Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

JESS

Two Months Later

I t was mid May and it was already hot as hell on the farm upstate. I wiped sweat from my brow and groaned as I straightened up from the digging I'd been doing. My back was killing me from using a drill rig instead of a shovel.

The equipment was in rough shape, as was most of our equipment on Merrick Meadows farm these days, but we were making do. My dad was with me, along with Tag, who was one of our neighbor's farm hands and one of my oldest friends.

We'd gone to school together and neither of us had ever gone looking for greener pastures in larger cities. His white blond hair was plastered to his forehead and his face was burning hot, redder than a tomato as he lifted the ratty ballcap off his head and fanned himself with it. "How is it only May? If it's this hot now, do you have any idea what we're in for when July finally rolls around?"

"That's why we need to get this done," I explained, grabbing a bottle of tepid water and downing it. Once it'd washed the dust out of my mouth, I glanced back up at Tag. "Our crops aren't going to survive this year if we can't get more water to them."

That was why we were digging a well in million-degree heat. We needed help with the irrigation and to get water supplied to our fields in a more cost effective way. At the moment, it was much too expensive to water our crops, and moreover, our current supply wasn't strong enough to keep up with this kind of heat.

If we didn't get this done, our crops wouldn't make it, and if that happened? No. That's just not going to happen.

This was our only option. The only way the farm lived to see another season under the Merrick family. I had to make this work. Come hell or high… well, water.

The problem, however, was that we'd been at it for days and we hadn't hit so much as a drop of the blue gold yet. My dad grunted as he sat down on a rock and readjusted his own hat.

He rubbed his thumb and index finger over his white beard, his brown eyes thoughtful as they met mine. "Maybe we're looking in the wrong place."

"Maybe, but we had to start somewhere," I conceded, gently massaging my back as I looked down at the ground, wishing like hell I could suddenly develop x-ray vision. "Any ideas about where to look next?"

Dad shrugged, and the wrinkles in his weather-beaten skin deepened as he frowned at the hole we'd been digging. "Probably not here, honey. I hate to say it, but this might just be a wild goose chase."

"That's never stopped her before," Tag joked and flinched when I shot him a look that meant business. "Sorry, Jess, but it's true. Wild goose chase or not, you ain't giving up, are you?"

"Nope," I said, reaching for the drill rig again, but I stopped when I noticed my mother walking toward us.

My dad noticed her too, immediately easing himself up off the rock and flashing her a surprised smile. "You come all the way out here to help us?"

Mom chuckled, shaking her head. She lifted the tray of lemonade she'd carried all the way from the farm house. Next to the jug and four glasses, a plate was piled high with sandwiches. "It's time to take a break, my dears. That means you too, Taggert. You all need to sit down in the shade. Drink something. Eat something. Rest."

My eyes widened, but before I could even start shaking my head, she cut me off with a look only a mom could give. "You've been at this for hours, Jess. The hole can wait."

I grumbled, but what my mother wanted, she got. My dad took the tray from her, carrying it the last few feet to a tree along the side of the field where we were working. Sitting down on the ground, he unwrapped the plate of sandwiches and pulled a wet wipe out of the packet my mom had brought along.

"Thanks for this, my love. I think Jess might've worked us to starvation if not for you."

"At the very least to dehydration," Tag agreed.

Freaking traitor.

I narrowed my eyes at him playfully. "I told you to bring enough water, didn't I? How is it my fault that you can't follow simple instructions?"

"Well, I can. I just chose not to considering who the instructions came from," he joked, resting his back against the tree as he stretched his long legs out ahead of him. He groaned with relief, his eyes closing as he rolled his head from side to side. "Damn. I didn't know this was going to be such hard work."

"That's the only kind we know around here," I said, but I had to admit that relief washed over me in none too gentle waves as I sat down in the shade of that big old tree with them.

Mom and Dad sat side by side, as they always did, already engrossed in conversation with each other as they sipped their lemonade. I poured a glass each for me and Tag. I drank a generous amount of my own as I let my tired muscles rest for a bit.

Merrick Meadows Farm, in Firefly Grove in upstate New York, had been in my family for generations. From the rolling green pastures in the north to the tiny section of unfarmed land in the southern corner, and all the fields, barns, buildings, and riverbeds in between, I knew and loved every inch of it.

For over eighty years, Merrick Meadows had served its community and the state. It was my father's pride and joy, and it was mine as well. Just as it had been my grandfather's and my great grandfather's before me.

In a wickedly awesome twist of fate, my older brother had decided to become an investment banker in Manhattan, leaving me to pursue farming my family's property as my career. It was everything I'd ever wanted, and hell would freeze over before I let the farm fold simply because it was hot and we hadn't hit water yet.

"How's Sophie?" Tag asked, his cheeks flushing even more as he inquired after my best friend. "I haven't seen her around for a while."

I chuckled, giving his shoulder a playful shove. "Stop sniffing around her, bud. She's too good for you. It's never going to happen."

"Maybe I should settle for the likes of you, then," he joked.

I laughed. "In your dreams, my friend."

He snorted. "Only if it's a nightmare, my friend. "

My mom suddenly looked away from my father, her gaze darting from me to Tag and back again. He and I were and had only ever been friends. There were zero romantic feeling between us and there never would be any, even if he did try his luck sometimes.

He was close to my family, almost like another brother to me. Mom smiled, but I saw the concern clouding her eyes. "How much longer do you think you're going to be out here?"

I shook my head. "There's no way to know. Until we find water."

Dad sighed and passed us some sandwiches after my mom gave us each a wipe for our hands. "We may need to consider calling in some outside help, honey. There are people we can pay to?—"

"Have you seen what they charge?" I asked him pointedly. "We can't call them in, Daddy. I looked at every service provider in the state and it's just too expensive."

Dad sighed. He'd seen some hard times on this farm and we'd always gotten through them, but we'd done it with sheer tenacity, stubbornness, and our own hands. If even he was suggesting we needed to call in the experts, we were pretty screwed.

Or he thought we were, at least.

I, however, still had some of that legendary Merrick tenacity and stubbornness coursing hot and heavy through my veins. Everyone got discouraged sometimes, and since it'd been tough around here for a couple of years, I couldn't blame him for needing a breather.

It simply meant that I'd have to be tenacious and stubborn enough for the both of us.

Just until he'd caught his breath.

"Okay, slackers," I said, ignoring my back's protests as I got up again. "Lunch break's over. Let's get back to work."

My mom chuckled, sharing a soft, fond look with my dad. "I've always wondered who she takes after."

"So have I," he joked before winking and leaning in for a kiss that she happily gave him.

Deep inside, I let out a dreamy sigh. My parents were couple goals. After over four decades of marriage, they were still just as in love as ever, and no amount of dirt, sweat, or torn shirts under stained overalls were going to keep her away from her man.

As she cleared up after lunch, the men and I went back to digging. Long after she'd disappeared back to the house, we were still at it, and although our prospects for striking it lucky today were waning as fast as the sun, I hadn't given up yet.

Suddenly, while I was keeping an eye on the pressure gauge, I heard my dad yell. "Turn off the machine! Jess, turn it off. Turn it off now!"

My heart skipped a dozen beats as I looked down and saw water spilling out of the hole. "No way! This is awesome!"

I scrambled to turn it off, sheer joy and immense relief pumping through me. The farm isn't done for. This is the break we've been waiting for! Fuck yes.

The machine went quiet and all of us inched forward, but something wasn't right. This liquid I was grinning at wasn't moving like water. I didn't know how to explain it, but it was thicker somehow. Slower.

My stomach plummeted and I crouched down, dipping my fingers into whatever was soaking the ground and bringing it closer to my nostrils. I sniffed, then almost gagged. "That's definitely not water, guys."

The scent was bitter, reminiscent of sulfur, but when I looked up at my dad, he was grinning like an idiot. I frowned. "Did you hear me? It's not water, Daddy."

"No, I know, sweetheart. I heard you, but what you found may just be so much better."