Page 24 of Something More

I rocked forward and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. When my feet hit the wooden floor, it was warm from the morning sunshine. I rubbed my eyes once again before heading to the kitchen for some coffee. The sound of engines could be heard outside, and some muffled laughter. I watched out the window over the sink as Jack bounced around among the guys. They were laughing as they tossed hand tools onto a wagon. The tractor took off for the lower corn field and they piled into the pickup.

When my coffee finished brewing, I buttered some toast and sat down at the kitchen table. It was extra quiet today with Jack gone, and a bit of melancholy settled over me. This was what it would be like once school started. Back in New York there were always the sounds of the city to cover the solitude, but here in the middle of nowhere, quiet was everywhere.

When I finished my breakfast, I placed the dishes in the sink and made my way to the bedroom to get dressed. It was then that my phone rang. Louise’s name flashed across the screen. I smiled. I hadn’t heard from her since my first day back, but she was always busy so it didn’t surprise me. “’Lo?” I laughed as I clicked to answer.

“Hey.” Her voice sounded strained, but I knew she was always running around to take Amy to dance classes. She’d been dancing since she was three, and now she competed. “I was wondering if you’d want to meet for lunch.”

“Um, sure. I was supposed to help Dad, but he’s dodging me, so I can do lunch. Did you have something in mind?” I clicked the phone to put her on speaker as I slipped a skirt on, and looked for a top to match.

“Amy has class, so I was thinking maybe the diner in Myers?” Her voice trailed off. “I’m sorry I haven’t been by. It’s just… Charlie has been under a lot of stress, and we’ve just been busy.”

“It’s ok. I get it. We can catch up this afternoon.” I smiled. Louise and I were probably the closest of the five of us. I missed her dearly when I moved away and the idea of spending the afternoon with her sounded perfect.

“I’ll meet you there at noon.” Her voice was a mere whisper and then the phone went quiet. I didn’t think much of it. She was always quiet and reserved. Amy was the polar opposite. She took after her dad.

I slipped on a sleeveless blouse, tied my hair back, and then quickly applied some mascara and gloss. After slipping on a pair of sandals, I walked down the path to the big house. Mom was bustling about in the kitchen, cleaning up after breakfast. “Good morning, sweetie.” She smiled as she wiped her hands on her apron.

“Morning, Momma. Need any help?”

“You’re dressed much too nice to be doing dishes.” She smiled.

“I’m meeting Lou for lunch. I was hoping to look at the books before I left, if that’s ok.” I rocked back on my heels. “Daddy said he wanted to go over them this morning, but last I knew he was teaching Jack how to harvest corn.” I rolled my eyes.

“You know your daddy would rather be on a tractor than inside at a desk.” She smiled as she moved past me and headed to the office. Daddy kept it locked when he wasn’t in the house. Momma opened the door, and flicked on the lights before stepping back to make room for me. “Have at it if you can find what you’re looking for.” She shook her head.

“Thanks.” I scanned the room. It was a mess. There were two sets of bookshelves along the back wall. They were lined with books and folders. The file cabinet in the corner had several drawers opened with papers falling out of them. There were stacks and stacks of papers all along the top of the desk in the center of the room, which looked much smaller than it did when we were kids. I moved around and sat down in the large leather office chair. The desk lamp was covered in dust and I couldn’t help but laugh lightly. This room hadn’t changed much at all over the years. Daddy’s ledger was neatly tucked in the lower drawer, exactly where he kept it when we were kids. Being in here brought back so many memories.

“Daddy said he’d teach me to drive the water truck today.” I pouted. He’d left this morning before the sun was up, and I was not happy.

“Maybe he had an emergency.” Lou shrugged we made our way into the kitchen. Mom was making lemonade.

“You girls want some fresh lemonade?” She set two glasses on the counter.

“I should be driving,” I grumbled.

“I don’t think you can reach the pedals,” Gia piped up from where she was watching TV in the family room.

“Can too!” I shouted back. “Daddy promised!” I whined to my mom.

“He’ll be back for lunch soon. You can talk to him about it then.” Mom patted my shoulder.

Lou and I finished our lemonade and rushed off toward Dad’s office. He had this giant desk that we’d hide under to escape Gia. She never found us, and it was our secret spot. “In here.” I grabbed Lou’s hand and slowly opened the door. I was just tall enough to reach where he kept the key. I cracked the door open, and we slipped inside. “Over here.” I pulled her behind me as I rounded the desk. After pushing the chair back out of the way, we climbed underneath. “He has to come in here later. I’m gonna wait for him.” I sighed as I leaned against the dark wood.

At one point we could hear Gia calling for us, but we kept quiet, and she never came in. “I hope I have a desk like this one day,” I told Lou.

We spent the day hiding in the office, and when my father finally came back, he’d forgotten all about teaching me to drive the water truck. We spent the whole next day working on that, but he did promise me that one day this desk would be mine. Now as I sit behind it, I see that it’s really not that big, and I’m surprised that the two of us ever fit under it.

I spent quite some time just trying to organize the papers he had piled everywhere, and I secretly wondered how he was still doing all of this without a computer. Dad was always wanting to do things the old school way, but I needed organization. When I heard the hall clock chime that it was eleven, I turned off the desk lamp and locked the door. I needed to head out to meet Lou, and I was going to buy a laptop with QuickBooks to fix this mess. It would be so much easier to see exactly what was going on if we got it all input into a system. I could work on it from my place, and not need to come down here.

“Tell Dad I’m getting him set up with a system from the twenty-first century when I get back today.” I laughed as I headed out the door.

“Your daddy’s gonna fight you on that,” she called after me.

“And I’m gonna win this one,” I shouted as I climbed into my car. I’d talk to Lou about this today. If both of us said something to him, maybe he wouldn’t be so resistant.

Chapter 13

Dakota

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