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“I can, once the will is probated, and I will,” Laura said. Seeing Ethan’s face, she sighed. “Look, Ethan, it’s not that… I know this is Paw-Paw’s farm. Before you were working here, I did. I know these lots, I played under these trees when I was a little girl. Well, not these trees, but their ancestors.”
“Then you know how important this farm is, not just to your family’s legacy, but to all of the Rockaways!” Ethan protested.“Sure, this is a dusty, countrified little spot, but Christmas means something around here. And Mr.Bennett was a big reason for that. He helped folks remember what Christmas was about when everything else in the world is screaming at them that Christmas is about five hundred dollar video game systems and flexing your latest fashion accessory. He reminded us that Christmas is about friends, family, and community. Please… please, you can’t sell.”
“I understand, but, for a second, put yourself in my shoes please,” Laura said. “I’m a lawyer. An associate lawyer, to be exact. And I want to make partner. Do you know what that takes?”
“Uh, I’ve watched a few TV shows. You need to be invited or something like that, right?” Ethan said, and Laura shook her head. “No?”
“It’s more than that. You see, law firms are like corporations, stock market companies,” she explained. “To become a partner literally means buying into the firm, buying a seat at the table. You have to invest and buy a ‘share’ of the firm. The benefits are, of course, immense. But you’ve got to have that money up front before you’re allowed to sit at the table.”
“Sort of like a poker game.” Ethan started to understand her situation a bit better. “You’ve gotta ante up before they deal you the cards.”
“Exactly,” Laura said. “And so… for all that you’re telling me about, and I understand it more than most folks considering I live in a city where materialism is above all else, I still need to sell. The buy-in for the firm I work for couldn’t even be covered by a decade’s worth of profits from this farm, and I am going to become a partner sooner than that.”
Ethan swallowed, blinking to hold back his emotions.
“Look, I hear what you’re saying, it’s just that …. can you hold off a bit? Maybe let me sell the live lot, give the folks in theRockaways one last Bennett farm Christmas? We’ve already paid for the ads, after all.”
Laura took a deep breath, and nodded.
“Sure. I haven’t finished Paw-Paw’s paperwork anyway, so I need time to handle that. And I need to go through the paperwork on this place, which will take time. So while I’m handling all of that, let’s keep operations going.”
“Thank you.” Ethan felt relief.
He hoped that if Laura stuck around the farm, and saw what her grandfather had built in the Rockaways, she’d come around.
After all, there had to be other ways to become a big-shot lawyer than selling the farm.
“So are you staying in the area?”
“I decided I’ll stay at Paw-Paw’s house for now,” Laura answered. “I need to go through his things anyway, arrange for the rest of the estate to be taken care of. On that note, I can tell you’re interested in keeping the farm open. Would you consider purchasing it yourself?”
Ethan didn’t even need to think before laughing bitterly. “No offense, MissBennett, but the down payment on a property this size? I’d have to sell my soul in order to scrape that much money together. And I’m not the sort of person banks give that size of a loan to anyway.”
“I understand.” Laura’s shoulders slumped. “Well, then, I suppose I’ll go home now.”
“Okay,” Ethan said. Laura turned and headed for Mr.Bennett’s truck, and on a total whim he called out, “Would you like to have dinner with me?”
Laura paused, and looked back. “Excuse me?”
“Dinner. Tonight.”
She was trying to take his life away, but she didn’t deserve to be treated poorly, not after the tragedy of losing her grandfather.
“Look, I’ve been to Mr.Bennett’s place. The man’s idea of a full pantry was a case of store-bought mac n’ cheese, deli ham slices, and a gallon of milk. That’s not a real dinner, no matter how much I tried to convince him otherwise. And with all the memories and stuff all around the place, maybe you’d like to get out for a couple of hours tonight. That’s all.”
Laura thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “Sure. Paw-Paw’s place, seven o’clock. Unless the farm’s open that late?”
“Nope, this early in the season I shut down sales by six,” Ethan said. “I’ll be there. Nothing fancy though, okay? There’s no big city restaurants around the Rockaways.”
Laura chuckled, and nodded. “I remember. Are there any restaurants at all?”
“Sure! We’ve got one now, and it’s even got forks and knives and napkins, too!” he said sarcastically, and for the first time Laura laughed. It turned her from pretty to gorgeous, and Ethan was suddenly looking forward to this dinner all the more. “Okay, see you at seven.”
She drove away, and Ethan watched the truck go. He wanted to yell in frustration, to cry at the loss of a friend and mentor, and to cheer that he apparently had a date with a very pretty woman, even if it wasn’t really a date.
In the end, he just kicked the dirt in the parking lot, and started back down the road to where he’d left the signs. They still had to be put up, after all.
CHAPTER 3
