Chapter 9

Cameron

I pull Uncle Ken’s truckup next to the farmhouse, turn off the engine and hop out of the truck. I take the stairs to the kitchen, knock on the screen door as I open it and call out as I step inside. “Hello? Anyone home?”

“In here.” I hear Aubrey reply from the living room as I walk through the kitchen.

I sit the box of jars on the end of the table and make my way inside. When I reach the living room, she is struggling to get off the couch and on her feet. I rush over and give her a hand. “Here, let me help you.”

Aubrey grips my hand, pulls herself to her feet, and smiles. “Thanks,” she says as she pulls down the hem of her top. “Now, please tell me you did not knock on the door before you came in.”

I chuckle as my hand finds the back of my neck. “I didn’t want to scare you.”

She grins and pats my arm. “You’re sweet, so I’ll let you off the hook this time. Now tell me, have you had lunch?”

“Uh, no. I was gone longer than I expected to be and wanted to get Aunt Jane’s jars back to her.”

Aubrey starts walking to the kitchen. “Well, let me fix you a plate.”

I shake my head. “You don’t have to make me anything, I can grab something at the house.”

She waves a dismissive hand as she takes a plate from the cabinet. “There’s plenty of leftovers, so have a seat and I’ll fix you a plate.”

I take the plate from her. “How about I fix myself a plate and you take a seat. I don’t need Aunt Jane or Kenny coming in here and seeing you waiting on me in your condition.”

Aubrey rolls her eyes. “I’m pregnant, not an invalid. I can fix you a plate.”

“I know you can, but I’m more afraid of Aunt Jane than I am you, so sit and keep me company while I eat.”

“Okay,” she concedes. “I’m sure you know where everything is, if not just ask.”

I set the plate on the counter, walk to the refrigerator and remove a bowl of beans and all the makings for a sandwich. I add a helping of baked beans to the plate, and place it in the microwave to warm it up, before making myself a ham sandwich. When I’m finished, I fill a glass with water for myself and one for Aubrey while I wait for the microwave. Once the alarm sounds, I remove my plate and take a seat at the table across from Aubrey.

I take a couple of bites before Aubrey starts the conversation. “We haven’t had a chance to talk one on one since you’ve been home. Are you settling in okay?”

Her concern touches me. I smile as I answer. “I am. How about you? I hear you were a city girl before you met Kenny.”

Aubrey laughs as she rubs her belly. “Yeah, you know, it was easier than I anticipated. I’ve never spent much time in the country before. Of course, Jane has been a Godsend. She’s taught me so much.”

“I’m sure Aunt Jane has loved every minute of it.” I take a few more bites of my lunch. “You’re an attorney, right?”

“I was, am, yes. I plan on taking the Alabama bar and opening a practice here in Blossom Creek once the baby is born.”

“What kind of law do you plan on practicing?”

“Well, I was a corporate lawyer, but I’m hoping to offer family law services.”

I take the last bite and push my plate away. “Sounds like a solid plan.”

Aubrey shrugs. “We’ll see how it works out.” A moment of silence passes before she speaks again. “So, you went to school with Samantha.”

I can’t help but laugh. “I wondered how long it would be before you mentioned her.”

Aubrey grins, not the least bit embarrassed I’ve called her out. “How’d I do?”

“Lasted longer than I expected.” I get to my feet, take my plate to the sink and wash it. I find the dish towel and dry it as I turn to face Aubrey. “I ran into Samantha at the store today.”

She smiles at my confession. “Ahh, so that’s what took you so long.”

“Don’t read too much into it. We just talked.” Once I’ve finished drying my dishes, I put them away. “You haven’t seen any ice cream churns around here, have you?”

“Um, I’m not even sure what one would look like. But I’m sure Jane would know.”

I smile. “I’ll ask her when I see her.”

“Should I plan on making a pie to go with homemade ice cream?”

Damn she is good. No wonder she was a lawyer. It was becoming clearer every minute spent with her why Kenny had fallen for her so quickly.

“Nah, I told Samantha I’d help her make some for the fair.”

A wide smile appears on Aubrey’s face and her eyes are sparkling with joy. “I knew I shouldn’t have mentioned it,” I mutter.

She raises her hands in surrender. “I’ll behave, I promise.”

I shake my head as I make my way to the door. “Bye, Aubrey. Thanks for lunch.”

“Bye, Cam,” Aubrey calls, a smile evident in her voice.

I can hear her laughing as I step out the door and smile to myself. This must be what it’s like to have a sister. I have a feeling Aubrey is going to enjoy giving me a hard time way too much.

I walk out to the barn to gather some tools and run into Kenny.

"Hey man, what have you been up to?"

"I had to run to town to pick up something for Aunt Jane. Got back a little while ago. Stopped in the house to let her know I was back, and Aubrey insisted on feeding me."

Kenny laughs and adjusts the ball cap he’s wearing. "That’s my girl, always taking care of someone."

I scoff but grin. "Your girl was giving me a hard time."

"I hope you gave it back to her. Aubrey loves to spar. Ask Craig, she’s been giving him a hard time since day one."

"I didn’t, but now that I have permission you can bet I will."

This time he laughs even harder. "Trust me she can take it." Kenny shuffles his feet. "So let me guess, she questioned you about Samantha?"

"Yeah," I reply sheepishly.

Kenny claps me on the shoulder. "Take it as a compliment, Cam. In the short time she’s known you, Aubrey has deemed you worthy to date her best friend."

"No pressure there," I mutter to myself.

“Nah, just take it slow and you’ll be fine.”

I’m taken aback by his statement, “You know, you’re the second person to warn me to take it easy with Samantha. Is there something I need to know?”

Kenny shakes his head. “As Momma likes to say, not my story to tell. Samantha will fill you in, in time.”

I nod. “I guess I’ll have to wait and see then.”

Kenny shoves his hands in his pockets. “Well, I better get back to work.”

“Yeah, I’m going to see if I can give Uncle Ken a hand on that old tractor he’s been tinkering around with.”

Kenny grins. “I’m not sure there’s much wrong with it. I think he uses it as an excuse to get out of the house.”

I chuckle, “Good to know.”

"Okay, I’ll see you later," Kenny says as he heads out to check on the fields.

Instead of working on the tractor as I intended, I decide to poke around the barn to see if I can find the ice cream churn. After a few hours of looking and straightening things up, I’m about to call it a day when something draped in canvas catches my eye.

I walk over to the corner of the barn and carefully remove the canvas revealing a wooden cradle with an ice cream churn sitting inside. I run my hands over the cradle, which looks to be in great shape, other than needing an obvious cleaning. I make a mental note to ask Uncle Ken about it after dinner, as I’m sure Aubrey would love to use it for the baby.

I remove the ice cream churn, and cover the cradle back up, leaving it just as I found it. Picking up the churn, I place it by the barn and go check in with Kenny and Craig.