Page 4 of Till The Cows Come Home
Joining the farmers market was one of the first steps I took to notify the community that we were up and running again. The hope was that Baker Farm could finally start to turn an actual profit now that the girls had been consistently producing quality milk. The last thing I expected was to be enamored mid cheese sale, and I beat myself up for even allowing myself the few moments it took me to approach Sage.
Truthfully, I couldn't afford to lose a single customer, especially not when the distraction in question was about as calm as a tornado. I didn’t need more excitement when the farm held infinite surprises. Throughout the past three years I’d dealt with busted tractors, sick cows, and every weather related incident you could think of. I was finally in a relatively uneventful stretch, and I’d prefer to keep it as such. The funny thing is, when I noticed Sage, she smiled at everyone around her. I imagined her to be sweet as honey given the way she interacted with the people who passed by, but when I was met with her fiery attitude instead, I slowly began to second guess my own desires, wondering why instead of being put off I was drawn in.
As if she sensed my inner turmoil, Beth approached me, handing me the remaining crates so I didn’thave to get off the bed of my truck. “You look like you’re up to no good,” she said with a smirk.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I responded, giving her a wink as I neatly stacked the final boxes.
“Be careful messing with Sage, Miles Carver. I mean it,” she scolded, her smirk vanishing from her face. “She may seem tough on the outside, but she’s just getting back to her old self. Your success is a constant reminder of what she couldn’t accomplish. She lived for those animals. When she was younger, she’d take the chickens for daily walks and every cow you have was named and raised by that girl. I was there when she was at her worst. If you thought she was spicy today, you would have smoldered under the heat back then.”
“Yes ma’am,” was all I could muster, knowing damn well Beth meant business and nothing I had to say would change that.
“Don’t go roping her back into the world she once knew, just to take it away again.”
“I’m not sure we have anything to worry about. You saw our first interaction, not exactly love at first sight.”
“If you give that girl a chance to see what you’re doing with her old place, I’m not sure she’ll have a choice but to fall in love with you. If you were about twenty years older, you’d have my heart as well.”
“Oh Beth, we know I couldn’t handle you,” I teased, planting a kiss on her hand.
“If you have any intentions of getting to know Sage, even just in passing, you better learn how, baby. We were cut from the same stubborn cloth.”
I closed myself into the cab of my truck with a chuckle, waving goodbye as I pulled away. Beth had meant to warn me, but all her words did was fuel my determination to unearth who this woman was before her life came crumbling down.
Chapter Four
Sage
Ruby followed behind me as we trudged through my apartment door, both our arms full, balancing bags of what some may consider an excessive bounty. I couldn't help myself, though. Being back at the market did something to my brain, and I blacked out, practically handing over cash the moment anything looked remotely enticing.
I took a deep breath, plopping the haul on the counter, and as I began unloading, I relaxed, letting the familiarity of the task settle the last of the adrenaline coursing through my system.
“I feel a little bad now,” Ruby mumbled as she took the things I unloaded and stocked them into my refrigerator.
“Why would you feel bad? You didn’t even say anything!” I huffed, silently cursing Ruby’s soft side. Ruby was one of the nicest people I’d ever met, and our differences in personality made us perfect friends. The polarity allowed us to have a system of checks and balances. She told me when I was a little too callous and, in return, I told her when she needed to grow a backbone.
“I laughed, though! He just actually seemed kind of nice.He called you Miss and when you yelled at him, he just looked like a sad puppy. You never told me that your parents sold the farm to a sexy lumberjack whose manners resembled a western cowboy.”
I rolled my eyes. “I never met the buyer. My parents and I weren’t exactly on perfect terms back then. Every time they tried to talk about logistics or prepare me for life after, I just begged them to keep the place. I’m sure they didn’t want to make things worse by rubbing it in my face that someone my age with less experience could take it over when I couldn’t.”
“I mean, your parents were the ones paying you. They obviously knew they weren’t setting you up to have massive savings. Isn’t that the whole reason they wanted to sell in the first place?”
“I didn’t care about savings; I still don’t. I loved that place and was willing to live whatever humble lifestyle that would bring. Now some lumberjack gets to enjoy my cows.”
“A very sexy lumberjack,” Ruby added.
“Motherhood has made you soft,” I teased, knowing damn well I didn’t mean it. Ruby was a warrior. She and her wife went to hell and back to have Asher and I silently cringed, remembering all the needles involved in the process.
“What are you going to do next time you see him at the market? Just pretend you didn't verbally assault him?”
“Next time? Ruby, I'm never stepping foot in that market again. The plan was to be mature and avoid him. We did the opposite because, for some reason, I’m being punished, and he just had to make himself unavoidable.”
“I give you one week without Beth’s bread before you’re crawling back.”
I nudged my shoulder into hers. “Speaking of, you want to stay for lunch? I’ll make sandwiches?”
“I can’t. I gotta get back home. Ali has to go into work for a few hours, which means solo baby snuggles.”
“Give Asher a kiss from Auntie Sage,” I grumbled, begrudgingly walking Ruby to the door.
