21. Remi

Chapter 21

Remi

S everal hours after the sun had set, with my arms as weak as twigs, I set the last rock in Oscar’s bucket. My head still pounded from the remnants of last night’s hangover. After Smoot dropped his wedding plans bombshell, I’d stayed way too late and had way too much to drink. I might have still been buzzed this morning when I met Angie.

The buzz left soon after she had, and the ensuing headache made me determined never to touch liquor again. Morning winds had only gained in strength throughout the day. Summer would be in full swing back at home. By this time of year, I’d be lounging by the pool. I missed the Texas sun. True, it burned hotter than a honeymoon hotel, but I missed the consistency it provided me. Once I returned, I’d never complain about it again.

The temptation to return to the ease of the life I’d been born into—the parties. The fun. The leisure. The ability to set my own schedule. Most of all, the rest —became almost irresistible. My old life hung before me like a mirage in a desert wasteland.

Within the first hour of becoming acquainted with the Case tractor, I understood Angie’s nickname for it. It was the grouchiest farm equipment on Earth. It only worked after I cussed at it and beat the steering wheel until the palms of my hands stung.

The one bright spot in my day had been when I took a small break to share a home-cooked lunch with Tony and Nora. Even that was short-lived. Angie had walked downstairs, dressed in her nursing scrubs, and rushed me outside to get the chicken coop and stable cleaned, along with feeding all the animals, including the pigs and the devil rooster—who’d managed to draw blood during this encounter.

And damned if, even in the midst of my misery, I didn’t feel drawn to Angie. Her dark-blue hospital scrubs triggered all my hospital fantasies. In an instant, my mind threw me into a supply closet with her, boxes of bandages and whatnot falling around our bodies. Her legs locked around my waist.

It didn’t matter how many times I reminded my body she was the source of my torture … it still responded to her. However, the longer I spent shoveling shit, the more my fantasies turned to dump a whole wheelbarrow full of animal excrement over her.

Once I’d finished the animal chores, I forced myself to return to the field where the rocks waited. I had no idea what time it was. I’d been working in the beam of the tractor’s headlights for the past few hours at least.

I trudged to the maddening machine, shoved it into gear, and chugged into the massive mound of rocks I’d collected throughout the day. It took all my body weight to shove the lever forward and get the bucket to dump the rock.

Each bump I hit jarred the length of my spine. I intended on downing a whole bottle of ibuprofen and soaking in an Epsom salt bath the moment I walked into the model home.

Turning the tractor in the direction of the farmhouse, I jolted forward. I probably could walk faster than this thing drove. As I slammed my foot onto the rusty pedal, the engine revved into high gear only to sputter and die.

“Damn, piece of shit !” I threw my head back and screamed at the top of my lungs.

I jumped to the ground and gave the tractor a solid kick to the front tire. Pain exploded in my foot and up into my shin. I continued along the canal road. Hobbling now, I cursed Angie, the land, my family—anything and everyone who’d brought me to this moment in my life.

Fifteen minutes later, I hugged my bright white truck which basked in the light of the front porch. The rest of the house was dark, and the ever-present ring of the windchimes reverberated around me. Both Nora and Tony were probably in bed, and, with the absence of their red and white beast, Angie had taken their ancient Dodge to work. I couldn’t be more grateful. If she were still here, I couldn’t guarantee her safety from me.

With my strength waning, I drove to the model home and parked my truck in the driveway, my frozen fingers fumbling with the shifter. The brilliant stars shined in the dark sky as I wobbled through the front door and collapsed on the living room floor. Finally, out of the blasting wind, the relative quiet of the house hummed against my wind-burnt ears.

“What happened to you ?” Myles paused the show he was watching and set his can of beer on the end table.

It was no wonder I’d caught his attention so fully. Dirt and shit of the chicken, horse, and pig variety covered me, and straw and hay poked at me under all my clothing and were sure to be in my hair. The scratch on my cheek still oozed blood where the rooster had attacked me. Aside from visibly being hashed, my body ached all over.

“Angie.” I rubbed my hands over my face, grimacing when I thought about what could possibly be on them.

Willing energy into my leg muscles, I stood and moved toward the bathroom, focused on nothing but the hot water of my shower. Too dirty to think of the Epsom salt bath I’d contemplated on the way here, I walked behind Myles as I peeled off my jacket, dropping it on the floor.

“Told you you’d regret ever making that deal with her.” He laughed.

I closed my eyes and listed again the reasons for this torture. “You know what’s at stake. I’ll be able to start the business we dreamed of with the money from this sale. Once I close this deal, I can rid myself of both my father and my brother. I don’t have to be the bad guy anymore. All I have to do is survive for the next few months.”

I swallowed hard. I couldn’t think about returning to the farm tomorrow morning, let alone going back for months of this. Real tears stung the base of my eyes.

“And Kathryn?”

Kathryn. As determined as a she-bear in satin, she still hadn’t stopped texting me. Her messages had slowed to once a day instead of two to three times a day, though, without much encouragement from me.

I didn’t respond to Myles’ taunting and groaned at the pain involved in the motions of removing my shirt.

Myles laughed again. “Why don’t you quit and find another way?”

“And let her win?” My frustration renewed my strength as I marched into the bathroom and turned on the shower. I stomped back into my room to get a towel from my closet. “No.”

Myles stood by the bathroom door. “Come on, man.” He shook his head as he glanced at my once-new Wranglers. “You’re working harder for this deal than you ever have in the past. Do you really think you can keep this up until November?”

“November? I thought harvest ended in September.”

“I talked to Chuck and Pedro. Some farmers don’t harvest corn until mid-November.”

May. June. July … I counted on my fingers as I ran through the months. Six and a half months. My confidence deflated.

“Maybe you could approach Tony and Nora. They have the final say on the sale, after all.”

Though Myles had a point, my gut told me Nora and Tony wouldn’t sell without Angie’s approval. Plus, I enjoyed the relationship I’d established with them. Angie may hate me, but her parents loved me. So, I might be reveling in love from stable parents for the first time in my life. I didn’t have my parents’ respect, let alone love.

“It’s not the right time.” I pushed past him, walked into the bathroom, and stripped to my boxers. “If I bring it up now, then everything I’ve done up to this point would have been for nothing.”

Steam billowed against the glass shower doors and filtered into the bathroom, beginning to fog the mirror. I breathed in the steam, the memory of my sauna and hot pool etching intense longing into my soul. I forced the ache back into the netherworld of my mind. I never considered myself lazy, but compared to my new workload, my life in Dallas was filled with ease.

“I know what I’m doing,” I said more to my blurry reflection than to Myles. I couldn’t help counting the short hours I had left before I returned to the farm. I groaned again.

At least, I hoped I knew what I was doing.