Page 4 of Take Me Home

On the rare occasions that I had to bring up where I was from in Rob’s circles, he’d put a light hand on my lower back, silently pleading with me to minimize myself.

“I’m from West Virginia. Charleston. The capital city?”

The exchange of looks around the table always said it all. One time, a surgeon feigned looking under the table to see if I was wearing shoes. What a fucking jokester. What he missed in not really looking under the table was my middle finger.

* * *

The farm crewwas quiet during lunch, all of us tired and sweaty from the high sun and hard work. I explained the living arrangement offer. If Becca chose to stay, she’d get her own trailer and the boys would share the bigger one. If she didn’t, they could each have their own.

“How’s the internet connection out here?” Jake asked, looking like he was both laughing and earnest at the same time. There was something about his way of being that communicated ease and some kind of mischief all at once. It both terrified me and made me want to know more. If he had been at one of Rob’s fancy dinners, he’d probably have been fun to sit next to for wild sidebars. Not that I’d ever be going to Rob’s fucked up fake-ass fancy dinners again. Ever.

“Shaky at best,” I admitted. “And I haven’t tried it out at the trailers in ages. But I can see if we can boost the signal.”

“Why, Jake? Do you need to upload stuff to your OnlyFans?” Eli cracked.

“Eli, we know my only fan is you,” Jake shot back, winking at him and getting a ripple of laughter out of the group.

Becca hopped out of the bed of the four-wheeler where she’d been eating and looked toward the woods.

“Anybody care if I smoke here?”

I cringed a little internally. I had legitimately forgotten about smoking somehow. Not that I was to judge. I’d smoked as an edgy youth.

“Maybe just head a bit away, and pick up your butts. I don’t want to make any vet trips because the dogs ate ‘em,” I said, trying to keep my tone light. I didn’t want to sound snotty.

“I’ll join you,” Caleb said, jumping up after Becca. I cleared the lunch scraps as Eli and Jake launched into a quiet conversation, rubbing the ears of the two woolly dogs that had wandered over. Did it even occur to them to help out? High as my hopes had been for Jake, he was just another guy, letting the women do the chores while the Big Boys talked. Either way, I was glad to get a moment to myself and away from my position as the “boss lady.”

I despised that term. Was I not just a “boss?” How was it any different than if Uncle Bill had tapped Eli to run the farm for the summer? I did feel some layer of impostor syndrome for why Uncle Bill chose me over Eli. I was older, but Eli had worked on the farm longer. Maybe Uncle Bill felt bad for my job loss and broken engagement. I shuddered at the thought of that pity being spoken aloud, perhaps between Uncle Bill and Eli.

Right as I was launching into the anxiety-ridden mental gymnastics of what that conversation would have sounded like, a voice behind me made me jump.

“Hey, Darcy?” I dropped every single plate in my hand and spilled a cup that was still half full of lemonade. As I knelt to scoop it up, a pair of large, tan hands materialized next to me.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I came to help, not terrorize you.”

My eyes met Jake’s, his lightly muscled jaw outlining his ever-present grin under the brim of his hat.

“Oh, thanks. Sorry, I’m a little jumpy around here,” I stammered. Why couldn’t I talk right around him? He looked over at me, squaring his eyes with mine. He patted my arm, and for whatever dumbass reason, I pulled away. I hated how I was reacting. He was genuinely trying to be kind, but I was terrified to let him in. All because I was attracted to him. I was afraid if I got too close to him, I’d violate my own rule of not dating coworkers, to not shit where I sleep. A rule I’d developed out of necessity to protect myself.

“Hey, it’s okay. Is there a broom around? Maybe we can just sweep it all up,” he offered.

“I’ll get it,” I said, rising to walk to the broom closet. Jake stood, too, getting a towel from the kitchen. When I came back, he was on the ground, sopping up the spill. He looked up, tempering his usual smile to match my mood. I was being a huge brat for no reason other than that I thought he was cute. Idiot, I was.

“Eli was telling me about your uncle. Sounds like his surgeries are going to be rough.”

“Yeah, he’s really putting himself through it doing both knees back-to-back. I think his thought process was to knock it all out so he can get back here ASAP. Probably stop having so many youths,” I gestured between us, “running the farm. I guess he’s recovering pretty well already. Already up and walking on the first knee.”

“Impressive. Sounds like he’ll be back in action fast, then,” Jake mused.

“That’s his hope, I think.”

I rose to drop the plates in the trash.

“Hey, haven’t I seen you somewhere before?” Jake said, following me to get another towel for the spill. “That sports bar?”

“You know, I’d been thinking the same,” I said, looking back at him. “You were there with your…son?”

“No, not my son,” Jake said quickly.

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