Harvest of Love

Chapter 5

I wake up the next morning in a foul mood from not being able to get a good night's sleep. I had tossed and turned with quick visions of her. Some weren't so bad, like the one where we shared a heated kiss, but others were of her laughing and mocking me in my dirty work clothes. I decided to skip the morning meal served to the work hands out in the barn, instead choosing to stew over an extra cup of coffee in the cabin. Why was I letting some girl I just met bother me so? Get a grip, Mason! I chastised myself. She's not the only girl in the world . . . but she is the only one way out here. That had to be my problem. I've just been around these stink'n tobacco hustlers too long, and the sight of someone from the fairer sex just had me off balance for a moment. Well, Mason Harper isn't one to chase after any woman. If she's not interested in me, so what? I'm here for one thing only; to make enough money to move on to someplace better, so it's probably for the best anyway. I left the cabin when it was time to load up on the harvester and get to work. Clem was just finishing hitching up the horse when he spotted me.

"Didn't see you at breakfast," he states more like a question.

"I wasn't hungry," I answer with a shrug.

"Sure was nice catching up with Beccy last night," Clem attempts to make conversation with me.

"I bet," is all I can muster. At that Clem looks at me hard and then says,

"She didn't mean it rude. She just had a lot to tell me in a short time. Her daddy would have tanned her hide if he knew she was out after dark and at the cabins no less."

"Well, why didn't she just come visit earlier in the day once you got home from church?" I counter.

"She said she was on the phone all afternoon, calling friends and catching up on how their summer went. Beccy is a sweet girl. I don't want you to have a bad impression of her, is all."

Suddenly, I'm feeling foolish for how quickly I let my pride get in the way. I look sheepishly at Clem and give a half smile as I reply, "Okay, I won't judge her just based on last night."

"Good. But I'm not saying that you have my permission to go chasing after her either." Clem admonishes me while poking his finger into my chest. I hold both hands up in mock surrender and state,

"Hey, Mason Harper doesn't have to chase."

"Sure you don't," Clem chuckles, and we all start getting to work for the day.

Once again, my mind seemed to constantly circle thoughts around her. I kept foolishly hoping she would just magically appear amongst the tobacco plants like she did in the fog last night. But really, why would she? We run the harvester miles into the fields, not an easy walk for anyone, that's for sure. After what felt like the longest work day of my life, it was finally quitting time. It's time to take a shower and then eat dinner at the barn. I felt like I had an extra skip in my step as I went to eat, an anticipation that I was finally going to get to see her. Which I did, but only as I was leaving the barn with my stomach full of food and disappointment.

When I glanced toward her house, there was a bright red Ford pick-up truck in the circle drive. The front door to the house opens, and I hear her laughter before I actually see her. But when I do, she takes my breath away. She's wearing a bright orange 'A' frame dress with a yellow belt cinched in at the waist. The dress ends a few inches above the knee, showing off her shapely long legs. She also has her hair down with only one side pulled up with a barrette by her ear. Her hair tumbles past her shoulders in soft waves. Then I see who it is that has her laughing and smiling, a guy maybe a couple of years older. He, too, is dressed up. Obviously, they are going out on a date. By now, I have reached my cabin and taken a seat in the shadowed porch. I watch as he opens her door to let her in before jogging around to the driver's side. In a matter of moments, they are gone down the road.