Page 21 of Forever with the Farmer's Daughter
I laugh. “I’m sure that won’t be a problem, Aubrey’s already zeroed in on my reaction to seeing Cameron. I think we’ve become her special project.”
“Thank goodness there’s someone there to prod you along.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I reply with a roll of my eyes even though she can’t see me.
Christine laughs, “I know you just rolled your eyes at me, but we are only pushing you because we love you.”
I smile because I know it’s true. “I know. I love you too.” In the distance, I hear Claire begin to cry. “Sounds like it’s time to wrap up our call.”
“Yes, duty calls. I love you, Sam. Keep me posted on how everything goes with Cam.”
“I will. I love you too. Give my sweet niece a kiss for me.”
We say our goodbyes and I end the call.
I toss my phone on the bed beside me as I think about what Christine said. I should know better than anyone, Alan wouldn’t want me hiding out on the farm. He and I had that conversation more than once when we got his diagnosis. He told me multiple times he didn’t expect me to be alone once he was gone. Of course, I would end up in tears, just thinking about losing him.
Before I can fall too far into a dark mood, I hear Momma’s voice call upstairs for me.
“Samantha, dear? You have a visitor.”
“A visitor? I wonder who it could be?” I say aloud to myself. I climb off my bed and tuck my phone into the back pocket of my denim shorts and head downstairs. My steps slow when I reach the foot of the stairs and see Cameron sitting on the couch talking to my parents. “Cameron?”
He stands immediately at hearing his name. He sweeps the cap off his head, a smile touching his lips as his eyes work their way up my body before meeting my eyes.
“Hi, Samantha. I hope I’m not bothering you?”
I blink and it dawns on me he’s waiting for me to answer him. “No, not at all.”
He grins. “Good. I have a surprise for you.”
I glance over at Momma and see her smiling before my gaze returns to Cameron. “A surprise? For me?”
He closes the distance between us and grins. Placing one hand on the small of my back, he sweeps the other out in front of him. “It’s set up on the porch.”
I walk toward the door and Cameron steps to the side to open the screen door, holding it open for me to walk through. When I step out on the porch, I see an ice cream churn setting on top of a cooler. A smile breaks out across my face as I turn to him. “You found an ice cream churn!”
“I did,” Cameron says as he dips his head and replaces his ball cap. “I thought we could make a batch and see how much we get.”
“What a great idea! I’ll get some milk.”
Before I can take a step, Cameron stops me. “No need. Everything we need is in the cooler.”
I glance over at the cooler and then back to Cameron, and if possible, I smile wider than before. “Let’s get started then.”
I take a seat on the top step on one side of the cooler, while Cameron takes a seat on the other. I lift the lid to find a container of milky liquid, two bags of ice, and a box of rock salt. My eyes widen as I take in the contents of the cooler. “I have no idea what to do with any of this.”
Cameron chuckles. “I didn’t either. Luckily, Aunt Jane gave me a lesson and made the custard for us.”
“That was sweet of her. So, what do we do?”
Cameron goes over the instructions as he demonstrates. “According to Aunt Jane, we place ice around the container along with some salt, pour the custard into the container, and then securely latch the lid in place.” He tests the lid to make sure it’s secure. “Then we crank the handle until we have ice cream.’ He raises a brow at me. “Do you want to start?”
“Yes!” I say, as I begin to turn the handle.
Cameron chuckles at my enthusiasm.
“You know, I called Christine this afternoon and asked her about the ice cream churn she used.”
