Heart of Georgia

Chapter 8

On Friday morning, I shuffled into the kitchen, groaning. We had gotten a shipment of hay the day before, and since Luke was still mad at me from the bonfire, he had left me to stack most of the bales myself in the hay loft. There wasn't a single muscle in my body that didn't ache.

My dad was sitting at the kitchen table, sipping coffee from his chipped blue mug and reading the newspaper. He glanced up when he heard me. "Oh, good, you're up."

"No, not good." I trudged to the fridge, wincing.

"What, did you age 60 years overnight?" He asked, noticing my slow movements.

I glared at him. "No. Luke left me to stack the bales myself."

"What did you do to piss him off?" My dad chuckled, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

"Why do you instantly assume it was me?" I huffed, outraged.

"You tend to have that effect on people." He grinned and took another sip of his coffee.

I rolled my eyes and stuck a bagel in the toaster. "So what are you doing today? Why aren't you at work?"

He paused, his mug hovering in midair. He set it down carefully. "I meant to talk to you about that."

I crossed my arms in front of my chest, narrowing my eyes at him. "What?"

"I'm going to look at a horse in Tennessee today," he said, keeping his tone casual. "It's a long drive, so I'll be stopping at a motel to stay the night."

I gaped at him, outraged, and he rushed to explain. "Don't worry, I already told Luke. He'll stay late to help you with everything, and I'll leave Linda's number in case you need anything. I'll be back by tomorrow afternoon."

"Oh, of course," I said, throwing my hands up in the air. "Leaving me with Luke makes me feel so much better!" My mind was already running through the list of extra chores I would have to do with my dad out of town. Luke probably planned on sitting around and laughing at me do all the work, or maybe not even showing up at all.

My dad laid his hand down on the table loudly. "I'm getting tired of your dramatics. You better learn how to get along with him, because he's not going anywhere." He stood up, rubbing his beard stubble irritably. "Maybe being stuck with him for a couple days will be good for you," he said, his voice gruff with anger.

I was speechless. He hadn't seen the way Luke treated me. I couldn't believe he was defending his golden boy and making my anger at him seem like a childish exaggeration. I felt my cheeks heat up with both embarrassment and outrage.

"I doubt that. But I'm sure being away from you for a couple days will be good for me," I ground out. 

He made an exasperated noise and grabbed his keys off the table before stalking out of the kitchen. I winced at the sound of the screen door slamming shut as he stormed out of the house. Guilt prickled in my chest and I silently cursed myself.

My relationship with my dad was fragile enough already, and being harsh wasn't going to make it any better. As I sank down into my chair I heard an engine rumble to life and looked out the front window just in time to see my dad's truck barrel down the driveway, hauling the trailer behind it. 

I finished my breakfast quickly, not even tasting the food. My bad mood was already weighing down on me, and I just wanted to get the day over with. Sweat began to gather on my skin as soon as I stepped outside. The air was still and humid with the promise of a summer storm, and there was no breeze to cool my skin.

Luke was nowhere in sight, so I decided to start working without him. The earlier I started, the earlier it would get done. I made my way into the barn and made sure to turn on all of the fans to circulate the stagnant air. Flies buzzed lazily around me as I turned all of the horses out into the pasture to graze. My agitation grew with every minute Luke still hadn't arrived, and I began mucking out stalls a little more roughly than necessary.