Page 112 of Dove
“Happen to know when?”
At that he did glance up, under the reader’s he’d slipped on.
“Forgot already?” He tsked in disappointment. “It’s always the third Saturday in July.”
Something in his tone irked me, reminding me of my father, and my back stiffened defensively. I wouldn’t let his offhanded comment get to me. I’d rarely paid attention to that kind of stuff before, always being dragged by Dove, who managed to know when and where anything local was transpiring at any given moment.
It had nothing to do with me forgetting, but it wasn’t worth correcting him.
Instead, I fished out my phone. Rudeness be damned.
Seeing the flyer had sparked an idea, and I wasn’t about to pass it up.
Dove deserved to go out somewhere. She’d seemed to have a blast at the bar when we’d been dancing, and I wondered how long it had truly been since she’d gotten to do something like that.
I had no idea, but I know who would, and I was about to be heading her way.
I just hoped she’d help me out.
The sun was low as I made my way back to the farm, flirting with the top of the tree line as I followed the driveway down to the house. I slowed to a stop right outside the garage so I could drop off the parts. It only took me a few trips to have them all stacked in a neat pile on my workbench. With the last few tucked undermy arm, I closed the trunk, startling slightly when I rounded the side to see Dove leaning against the driver’s side door, eyebrows raised.
“Get lost in town?” she asked, arms crossed. “You were gone awhile.”
There was no way I was spoiling my plans, and I’d vowed Reverie to secrecy, which meant there was a good chance Dove already knew, but I wasn’t going to break on the off chance she’d kept her word.
“Rodney and Dell still use the abacus to tally their orders,” I joked.
“Stop,” she chastised me as she followed me into the garage, but her laughter gave her away.
“I’m serious! I offered them my calculator on my phone, but they’d sooner consort with the devil than use technology.”
I set the parts down with the rest. When I turned to face Dove, her smile had faded.
The humor was gone in her voice as she relayed, “Clover’s still in her stall. She took some sugar cubes, but it wasn’t enough to entice her out.” She bit her lip, worried. “That’s so unlike her.”
Concern was heavy in her voice. I wanted to rub the crease that had formed between her eyebrows. Instead, I grabbed her hand and pulled, hugging her to my chest. “Let’s watch her the next few days, and we’ll call the vet if she keeps acting off.”
She nodded, relaxing against me, but worry lingered in her eyes.
“Want to help me fix the truck?” I hadn’t really wanted to start working on anything tonight, but I knew Dove used to love helping me fix stuff up. Maybe it would take her mind off Clover for a little while.
At the offer her worried frown changed to a small, tentative smile. “I’d like that.”
I leaned down to plant a kiss on her lips, just because I could.
“So would I,” I told her.
More than she knew.
26
DOVE
The next week passed in a wave of heat and preparation.
As the crops dried out from the heavy rain, Josh and I worked. Thankfully, the weather was predicted to be clear skies and hot days for a stretch that left us feeling confident we could harvest within the next few weeks.
The parts on the tractor had been easy enough to replace, which left us with time to focus on Josh’s truck. We’d been working on it in between the rest of our responsibilities, and I was pretty sure we’d have it fixed enough to start today. Helping Josh had been challenging at first. Not only because he refused to wear a shirt while working on it, which distracted me more than I cared to admit, but because I couldn’t look at the damn thing without blushing. Every time I caught a glimpse of the hood I was transported back to when I was sprawled across it, metal solid underneath my back with the phantom touch of Josh’s fingers buried inside me as he commanded me to come.
