Page 65 of This Time Around

I’d ask her what that meant later.

“How much does she make?”All throughout the fields, round hay bales rested wherever they’d landed when she’d complete one.The machine she was on was a thing of magic.It sucked up the cut hay, rolled it, and spit it out the back, tightly pressed and rolled and wrapped in twine.

“Don’t know.Last year I think we had around six hundred large bales and obviously that lasted her the year.Sometimes if she rolls more than she knows she needs she’ll sell it off to smaller farms.”

They found a way to make money on everything out here.All of it was inspiring.I’d never given much thought to farmers or even where my food came from, but my God, after a month out here, I was never going to forget it.Every day I learned something new.

There were what looked like hundreds of bales already sprinkled through the pasture currently and none of them had been moved to the covered area where they kept most of them out in the fields.

“Shit.And Jordan’s not here to move them.”

“Yeah.But if he doesn’t show soon, I can grab them.”

“Know where he is?Seems strange he’d miss this with all the grief he gives Rebecca about asking for help.”

Ryan’s lips did that same tightly pressed line Rebecca’s had done.“Most likely he’s at Tillie Matsen’s place.Don’t ask.It pisses Rebecca off.And no, it’s not a woman he’s sleeping with.Tillie’s old enough to be our grandma.”

“Must be a story there.”Rebecca being pissed Jordan helped an elderly lady didn’t jive with anything I knew of her.

“More like a nightmare,” Ryan muttered.He tossed his beer can into a garbage bin and tugged on his thick, leather gloves.“Break time’s over.”

“For you, maybe.”I reached for my own beer and opened it, biting back my curiosity.Rebecca would tell me if she wanted.

Maybe.

The cool taste slid down my throat just as the hum of the baler grew louder.

I turned in the direction where Rebecca was headed from, curious as to why she was headed in when I saw Jordan’s Yukon kicking up dust as he headed up the main road toward the house.

He had farther to drive and was faster, but they met near the barns where Ryan and I were still standing at almost the exact same time.Apparently, Ryan wasn’t ready to head back to work quite yet.

Rebecca slammed the door of the tractor and jumped down, ignoring the four-step ladder it took to climb up and down safely.

“Watch this,” he muttered.“You ain’t ever seen nothing as good as the Marxs when their lids blow off.”

“Are you freaking kidding me?”Rebecca shrieked, hands on her hips.

“Lay off, Rebecca,” Jordan said.“Tillie needs help and I give it.It’s no big deal.”

“It’s not a big deal?Why didn’t you tell me you were spending time with that woman?”

Jordan’s face turned to granite so quickly I moved.I rushed to Rebecca.Didn’t care he was her brother.He wouldn’t get in her face even if she might deserve it.I had no clue what was going on, why this would set Rebecca off, but it wasn’t like her at all.

“That woman’s old and alone.She called me when I got to town.”He walked by her, stomping toward the deck where several pairs of leather gloves had been laid out by Rebecca this morning.“Like I said, it’s not a big thing.She calls, I help.I mow her grass, tend her garden.She can’t do it much anymore.”He tugged on his gloves and I was at Rebecca’s side when he spun on his heels.“And don’t say shit about Tillie.She’s good people.”

“Tillie’s—”

Jordan leaned in, rage all over his face.I shoved Rebecca to my back, holding on to her when she stumbled at my quick movement and kicked up rock.“Watch it,” I warned.

He didn’t look at me.He was focused on the woman at my shoulder.He shoved a finger into his chest.“I know exactly who Tillie is, Rebecca.Don’t forget that, but that doesn’t mean I’ll kick her to the curb when she needs something from me.I’m helping her.”

“Yeah.Andher.”

Definitely a story there.At that implication, Jordan threw his hands in the air.

“It’s not about her.Now, are you gonna yell at me, having a conversation that makes me want to blow my head off, or can I get to work so we’re not here until nightfall?”

“Get to work,” Rebecca muttered, clearly unhappy with her choices.“But we’re having this conversation.”

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