Harvest of Love

Chapter 11

I collapse into a rocking chair, still trying to calm my racing heart. "Clem, as much as I would like to hear it, I'm really worn out. It's been quite a night," I say as I rub my palm across my face.

"Yeah, I'd say so from what I could tell from here anyway," Clem responds. I sit up straight and look at him.

"You saw? Me with Rebecca, I mean."

"You put on quite a good show."

Embaressment heats my face. Thank goodness I had sensed enough to stop before things got out of hand. I don't even want to imagine what Clem could have witnessed. "Listen, I'm sorry. That was totally unexpected, and I know how much you care about her. I promise I won't do anything to hurt her," I plead my case, hoping Clem isn't angry. He stares at me for what feels like a solid minute before he stubs out the cigarette on the arm of his chair and says in a resigned voice,

"There's something you should know, tired or not."

My interest is piqued, and my mind starts to race with fears. What could he possibly need to tell me? And how, for that matter, does it affect what's happening between Rebecca and I?

"Okay," I say, "what is it?"

"I think we need some coffee," he states and gets up to walk to the door. I follow him inside our cabin and sit down at the table while Clem starts pouring water to make the pot. "You know there is no such thing as an innocent kiss?" he states while measuring out the coffee grounds. I think, 'here we go, the if-you-want-to-date-my-daughter lecture.' I lean back in my chair and cross my arms.

"I don't think I follow what you mean," I answer. Clem turns to look at me.

"Don't you?" His point is taken. My kiss with Rebecca definitely meant something. I look down at the floor and with a half smile and say,

"Yeah, I hear ya."

"A kiss bares your soul, saying things that should sometimes be best left unsaid." Clem has that far away look on his face as he says it, and I know immediately he is back in time with his precious Ellie. "It's like a drug . . . always leaving you wanting more. I never once thought kissing Ellie was a one-time event. I knew instantly that I was going to do it again, any and every chance I got. I know she felt the same. At the time, I told myself it was inevitable. Fate had brought us together, and our love was pure and good. Especially when compared to how Red treated her. Love really can be blind." He shakes his head and then turns to pour our coffee into the waiting mugs. I take the one he hands to me and wait patiently for him to continue. He sits down beside me and takes a tentative sip of his hot brew before he resumes the story.

"We did have a plan. I was going to continue working until we could save up enough money to run away together. Ellie was going to scrap up any extra she could as well. But until then, we would sneak around any chance we got. It wasn't easy keeping the way we felt about each other a secret not only from Red, but everyone else who worked the farm. Our meetings were few and far between, but with each time, our feelings became more desperate. In my mind, she was mine, not a married woman. Her heart was mine, I know, for she told me so herself. It was my undoing. I had to have her . . . completely. It seemed so unfair, and I could give a list of reasons to justify what we did wasn't wrong, but in truth, we committed a sin. I made Ellie an adulteress, and I'll regret it until the day I die." A tear slides down Clem's withered cheek, and I stare down into my coffee cup uncomfortable in the moment. I'm confused about how this relates to my relationship with Rebecca. She's not married, and I doubt I'd be the first boyfriend she has been intimate with. If anything, it was me who has always said 'no.'

"She got pregnant, Mason."

My head jerks up, yanked from my reverie. "What? Who got pregnant?" Then my thoughts straightened out, and once I was thinking clearly, I stated the obvious. "You mean you got Ellie pregnant?"