Chapter Eleven
Phoebe rolled her shoulders back to ease the soreness and lifted her face to the breeze. The screen door opened behind her, and a beer floated in front of her face. She grinned up at John the Beer Fairy.
“Thanks,” she said, accepting the bottle and giving him her brightest smile. He gave her a long hard look and backed up a pace.
She’d heard the truck in the driveway while popping the roast in the oven and had watched from the window as John walked up the path behind the barn to see if she was still working.
“You, uh, get the fields done?” he asked casually.
Phoebe hid her smile. “Yep.”
“I didn’t see the sprayer out,” he ventured.
He was cute when he was nervous. “I parked it back in the barn. Had to do a little rigging with the hoses.”
John was off the porch like a horse out of the gate, and Phoebe tagged along behind him as he headed for the barn. She could read him like the Sunday comics, knowing he was mulling over the thousand ways he assumed she’d ruined his life.
She gave him a minute alone in the barn before ambling in and plopping down on a three-legged stool inside the door.
He turned to look at her and then went back to studying her work on the sprayer.
The second time he turned around to stare at her, she took pity on him. Phoebe slid off the stool and crossed to him. She pointed out the hose configuration on each end of the tank. “The hoses kink between the boom and the tank on the turns. It’s a design flaw. So, with a little creative engineering and sturdy tape, I repositioned them.”
He looked baffled and just a little impressed, which had Phoebe’s toes curling with pleasure inside her boots.
“Not bad,” he said, finally.
The minimal praise felt satisfying. Better than any A on any paper, Phoebe thought, her smile smug. She strutted back to the doorway and leaned against the frame.
“Oh, and I started a grocery list for the party Sunday, dinner’s in the oven—pot roast—and Murdock ran through what looks like an entire field of burrs, but I picked them off him and gave him a bath.” Now she was just bragging, but damn it felt good to prove herself useful. “Everything go okay with the grain?”
John nodded and reluctantly gave up studying her engineering marvel. He joined her, leaning against the opposite side of the opening, thumbs looped in his pockets. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I couldn’t have done it without you.”
She fluttered her lashes at him. “There, that wasn’t so terrible, was it?”
He nudged her foot with his. It was a playful gesture, but it still fanned sparks inside her.
“Listen,” he began.
“Uh-oh.”
“Let me say my piece,” he insisted.
Phoebe gestured grandly. “You have the podium, sir.”
“I think the reason we’ve had trouble talking is I don’t know you very well,” John started. He pointed a finger in her face when she opened her mouth. “Shut it. I’m well-aware of whose fault that is. But I think if I get to know you, I’ll feel more comfortable talking about what I’m doing here.”
She waited until she was sure he was done. “Sounds fair. It’s like dating.”
He blanched. She grinned.
“It’s definitely not like dating,” he insisted.
Phoebe rolled her eyes. “It’s exactly like dating. We need to get to know each other in order to establish a relationship. That’s basically what we need to do here.”
“Minus the actual dating?” His tone was hopeful, and Phoebe scented the challenge.
“That seems like an early assumption,” she shrugged. “As you so astutely pointed out, we don’t know each other. I don’t think we should jump to any conclusions about dating or not dating until we’ve gotten to know each other better.”
“Are you saying you would consider dating me?” he asked. He looked nervous, now, his tan face losing its color, and the adorable twitch appeared at the corner of his eye.
“Well, I don’t know.” She tapped a finger to her chin. “We already know that this… arrangement is only temporary. And based on your old-fashioned tendencies, I would guess that you aren’t open to something like that.”
“You think I’m old-fashioned?” John demanded.
“It’s a first impression,” she said, waving away his bubbling temper. “My dad’s the same way. You both open doors, you carry things, you don’t think I can pull my own weight—”
“Let’s get that one cleared up right now,” John said briskly. “Me questioning your ability to help out here has nothing to do with your gender. Many of the men I know wouldn’t be helpful out here. It’s not necessarily a physical ability. This is hard, back-breaking work with the constant looming possibility that Mother Nature could turn on you and ruin your year. Day in and day out, you have to be strong enough to face that and still keep going, still find an appreciation and a respect for it. And if the physical work isn’t enough to be its own reward to someone, then they’re not going to last a summer out here let alone a lifetime.”
Phoebe picked at the label on her beer and nodded. It was the longest speech he’d ever given her. “I totally get that. Is that what attracted you to farming?”
He shook his head. “Hang on. Before we dig into me, let’s talk about you. Tell me about your family.”
Phoebe blinked. “My family?” Okay, she hadn’t been prepared to shift gears that quickly.
John nodded. “You mentioned your dad.”
“Well...” How could she sum up her family and what they meant to her? “My parents are wonderful people. They married right out of high school and are still best friends. My dad is overprotective to the point that he had to be talked out of all-girls private schools for me and my sister. Rose is a year younger than me. She graduated college last year.”
“If your dad’s so overprotective, why did he agree to let you spend the summer on my farm? Alone.”
Oh, boy. Phoebe cleared her throat. For an innocent little lie, it sure came up a lot. “Education is important to my parents. My sister and I were the first Allens to finish college,” she said with pride. “My parents know they can trust me.”
“And they can trust me to keep our relationship purely professional,” John said with a little too much enthusiasm for Phoebe’s liking. “What do your parents do?”
Phoebe hesitated. “My mom is a housewife and volunteered for about a hundred organizations. She just started working outside the home part-time this year. My dad was a lineman for the power company.”
“Did he retire?”
She took a deep breath and wrinkled her nose. “I’m not exactly sure how well you want to get to know me,” she confessed. “Some of this is a little messy.”
John was quiet for a moment. “I’d like to know if you’re okay telling me.”
She nodded and took a fortifying sip of beer. “Dad had an accident a few months back. He was working on a line, and the lift—in the bucket truck—failed. He fell from twenty feet, and it was touch-and-go for a bit. Really scared us.” Her voice quivered.
She cleared her throat. “Sorry,” she said. “Still scary to think about it. Mind if we walk and talk? I do better if I’m moving.”
John nodded and pushed away from the door.
“He had to have emergency surgery. His leg was badly broken. He’s doing a lot better now. He’s home and in physical therapy. But the medical bills are astronomical, and he lost his job. The company said he was going to be laid off anyway, but it would be a long, expensive legal battle to prove that they were just trying to wiggle out of financial responsibility.”
She kicked at a rock, sending it skittering up the path in front of them.
John remained quiet, but he took her hand and squeezed. He didn’t let go. Just walked by her side, his hand covering hers.
“Are you sure you want to hear all this?”
“I am.”
Phoebe sighed. “Anyway, that’s why my mom started working again, and my sister took a second job. Every spare cent Rose makes goes back to them. Things are tight. Really tight. But as soon as I get this degree and a job, I’m paying off whatever I can for them. They’re a month behind on their mortgage already, and I’ve loved school, but I need to start giving back. They’ve done so much for me.”
She fought back the tears that made her throat burn. John released her hand and just when she thought she’d gone too far with the confession, he slid his arm around her shoulders and tugged her into his side. Her body sang. The casual touch set off a flood of heat in her system, and she glanced up at him to see if he noticed that she was now on fire.
But he kept his gaze locked on the horizon as they walked. “You miss them?” he asked.
She nodded and cleared her throat to loosen the lump. “Yeah. They’re pretty much the best people I know, and I feel like I’m costing them more by finishing school instead of dropping out and helping them. I guess that’s why I’m coming on so strong. It’s not just me and my ambitions. I’m ready to repay them, and I’ll be able to do that with this degree and the jobs that open up for me.”
His fingers stroked her upper arm.
She blew out a breath. “Bet you’re sorry you asked,” she joked.
“Why didn’t you say all that when you got here?”
“It’s not the kind of shit you dump on a complete stranger, John.”
“It is in Blue Moon,” he argued and looked down at her, and she felt that familiar warmth filling up her belly. He slipped his arm off her shoulder as if he’d just now realized where it was.
“I’m not a Mooner,” she reminded him. “Where we come from, your problems are your own, not fodder for a town meeting.”
John sighed wistfully. “That sounds nice.”
Phoebe laughed. “From the outside, your ‘commune-ism’ is pretty attractive.” She raised her beer to her lips and drank. “It’s been a rough patch for my family, but I know there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Once I have a job, my only goal in life is taking care of $20,000 in medical debt.”
“Then what?” John asked. “After you take care of that?”
Phoebe blinked. “Oh, the usual. Make a difference, lead a meaningful life, have statues erected to me for my research in the farming industry. You?”
“Make a go of this,” he said, jutting his chin toward the barn.
“Yeah? Maybe they’ll erect scarecrows to you for being outstanding in your field?” She waited a beat, wondering if the joke would go over his head.
“You’re hilarious,” he said dryly.
“You know, most people laugh at my humor.”
“I’m laughing on the inside. Do you ever think about having a family?” he asked, swiftly changing the subject.
“Sure. If I meet the right guy.” She looked down the dirt drive, pastures flowing off to the west in a million shades of green, fields of wheat to the east. “I think I’ll have all girls and raise them to believe they can do anything they damn well please.”
His grin was quick and warm and made her heart stumble. “If anyone can, it’d be you.”
“What about you? Family or the solitude you so love so dearly?”
He squinted out across the low rolling hills. “Definitely family. Someday.”
“Boys to help you build the Pierce family farming empire?” Phoebe fished.
“Who says girls wouldn’t do just as good a job empire-building?” John teased.
“Why, Mr. Pierce,” Phoebe fluttered her eyelashes at him. “Be careful, your tolerance is showing.”
He gave her a long, searching look. One that had goosebumps cropping up on her arms despite the warmth of the sun. “How much time do we have before dinner?” he asked. She took the arm he had looped around her shoulder and looked at his watch. “Another half an hour.
“Come with me,” he said.
“Where are we going?”
“I want to show you something.”
She took his hand. “Can I take my beer?”