Dirty: The Complete Series (Secret Baby Romance Love Story) (12 page)

“Yeah,
but what I mean is that if you’re the actual farmer—if you don’t work,
everything goes to rack and ruin in a matter of days. It’s motivating.”

I
pressed my lips together for a moment and shrugged. “I can see that,” I said.

“There
are some days, I’ll admit, when I find it pretty difficult to go back to the
fields after a big lunch,” Bob Nelson told me, smiling slightly.

“See—that’s
what I meant,” I said. I nodded to him. “The food is wonderful, absolutely
delicious. I just don’t know how you don’t end up overstuffing yourself every
day to the point where you just want to curl up and sleep.”

Autumn
laughed, and I glanced at Tuck; there was a weird little look on his face, to
match the weird little tone in his voice from his comment before.

“It’s
a whole different ballgame when you own the farm,” Tuck said firmly. “I mean, I
don’t expect you to understand. You’ve never worked for yourself, I don’t
think; right?”

“Technically
I work for myself as a default,” I countered, as mildly as I could. “I’m a
contractor, so I have to motivate myself, especially when it comes to something
like going for the next job.”

“You’ve
had some interesting work experiences,” Autumn said, and I could hear the
slight strain in her voice. “I remember looking at your resume and thinking
that you’ve done a little bit of everything.”

“Just
about,” I agreed.

“But
it’s different—you still have a boss at any given time,” Tuck insisted.
“Someone else is paying you to work. If you get fired from a job, you can just
pick up a new job.”

“Technically,
you’re more secure than I am,” I countered, starting to feel irritable at
Tucker’s persistence. “Since you can’t get fired.”

“But
if the farm fails, there’s no backup plan for us,” Tuck said sharply. “If
something wiped out the crops next week, we’d be screwed—but you’d be able to
just go and find another job. You’re not really in a position to be as
committed to this as we are.”

I
raised an eyebrow. “If you really want to get precise about things, you could
get a job if the farm failed next week,” I pointed out. “Nothing is stopping
you from hiring out on one of the other farms or getting a job in town.”

“I
think that Cade has shown a great deal of dedication to his work with us,” Bob
Nelson said firmly. “I don’t think he’s any less motivated just because he
doesn’t own the place.” Bob turned his gaze onto his son, and I could feel the
significance in his look.

“In
fact, I can recall a time when you were less than fully motivated to do your
part, Tuck. So why don’t we clear this up and get into that strawberry cream
cake your sister made? It won’t get any better sitting around waiting for us to
eat it.”

Autumn
took her cue and stood from the table as I let out the breath I hadn’t known I
was holding.

“You’ve
been great,” Tuck said, sounding almost resentful of that fact. “Guess I’m just
tired—long old day today.”

“Bound
to get to anyone, this heat,” I said, giving him the most polite smile I could.
“No offense taken.”

But
in spite of that—and in spite of the way things lightened afterward as Autumn
served up the cake—I knew that Tuck had something of a beef with me. It wasn’t
just some silly little argument about whether or not I was more dedicated than
he was. There was something deeper going on underneath.

My
mom always used to say that arguments are never about what they say they’re
about. My argument with Tuck at his parents’ table was proof of that.

Chapter
Fifteen

Autumn

Days
after Cade had dinner with us, I still felt bad about the way Tuck had gone
after him. Cade had defended himself just fine, and he’d stayed respectful the
whole time, but it still annoyed me that Tuck had started anything at all.

My
parents had raised us both better than that, and I wasn’t sure if he’d gone
after Cade as hard as he had because he suspected that I had a thing for him or
because of something else. Tuck had a real possessive streak about the farm and
a real insecurity about his position in the world.

I’d
finished all my chores around the house, and Mom had finished hers; with the
guys taking on some of the building, painting, and repair work around the farm
and the most relaxed part of the growing season on us, there wasn’t as much to
do.

I
tried to sit with Mom and watch something on TV—some cooking show she
followed—but I felt fidgety. I wanted to do something, but I didn’t really have
anything to do. Addie was napping in the guest room, and there weren’t any
dishes or laundry to be done. We had more than enough food for leftovers, and
it was Mom’s turn to cook, anyhow.

“You’re
pretty antsy today,” Mom commented, looking at me during one of the
commercials.

“I
just feel kind of…” I shrugged. “Off, I guess.”

“You
should get out then,” she suggested. “Go do something in town for a few hours,
get yourself out of the rut.”

“Do
you need me to get something at the store?” I would definitely have welcomed
the distraction of grocery shopping or even going to the post office—anything
that would occupy my time and my mind.

“No,”
she said, shaking her head. “I mean, go out and do something fun.”

I
laughed. “I’m a single mom,” I pointed out. “I’m not allowed to go out and have
fun.”

Mom
rolled her eyes. “Please,” she said, shaking her head. “Your father and I used
to go out once a month when you and Tuck were babies. We’d get Genie to come by
the farm and watch the two of you. We’d go to dinner, maybe catch a movie or a
play, and forget we were parents for a few hours.”

I
sighed—that sounded heavenly. “Yeah, but you had Dad to go with you,” I pointed
out. “It won’t be as much fun by myself. And besides, people will talk.”

“Since
when have I raised you to care about what people say?” Mom grinned, even as she
shook her head at me. “Addie is well taken care of here, and you could use the
break.”

I
smiled, but I was still feeling doubtful. “I don’t want to hang out all by
myself,” I said. “That—if I like, go to a movie by myself or something, that’s
just going to look pathetic.”

Mom
held my gaze for a long moment. “Well, I have it on good authority that the boys
aren’t up to very much this afternoon,” she said slowly. “You could invite Cade
or Tuck to go with you.” I felt my cheeks burning.

“If
I invite Cade, then Tuck will never let me hear the end of it, and you know
it,” I pointed out.

“So
invite both of ‘em,” she suggested. “And, make sure you do it in front of your
father. Tuck will have to turn you down, after that rant he went on the other
day about how responsible he has to be, and you and Cade can go see a show.”

I
laughed out loud and then slapped my hand over my mouth, thinking I might have
awakened Addie.

“You
are too clever, Mom,” I told her. I shook my head, thinking to myself. If I was
going to go to the movies with Cade—assuming that he even accepted my
invitation—I wanted to look a little more put together than I already did.

Since
I’d planned on hanging around the house all day, I’d stuck with just a pair of
shorts and a tee shirt. But I didn’t want to go out onto the field looking as
though I was going on a date. That would give Tuck all the ammunition he needed
to suggest I was interested in Cade. He wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t want to hear
about it every day for the next month.

“Go
get yourself changed into something a little nicer, and get out there and ask
the boys if they want to go with you to see something at the movies,” Mom said
firmly. “Your dad shouldn’t have any problem letting Cade go for the afternoon,
and if that boy has the sense that God gave little green apples, he’ll jump at
the chance to spend the afternoon with a pretty girl like you.”

I
didn’t even correct mom that I wasn’t a girl—I was a grown woman. To her, I
knew, I would always be a girl. I didn’t think she was even capable of seeing
me as any older than a teenager.

I
got off of the couch and walked back to the guesthouse I’d taken after Addie
was born. I considered what I should wear; it wasn’t that simple a question,
considering I wanted to look nice but not too nice, and signal Cade, but not
Dad or Tuck.

I
settled on a pair of nice slacks that I’d gotten a few weeks before and a
blouse I wore to church sometimes in a soft, creamy peach color. I grabbed a
sweater since the movie theater was always chilly and headed out to where I was
pretty sure the guys would be.

I
found them camped out in the shade, working on one of the pesticide spreaders.
“Hey,” I said, smiling as casually as I could. Dad was working with one of the
sprayers nearby, and I kept Mom’s strategy in mind. “I’ve been feeling restless
and Mom suggested I go into town and catch a movie—either of you want to come
with me?”

Tuck
looked up from his sprayer hose and glanced quickly at Dad. “Sorry, Sis,” he
said, shaking his head solemnly. “I should stick around and work this issue
with the spreader out.”

“You
going into town, sweetie?” Dad stepped out from between rows and looked me
over. “A movie sounds just about right—you need a break from all the work
you’ve been doing.” I smiled at him.

“I
just don’t really feel like going alone,” I said, shrugging. “But if Cade and
Tuck are both too busy…”

“It’s
not that busy,” he said with a shrug. “Would you mind taking a half day, Cade?
We’ve just about got this field sprayed, and there’s not much to do after that
anyway.”

Cade
shrugged, but I could see—for just an instant—that he was interested in going.
“If you’d rather just head home, I’d understand,” I told him, trying my best to
look neutral.

“I
can’t make you go to the movies by yourself when I’m not even working,” he told
me. “If you can give me a few minutes to wash up, I’d love to escort you.”

We
walked back to the house, and Cade went in. I don’t know if Mom said anything,
but a few minutes later, he was back out, looking just as gorgeous as ever. No
one at the movie theater would even bat an eyelash at the sweat on his clothes
or the little bit of dirt on his shoes. There were enough farmers who’d turn up
in worse states as it was.

We
had a brief argument about whose car we’d take—at first I argued that it would
be easier for us to take my car, since I could bring us back to the house for
him to get in his truck and drive home—but Cade pointed out that either way,
we’d have to come back to the farm house and it was faster for him to just drop
me off when we were through and then head home. I gave in, climbing into the
passenger side of his truck tingling all over.

I
was surprised to see that the interior of his truck was actually clean; there
weren’t any wrappers or empty cartons or anything like that hanging around. But
then, I’d noticed that Cade was basically a clean person: he washed up well
whenever he had dinner with us and his house hadn’t been dirty when I’d visited
him weeks before, just a little messy.

We
talked about what movie we wanted to see on the drive into town, and I realized
how little I knew about what was going on in the world around me.

“You
know, I don’t think I’ve seen a single movie in the theaters since I got
pregnant with Addie,” I told Cade, shaking my head. It was impossible for me to
believe it; before I’d gotten pregnant I’d managed to go at least once every
two weeks.

“Well,
in fairness to you, you’ve been pretty much occupied ever since,” he pointed
out. “It’s good of your parents to encourage you to get out, take a break from
things.”

I
grinned. “Mom pointed out that when Tuck and I were kids, she’d have my Aunt
Genie come over and stay with us while they went out at least once a month. So
I think they’ve got a pretty healthy notion of what it should be like for
parents.”

Cade
nodded. I licked my lips and thought about a question that I wasn’t quite sure
I wanted to know the answer to. “You ever think of having kids?” It flew out of
me before I could even fully think about how to phrase it without sounding
nosy.

“Someday,
yeah,” he said, nodding. “I like to think I’d make a decent dad, and if I found
a woman to settle down with, I’d want to have at least a couple of kids—and
help raise ‘em.”

“How
would you help?” I couldn’t suppress the amusement I felt at the idea; but
then, I’d had Titan as the father of my child and he clearly didn’t want to
have anything to do with Addie’s life.

“I’d
play with them, help them with their homework,” Cade said with a shrug. “I’d
make sure that I taught them what I know about discipline. Make sure that they
were eating their dinner, those kinds of things.”

I
pressed my lips together, feeling a tight, dry sensation in my throat. It
sounded so wonderful. I swallowed and tried to keep my voice light as I spoke.

“I
would sure hope you wouldn’t expect your wife to do all the cooking and
cleaning all the time,” I said tartly.