Page 56 of The Party Line

“When we finish weeding each section, we remove the straw bedding; then we mow all the plants down to the ground and fertilize,” he explained. “In the fall, we straw the plants before the first crowns show up and then do a lot of praying that hail or locusts don’t ruin the crop. This is a lot like picking season. There’s no rest for the weary until it is finished.”

“How do you know all this?”

He carefully tossed a handful of weeds into his garbage bag. “Like I said, I was here for the winter preparation last time around. The rest I’ve learned from the guys on the crew and Grandpa,” he chuckled. “And the internet.”

“I’m going to start researching everything I can about this business.”

“What made you even think about doing this?” he asked.

“Jasper reminded me that I could,” I told him. “It’s an impulse thing, like quitting my job on a whim to help Mama and Annie. I’ve never done anything on the spur of the moment in my whole life. I don’t even buy magazines or candy by the grocery store checkout counters. I had a plan to become an accountant when I was in high school. I focused on that and didn’t look back. Then I come to Ditto and started making rash decisions. I think there’s something in the water here that causes problems.”

“Could be. Or fate might be pointing you in the direction you should go. Does accounting make you happy?”

I took time to stand up and stretch my back. “I’ve always believed that we make our own fate, and I thought I liked my job. But looking back, maybe it was just a placeholder for something better.”

“Sometimes our choices determine our fate. Sometimes we just follow where we are led and are amazed when we find happiness,” Connor said.

“I thought you were a soldier, not a philosopher,” I teased.

“Granny’s words, not mine. Another thing she said was that to get to know someone, you should work with them for a few days. Think we’ll be better acquainted with each other any better at the end of this job?” he asked.

“From working from daylight to dark, we just might.”

“Eight to six,” he corrected me. “We take an hour off from noon to one to have a bite of lunch and take a power nap under the shade tree. We also break for fifteen minutes midmorning and midafternoon.”

“What if it rains?”

“Weatherman says sunny days until the weekend. We’re hoping to have everything done by Wednesday, and then it can storm all it wants. Ever gone outside and played in the rain?”

“Yep, with Aunt Gracie, and then we had hot chocolate and cookies.” I kept working while we talked.

“If it wasn’t lightning, Granny would let me go outside and get wet while I caught raindrops on my tongue,” he said.

“That was the rule for me, too. I got a late start this morning, but when we break at noon, you could come to the house and eat with me and Gina Lou. I have to give Jasper his medicine, but it won’t take long to make sandwiches.”

“Thank you, but I packed a lunch,” he said. “Already tired of this new plan?”

I straightened up and worked the kinks out of my back. “Nope, just realizing that I won’t need to go to the gym after days like this.”

“You go to the gym?” He sounded totally astonished.

“Hey, now!” I shot a mean look his way. “Are you saying that I’m too out of shape to have ever gone to a gym?”

“No, ma’am. You are perfect,” he said quickly.

I laughed. “You covered that well.”

“I hope so,” he said with a smile.

“I worked out in Austin. Not really in a gym but a workout room in my apartment complex. After sitting most of the day, I needed to have a little exercise routine. How about you?”

“Didn’t need to when I was in the army. We had regular workouts, but Grandpa has kept me busy since I got home with physical labor like this.”

The roar of a mower cutting all the plants back to ground level started up. The noise kept conversations at a bare minimum the rest of the morning, giving me time to really think about the second rash decision I had made when I decided to be a farmer. Learning how to take care of strawberries, and even how to make wine, wasn’t something I couldn’t conquer. But I was an accountant, with six years’ experience.If I’d wanted to pull weeds, mow, and fertilize, why had I even gone to college? And how was I helping people like Aunt Gracie did by sweating in a strawberry field?

Those poor hired hands had worked four hours, and I had only been bent over in the sun for half that time when noon finally arrived. My back and neck actually creaked when I straightened up, but my bag was half-full of weeds, so I considered it a good morning. Connor and the rest of the guys went to their vehicles and carried brown paper bags over to a shade tree. I envied them as I walked to the house. They could eat in a hurry and have time for a power nap before attacking the weeds and running a loud mower for another five hours.

I opened the gate into the yard and Jasper waved. “So, are you ready to give up on that silly idea?”

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