Page 58 of The Party Line

“This place has a basement?” Her eyes widened, big as saucers. “Can I go see it?”

“We’ll do that when I come home this evening. I want to clean it out and use it for storing my strawberry wine—if I decide to do that,” I told her.

“Can I just peek down there now?”

“Sure, but don’t move anything until I get back this evening. I’ll need to go through the gazillion boxes to see if I can find a particular cookbook that has a strawberry-wine recipe in it.” I finished the last bite of my pickle.

“If you can’t find it, Mama has one that I’m sure she’ll be glad to share with you,” Gina Lou said. “There is a muffin in the box over there on the counter. There were two, but I ate one. Want it for dessert?”

“No, I’ve had enough for now.” I stopped speaking when I saw a red cardinal land on the windowsill outside the kitchen. My aunt always said that meant someone who had passed was coming back to visit. The cardinal sang his song and then flew off, and a feeling of comfort filled my heart. Aunt Gracie had just put her seal of approval on Gina Lou being in the house.

“I could make some chicken teriyaki for supper and have it ready to put on the table when you get here,” she suggested.

“Yes! Please! Do you need to go to town to get anything?”

She shook her head. “Nope, I found everything to make it in the pantry and freezer.”

“You don’t have work today, and you sure don’t have to fix meals for me,” I told her as I carried my plate to the sink. “But keep track of your hours, and I’ll pay you time and a half for anything over forty hours a week.”

She shook her head a second time. “Today doesn’t go on any time sheet. You came and rescued me, and you have no idea how much I love this house. There’s a feeling of ...”

“Peace?” I finished for her.

“More than just peace. Kind of like serenity. Like I’ve gone to heaven.”

“I understand completely.” I smiled as I headed out the back door. “See you a little after six.”

My muscles and back were screaming loudly when the day ended, but at least a fourth of the job was done. The sound of all the vehicles leaving the place filled the air, and then everything was quiet, and I heardcrickets chirping and Sassy barking as I walked from the fields back to the house.

“We made it through day one,” Connor said from behind me. “Only three more to go, but we have tomorrow to talk ourselves into coming back out here on Monday.”

“I thought you were already gone.”

“I had to check the water situation,” he explained. “We’re down to the last ten bottles, so Monday I will bring another case or two and another bag of ice. I’m sure glad that we don’t have to do this job in the middle of July.”

“Amen to that,” I agreed. “We’d have to get us one of those hats that frat boys use to suck down beer.”

“Only we’d be drinking water and running to the port-a-potty all day,” he said.

I glanced over my shoulder. “Is there one out there? Where is it?”

“At the other end of the field. It’s green, so it kind of blends in with the tree leaves.” He pointed in that direction. “It’s just as close for you to go back to your house as it is to walk all the way down there.”

“Is it always there, or do you rent one in the spring and fall?”

“We rent it,” he replied. “That’s one more little lesson for us in how to do this job next spring if you decide not to renew Grandpa’s lease.”

“What’s this ‘us’ business that you are talking about?” I was surprised I had the energy to tease.

“One never knows about the future,” he flirted right back. “I’ll ask Grandpa what company he uses to rent the toilets on wheels. Seems kind of strange to be joking around about our future and talking about toilets at the same time.”

“I never thought I would have a good-looking guy flirt with me and say he’ll find out where to rent a toilet in the same breath, either. Which reminds me, where did you find the work crew?” I asked.

“Several folks around these parts use them, and Grandpa has hired them for years. The crops come off different all over this part of thestate. The reason we worked Saturday is that they have another job that starts on Thursday of next week, and they wanted a day to get ahead.”

“But it’s supposed to rain after this week,” I reminded him. “Do they work in the rain?”

“It’s only going to rain here, not where they’ll be working,” Connor said. “If you decide to be a farmer, I’m sure they’ll be glad to work for you twice a year. They’ll be on the calendar for the fall and then in January to start getting the field ready for the plants to grow again.”

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