Page 36 of The Farmer Has a Wife

The morning after their trek through the rain was… uncomfortable. Eleanor had woken up early, but not so early that she should have expected Danni to be anywhere but out on the farm. Unfortunately, it seemed that Danni had woken up even earlier and was now back in the kitchen having her morning caffeine infusion. Instant coffee mixed with the bare minimum of water so that it looked like quicksand.

“Morning,” Eleanor said.

She was feeling guilty. Guilty that she’d walked off into the rain, guilty that she hadn’t thought to call AA earlier in proceedings, and guilty that she’d shook Danni’s arm from around her shoulders when the woman was just trying to be nice.

It hadn’t been her fault, though. Not really. She’d been in a strange mood ever since seeing Danni dancing with Indi and… And that was no excuse.

“Morning,” Danni said, peering at her over her mug.

“Tea?” Eleanor offered, far too stiffly. She moved toward the kettle, keeping a careful distance. She needed a good cup of tea. Strong tea. Immediately.

“Got coffee,” said Danni. She sipped and stretched. “Wouldn’t mind another, though.” She got up.

But as Eleanor reached for the kettle to fill it, Danni did exactlythe same thing. Their hands brushed. Eleanor froze. So did Danni. The briefest touch, almost nothing, but it sent a strange, tingling awareness through Eleanor’s skin.

Danni pulled back first. “Need a butler to help you with that?”

“I’m perfectly capable of boiling a kettle,” Eleanor snapped. She filled it from the tap and put it back on its stand.

“Of course you are, Princess,” Danni said. She put her cup on the draining board. “Changed my mind. I’d better get back to it.”

She walked out of the kitchen and Eleanor found that she felt both better and worse that she was gone.

BY MIDDAY, ELEANOR had grown weary of reading through spec sheets and notes from Samson, so she decided to check in on Sam. The stables were one of the few places on the farm where she felt truly competent.

But when she got out there, she found Danni stacking hay bales. Eleanor stopped. Danni had removed her flannel shirt, and was wearing a white tank, sweat glistening on her skin as she tossed bale after bale. Eleanor’s mouth grew ridiculously dry.

Suddenly, Danni looked up. “What are you doing here?”

“I can’t check on Sam?” Eleanor challenged.

Danni wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, leaving a streak of dirt across it. “Sunday. Right. I forgot.” She sniffed. “You can check on him as long as you’re willing to be put to work. There are no free-loaders on a farm.”

“I’m not a free-loader,” Eleanor said, stung.

“Best get to work then,” said Danni. “You know where the pitchfork is.”

“I know how to handle a stable.”

Danni grinned. “Go on then.”

Eleanor stopped in her tracks. “Go on then, what?”

Danni nodded to the stack of hay bales. “If you’re so competent in the stable, show me how you throw a hay bale. Just one. Take your pitchfork and toss this bale onto the top of the stack. Go on.”

For an instant, Eleanor froze, then she shrugged. How hardcould it be? It was only a bale of hay, after all. She stalked over to where Danni was standing, planted her fork in the middle of the bale, and strained her muscles to lift and swing.

The bale was deceptively heavy. Far heavier than she’d expected. She did manage to lift it, but in doing so she swung it approximately a meter off the ground and promptly fell on her behind.

She prepared herself for Danni’s taunts, but when she looked up, Danni looked impressed.

“Haven’t seen anyone lift a bale on the first try,” Danni said. “You’re not bad. It’s all in the shoulders though. You’ll have to practice. You need to get it higher than that. Still, you actually lifted it.”

“Was that a compliment?” Eleanor asked.

“Maybe.”

Their eyes met, and for the first time, neither of them looked away immediately. The moment stretched just a little too long before Eleanor turned to get back to her feet, pretending that her heartbeat wasn’t hammering in her ears.

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