It wasn’t my idea,” He gasped between giggles. “Hank said you needed a break.”
I turned and stomped in Hank’s direction. “He did, did he?”
“You seemed overworked,” Hank mused with a grin.
“Uh huh.” I tossed water at him before admiring the view one last time. “Now I have to go change. I was getting ready to go shopping for cookout supplies.” I laughed as I shook my head. I waded over to the bank and climbed out.
“Need any help?” Hank seemed to be watching the way my shorts clung to my ass.
“I think I’m good.” I grabbed my hair and squeezed as much water out as I could. “I’ll see you later.” I gave a little finger wave before following the path back to the house.
“Bye, Mom!” Jack called.
“Great job on the swimming,” I called back before disappearing into the tree line. I needed to process all of this. It was a lot. Hank was stepping into Alex’s shoes without even meaning to, and I wasn’t sure how I really felt about that.
*****
When I pulled into the parking lot of the Piggly Wiggly, it was almost empty. Most people did their shopping on Saturday, but I needed things earlier. I climbed out of my car, grabbed a buggy from the cart return, and rushed to get inside out of the heat.
When I stepped through the automatic doors, I felt a whoosh of cool air. At first it was welcomed but the longer I was inside, the colder I felt. Having wet hair didn’t help. I removed my list from my pocket and went about gathering the items I needed for my dinner with Lou.
“Nice to see you again, Codie.” Sam, the butcher, smiled from behind the meat counter. “Strip steaks are on sale this week.”
“Thanks, Sam.” I smiled as I started lifting the packages and critiquing them. I selected five, one for each adult and then one for the kids the split and placed them in my buggy. I waved bye to Sam and made my way to the checkout.
After loading the groceries into my car, I headed home. On the way, Lou called back, apologizing for missing my call and stating they’d be over by six on Saturday. Her voice seemed distant, almost monotone as she said goodbye and disconnected the call. I had a bad feeling, but I brushed it off due to the fact that we’d been apart for so long and I was probably overreacting to something that was nothing. If things were still off when she came over, then I’d make a point to talk to her about it.
When I returned home, I quickly put the groceries away and went down to the big house to talk to my father. Mom was in the kitchen stirring a giant pot of stew, and she nodded toward my father’s office.
“Daddy?” I stuck my head through the door. He was sitting at the oversized desk and riffling through the stacks of papers I’d brought back the day before.
“Hey, honey. I can’t seem to find the last statement for the loan we took out for the new tractor.” He rubbed his forehead before looking up at me.
“Oh, it’s over here.” I scooted around the desk to the file cabinet and pulled out a folder. “I tried to organize it a little.”
“I don’t know where anything is now.” His voice rose slightly. I could tell he was upset but trying to remain calm while he talked to me.
“That’s what I came down here to talk to you about. I’m trying to fix that.” I set the laptop in front of him.
“Oh, no. We don’t need all of this.” He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in the giant leather chair.
“Daddy?” I softened my voice as I opened the laptop. “I know you have your ways of doing things and I have mine, but I’m trying to come up with a system we can both use.” I clicked on the QuickBooks icon and the spreadsheet I’d been working on filled the screen. “You see that stack over there?” I pointed to a folder on the corner of the desk with papers spilling out of it. “This is all of that.” I smiled. I highlighted one line. “Look! You have the account number, what’s it for, the payments that need to be made, when they need to be made, the balance left on the account, and the total paid already.” My father stared intently before slowly nodding. “On this one, you have the customer’s account number, what they have ordered, what we’ve sent them, when payment is due, and how much they’ve paid on the balance.”
“Ok, you got me. This is better. I’m never going to be able to remember how to do all of this, though. I’m old, honey.” He chuckled as he set his glasses on the desk and turned to look up at me.
“I can help you. We can do it together for a while, and then I can slowly do more each month. You’ve worked so hard for so long, it’s time to let others take over while you enjoy life.” I smiled as I leaned down to hug him around his neck.
“I guess you’re right.” He smiled. “How’d you get so smart?”
“Good teachers, I guess.” I released him. “So, you’re not mad?” I nibbled my lip as I motioned to the computer.
“Nah. I needed this. Thanks.” He highlighted another line. “This is pretty neat. So, I can just add new bills and clients in when I want?”
“Pretty much, and we can delete things, too. Hey, Daddy?” I rocked back on my heels. “I need to tell you something else.”
“Are you taking over my office or something?” he joked.
“Hank and I are together, and I know what you did the last time. I just want to be upfront about it. I’m a grown up now, and it’s my decision if I choose to date him.” I waited for the explosion. My father was crystal clear the last time, when he told me to go to New York for school. Hank was not an option for me. We’d ended our shouting match with him telling me if I chose Hank, he’d never let me have part of the farm. I’d given in and left, and even though I moved on with Alex and started a family, a part of my heart was always here with Hank. You never forget your first love.
“Are you happy?” He looked at me stone-faced.
“Very.” I nodded.
“Good. All I ever wanted for you was a good life filled with happiness. Farm life is hard, and I felt like you needed to move away from it to decide if you really wanted it. You never knew anything else. I needed you to fly and see what was outside of Sunny Brook.”
“I understand that now, but you hurt me, Daddy.”
“It hurt me too, but I thought I was doing what was right. Hank’s a good man. He’s hard working, and he cares about you. I know this because he let you go.”
“I care about him, too.” I smiled dreamily. “So we’re good?”
“We’re good. I think I’m going to play around with this today.” He pointed to the laptop.
“Ok, if you get stuck, just call me.” I waved as I stepped out of the office. When I stepped outside, the guys were coming over the hill toward the bunkhouse. Jack was skipping along chattering away, and Bo was nodding in agreement. I grinned as I marched in their direction. When they came to the split in the path, Jack waved and took off for our house. “I’ll be there in a minute!” I shouted. “Go ahead and get changed.”
“K, Mom!” He waved back.
I continued up the path and stopped when I met Hank. He looked unsure as he stared at me, his blue eyes softening as if he knew what I was thinking. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my lips to his. “I told him,” I murmured when I pulled back. “I don’t want to hold back anymore.” I leaned in again, this time with a deeper kiss. Hank wrapped his arms around me, lifting me in the air and spinning in a circle.
When he placed my feet back on the ground, he pulled back slightly. “I love you,” he whispered next to my ear.
I tightened my grip on his neck. “I love you, too.” He leaned in and brushed his nose against mine.
“This is it for me,” he murmured. “I’ll come by later to say goodnight.” With that, he released me and turned toward the bunkhouse. I wobbled slightly, heady from our interaction, and watched as he disappeared inside. This was it for me too, and as I made my way to my place, visions of Hank and I played through my mind. Would things be like they used to be, or would they be better?