Page 72 of Heart & Hope

So a dress was not the right thing to wear, at all. I climb down and open the wide gate, and he drives through. The red tractor passes, still way too huge, still making me feel like the smallest thing on the planet. When it stops at an idle, I shut the gate and climb back up, returning to his lap.

“You’re a natural gate maid, Rubes.”

“For that, I’m going to grind on you until you can’t see straight, Reed Rawlins.”

He tosses his head back with a hearty laugh. “Go on, give me what you got. If you’re lucky, I can find a bumpy road for you while you sit on my lap.”

I turn and kiss his mouth. “Don’t tempt me.”

He nips my ear, and we roll forward again. Ten minutes later, we come to a fence line that looks like it has seen better days. Guess Harry was right about this one.

“We have to sink a hole for every post along this old line. Should take about an hour, and then we can go for a wander.”Reed points to the ragged length of weathered posts and sagging wires.

The gorgeous face I have become so used to looking at, to seeing lit up with mirth, is currently frozen with stony concentration. The spiral digger sinks into the ground like a toothpick into marshmallow.

Reed watches every second of its descent into the brown earth as dirt is flung out all around it. When it slows with a shudder that reverberates through the entire machine, he curses under his breath, easing back on the lever that controls the spinning digger’s speed and ferocity.

Fascinated, I stare at the heavy implement as it groans through another slow turn until it reaches the hilt of its shaft. A moment later, Reed snaps the lever back and the digger comes up, every spiral skirting covered in dirt and rock. He reverses the motion, snapping it to one side, and the dirt falls to the ground like rain, leaving the spiral as clean as it was before we started.

I huff an amazed laugh and he pecks a kiss to my cheek. “You want a go, beautiful?”

“Um, I have no clue how to work that thing. And we still need to get around to find those spots.”

“Aye, aye.”

With a half salute, he turns and steers the tractor to the next withering fence post in desperate need of retirement. It takes another hour and a half to dig out the rest of Harry’s post holes. And as much as I love sitting on Reed’s lap, I’m one hundred percent I’m in the way, so I take up a spot on something I’m sure he called a rumble seat. It’s captivating, watching him work. In his element.

The way he operates the enormous machine like it’s an extension of himself is impressive. He really has a way with the machines. Trucks, tractors, and the like. My phone, in the lone pocket of my dress, vibrates. A text from Mary-Sue.

Howdy, Ruby, I had a thought about our next event. When is a good time to call?

Shit. I can’t call her with the tractor humming in the background. Not exactly a New York City sound.

“Reed, I need out.”

He spins and glances at me from the PTO controls. “Yeah sure, let me turn this off first.”

When the tractor fades to a gentle purr, he pushes the cab door open and lets me out. I jump onto the grass and step away from the machine. Putting distance between the farm noises and me, I tap the screen, dialing Mary-Sue back.

“Ruby! Thanks for callin’ me back, hon. Can we video chat? I want to run through some options for decor I found for the event.”

“Oh, I don’t think that will work, I’m in traffic at the moment.”

A cow bellows in the field over.

Shit.

“What was that?” Mary-Sue says.

“Oh nothing, some random making animal noises on the subway. You know how it is.” I feign a laugh, but my insides are twisting like the old wire hanging from Reed’s decrepit fence line.

“I thought you were driving?”

“Ah, foot traffic, sorry, you know how it is in the rush.”

Ugh. My lies don’t even add up.

I am so out of my depth.

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