Page 7 of Forever with the Farmer's Daughter
By the time we both are out of the car and have closed the doors, Kenny is at Aubrey’s side. He wraps an arm around her waist and kisses her. “Hey, Blondie, how was the shower?”
“It was amazing. Wait until you see all the gifts.” Aubrey waves her hand toward the group standing by the barn. “What’s going on over there?”
Kenny smiles at her excitement as he laces his fingers with hers. “I can’t wait to see everything. Come on there’s someone I want you to meet.” He looks around Aubrey to me. “You too, Sam.”
Knowing better than to argue I follow the two of them over to the group. Kenny steps up beside the stranger and as soon as he turns, I immediately know who it is. Cameron Hutchinson.
With his hand on the small of Aubrey’s back, Kenny introduces his wife to his cousin. “Aubrey, this is my cousin, Cameron. Cam, this is my wife, Aubrey.”
Unsure of how to greet her, Cameron offers Aubrey his hand, and she stares at it like he’s offering her a live fish. Aubrey being Aubrey opens her arm and wiggles her fingers. “Get in here big man, we hug in this family.”
Cameron laughs loudly as he leans in and hugs her gently. “I’ve heard a lot about you,” he says as he steps back. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
Cameron’s eyes flick over to me, as Kenny motions in my direction. “And you remember Samantha Kincaid.”
He offers me his hand. “I do. Nice to see you again, Samantha.”
I place my hand in his and a zing of excitement works its way through my body at the contact. My eyes find his and Cameron raises a brow, the only indication maybe he felt it too. “You too, Cameron. I wasn’t sure you’d remember me.”
He chuckles and grins. “Hard to forget the girl who beat me out for Grand Champion my senior year.”
I wince. “Sorry, no hard feelings, I hope. Being raised on a dairy farm I kind of had an unfair advantage.”
He laughs again. “Yeah, we’ll go with that,” he says with a wink.
“If it makes you feel better, I beat these guys too.”
“Hello,” Aubrey says, waving her hand eyes bouncing between me and Cameron. “City girl here, what’s a Grand Champion?”
I smile forgetting not everyone was raised in the country. “In high school, we were all members of FFA, the Future Farmers of America. Every year we had to raise livestock as part of our grade and show them in the county fair. We all raised steers. Each steer has to meet certain criteria in order to be considered, winning Grand Champion is the ultimate prize.”
“What she isn’t telling you,” Craig says, “is along with Grand Champion comes a premium price at auction.”
“So, what I’m hearing is,” Aubrey says, looking at each one of the Hutchinson men. “When our baby is in FFA, Aunt Samantha gets to be their mentor.”
Everyone howls with laughter, and I top it off with an exaggerated curtsy. “I would be honored.”
Cameron shakes his head and points at Aubrey. “Now I see what Momma and Dad were talking about you being a breath of fresh air.”
Kenny pulls Aubrey into his side and kisses her cheek. “My life is definitely better with her in it.”
Aubrey lays her head on his shoulder. “Aww, right back at you Country.”
I smile at the love radiating between them. “Well, I better get going,” I say.
Kenny looks my way. “You’re not staying for dinner?”
I shake my head. “No, but your momma and Miss Chloe took care of dinner for us, so, I need to get home and heat everything up for us. ”
“If you’re sure,” Aubrey says as she steps forward and hugs me. “Thank you for everything.”
“You’re welcome,” I whisper before I step out of her embrace. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” I turn to Cameron, “Cameron, it was great to see you, welcome home.”
“Thank you, Samantha, it’s good to be home.”
“Bye, Craig.”
“See ya, Sam,” Craig says as he stands next to his brother.
