The Farmer's Son

Chapter 58 Oncoming Storm

The door of the bookstore opened, and the two of them entered like sunbeams piercing the gloomy interior, almost too bright to look at.

Of course, I could not help but look, frozen in place, eyes wide, feeling like a shadow to those beloved by the light as she came to stand before me. Slender, petite, in a white sundress, with short, light brown hair and light eyes, and golden tan skin, looking like a cornfield personified.

"This is Alan," she said, holding my gaze. "Our son."

Our. Even as the emphasized word resonated painfully in my chest, I let my gaze—as if only by her permission could I dare to—lower to the little boy standing at her side, a child with sun-bleached hair, bronzed skin, and bright eyes, blinking up at me with innocent wonderment. No more than four years old.

"Hello!" he said. "Um..." Now he was the one looking up at her for permission, seeking a name.

She stared right at me, as unreadable as the sun. "Aunty Judith." Looking down at him, she smiled. "Go on and give her a hug."

He beamed a wide smile that took over his whole face. "Aunty Judith!"

In that moment, facing the woman whom the man I loved chose over me, I felt my heart crack.

In the next moment, as his tiny son engulfed my knees with his short arms and buried his face in my skirt, I felt whole again.

*

Sugar-colored eyes looked at her now, slightly narrowed, filled with a caution his four-year-old self never knew. For more than ten years those eyes had avoided her, passing over her in the street, or in any other places they happened to share. Pretending she didn't exist.

But now he was facing her directly, and it was like being hit with a sudden glaring sunbeam, leaving her as stunned and speechless as she'd been in the bookstore that day they first met.

"Hello..." Alan said. He paused, his gaze flicking to Mack before he added, "...Miss Judith."

Heart pounding in her chest, Judith caught her breath.

Standing between them, unaware of the history or significance of the moment, Mack glanced at his watch. He was falling behind schedule.

"Go on, Mack," Alan said. "I'll...deal with this."

With a curt nod at Alan, and a softer one to Judith, Mack turned and made his way back to the kitchen, his boots thumping alongside the pattering of Lisa's paws on the wood floors.

In the noise of his passing, Alan's eyes fell to Judith's hands, which clutched a lavender envelope. "Ray's asleep," he said, his voice cool and even, but not unkind. "I can wake him up if it's urgent."

"No," Judith said, quickly. "Don't. I was just..." She swallowed. "I was just coming to tell him goodbye."

"Goodbye?" Alan's gaze flicked back up to her. "What do you mean?"

"I...I'm going to go live with my brother and his wife. In Vermont. I'm leaving today."

"Today?" Alan repeated, taking a step towards her. "But Ray said you weren't leaving until the—" He stopped, biting his lip and looking away.

It wasn't that unusual for him to know her plans. After all, in a small town, everyone knew everyone, whether they wanted to or not. But somehow it still made her happy that he remembered. It made it seem like he cared.

"I was only staying until Kathy settled in," Judith said, her tone and her chest a little lighter. "Once she got the hang of things, there was no reason to put it off, so..."