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Fair enough trade in both our books.
In June, there’s a two week stretch where I don't get time to visit. We have a lot of repairs at the ranch, and Sovereign is distracted, so I have to pick up the slack. I think he’s planning on going after his girl soon.
I’m not sure if that’s a good idea or not.
I feel sorry for her, the same way I do Diane. Neither of them know what they’re getting into, mixing up with Sovereign Mountain men. But Keira Garrison isn’t my business.
I stick to who is—Diane.
It’s the end of June when my personal drought ends. Jensen goes into the city and calls me to let me know he ran into David Carter. They’re heading back to South Platte to talk to grain distributors and come up with some storage options for Carter Farms.
All I hear is that I have the go-ahead to see my girl.
I clean up and take the truck out to her place, making sure to park it in the woods and cut down through the western field. Everything is still, the air too hot for birds to sing. It’s late in the summer for lilies, but I look anyway, and I’m rewarded with a single yellow blossom.
I pick it, holding it gently by the stem so it doesn’t wilt in the heat of my hand.
The front door is open. Dust rises in puffs under my boots. Chickens scramble, clucking loudly, as I climb the steps. In the front hall, I see Diane. She’s on her hands and knees, scrubbing the worn floorboards
I don’t think I’ve seen her prettier. Her hair is tied up in a bandana, her skirt tucked up around her waist. I pause in the door, my mind going back to my childhood.
This is an all-too familiar scene. My father did this, showing up at the end of the day, always with a little gift in tow for my mother.
Maybe to apologize for being the man who fell in love with her.
She looks up before I can follow my thoughts to darker paths. Her face flushes as she scrambles to her feet, wiping her forehead.
“What are you doing here?” she asks.
“Came to see my girl,” I say.
It’s the same thing every time, and she eats it right up. Her smile flashes white teeth, and she comes down the hall and turns her face up so I can kiss her. I’m lost in her taste, how it makes my head go empty and my blood pumps hard.
We break apart. I tuck the flower behind her ear.
“You should let the lilies grow,” she whispers, but she isn’t displeased. “Do you want some lemonade?”
I’d like to eat her out more than I’d like lemonade, but I nod. She gives me a frosted glass and disappears upstairs. The house is perfectly still, scrubbed until the pale wood floorboards shine.
It’s a nice home, big enough for a family.
I think about that for too long.
The stairs creak, and she comes down, barefoot with her hair wet down her back. Her boots are in her hand. She’s in the prettiest cotton sundress, made of brown and gold stripes. It takes me a moment to realize it’s handmade, probably from curtains.
I frown, wondering if David gives her enough money to buy the things she needs. She’s too proud to take it from me, but next time I go to town, I’ll bring her real fabric.
“How long is David gone for?” I ask, as if I don’t know.
She sets her boots down and leans on the counter, giving me a nice view of her cleavage. Since we met, I noticed she’s taken a lot more interest in her appearance. She was barefaced before, but now she wears a little makeup on her eyes and mouth.
She’s softer too. Her voice isn’t snappy when she talks to me, the way it was when we met.
“Probably after dark,” she says.
“Anybody else home?”
She shakes her head. “All the wranglers are in the field or in town with David.”
