Hay Season

Chapter 13

**Special Author Note: I hope you enjoy my special co-stars in this chapter from my Rescue Team Nine series, which still needs to be formally introduced here. They are a team of men I became attached to when I started writing their stories several years ago. If interested, I'm currently posting Bear's story here called Life Struggle. Feel free to check it out!**

Mattie

Then he went to work out of town and I was left without a way to go, bills behind, even short of food sometimes, and not even sure if we would have a place to call home soon. ~ Susan Sanford ~

The little bitch thinks she's won. No one takes what belongs to me, and Rylan Tucker belongs to me. This has to be a joke, a nightmare I'm unaware of. Does he not see how different they are? I'm the one he's compatible with. Our world makes sense with us together. It's the way that everyone sees it. It's how I see it, and this girl is ruining it. I hope she's prepared for the fight of her life.

~Our Hometown of Dewbridge/Journal Entry by Ladonna Miller

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One aspect of a small town you can always rely on is gossip. It lights with the smallest match and catches until a massive wildfire strikes. It can take hours, days, or even weeks for some of it to die down. A relationship with Rylan Tucker does more than light a match. It explodes. By the end of the first week, I'm feeling overwhelmed. Being thrust into a real-life human game of chess seems easier than dealing with the whispers and sharp looks. Farm girl against the town. Too dramatic? Not a chance. Although I have no clue how to play the game, I suspect that Ladonna is in checkmate or whatever it's called. She's already chosen her players and doesn't want to go down without a fight. After all, I stole her prize, her ticket to success in this place. Does she not realize Rylan's dream of getting out of town and playing for the NFL? Or maybe she's hoping his parents and herself included can convince him otherwise. If so, then she doesn't really know him. It wouldn't matter to her anyway. She believes she has the upper hand. Maybe that's because she's the mayor's daughter, or she's never been denied what she wants. She makes Cinderella's stepsisters look classy.

"Still trying to make sense of this political ring you've plunged into?"

I look up to find my grandmother smiling at me from the other side of the bar.

"How – "

"Your mother thinks I don't love her, but you and I both know that's not true. I might disagree with how your father chooses to live his life, but I remember the ones I love. You included. You are and always will be my grandbaby. I make it my job to keep up with you and your momma."

I smile for the first time today. It doesn't matter that it took me a half hour to drive up to Mayberry, Mississippi. It's a small town you'd miss if you blinked, but it was the town my momma grew up in. It's the one place I gravitate to when the going gets harder than usual. Dewbridge is sandwiched between Rosemont and Mayberry, making both towns easily accessible with a bit of driving time. Meme, she requested I call her when she said grandma and mamaw made her sound too old, owns Mayberry Café. It's the only place to eat in town and boasts the best milkshakes in Mississippi. I feel instantly better when she lays one right in front of me.

"Chocolate with whipped cream. It looks like it might be that kind of day."

I take a sip from my straw while trying to find the words to say. I have a habit of using the café as my confessional. It's where I come to straighten out the mess that seems to consume my brain.

"I've never been good at politics, Meme. I have no idea how to come out on top. I just want to be happy and love Rylan."

"Fuck politics. Politics is a battle not worth fighting, especially if love is involved."