Page 11 of Forever with the Farmer's Daughter
Kenny glances up from his plate. “I don’t think so. Why?”
Craig glances over at me. “Cam needs to return his rental and I need to follow him into town.”
“Sure,” Kenny says. “Take the whole day if you need to. I can handle things here today.”
Craig nods, and I respond, “Thanks, man.”
After breakfast,we head back to the house to pick up the rental and drive to town. Once we’ve returned the car, I climb into Craig’s truck, ready to drive back to the farm. Craig starts the truck, “Anywhere you want to go?”
I think for a minute. “Mind if we drive over to the high school? Take a walk out on the football field?”
Craig grins as he puts the truck in reverse. “Relive your glory days?”
I laugh. “Something like that.”
We drive down highway thirteen toward the high school and Craig fills me in on all the changes that have occurred since the last time I was home. When we reach the school, Craig parks and we hop out of the truck and walk out to the football field.
The closer we get, I notice the team on the field doing drills. A whistle blows, drawing my attention to Coach Markham standing in the end zone. As we approach, I call out, “They still let you have a whistle?”
He turns and begins walking over to where we stand. “You want to join them in drills Hutchinson?”
I laugh. “No sir.”
He extends his hand and pulls me in for a slap on the back. “Good to see you, Cam. How’ve you been?”
“I’m good, Coach. Spent the last eight years in the Army, now I’m home to help Craig and Kenny with the farm.”
Coach crosses his arms over his chest while widening his stance. “Thank you for your service. It's good to see you.” He turns his attention back to the field and blows his whistle. Waving the team in, he yells, “Bring it in boys,” and the team immediately obeys.
Stopping a few feet in front of him, each player takes a knee. “Boys, I want to introduce you to someone.” His arm sweeps out in my direction. “This is Cameron Hutchinson. If his name sounds familiar, it’s because you’ve seen it on multiple awards in the trophy case in the hallway. Cam was one of the best tight ends I’ve had the pleasure of coaching.”
I raise my hand and wave to the team. “Hi, I look forward to watching you all play this fall.”
One of the boys raises his hand as he speaks, “Mr. Hutchinson? Did you play in the NFL?”
I smile and shake my head. “No. After graduation I joined the Army.”
Coach hitches his thumb in my direction. “He was a lot scrawnier when he played for me. Good to see the Army could do for him what our weight room couldn’t.”
I laugh and Craig lowers his head to hide his amusement.
I answer a few more questions from the team before Coach sends them out for one more round of drills. I wave to the team as they return to the field, then turn my attention back to Coach. “Thanks for letting me interrupt your practice. It was great seeing you again, Coach.”
“Feel free to stop by anytime,” Coach says as he shakes my hand and then waves to Craig.
We walk back to the truck and as I open the door, Craig raises a brow. “Where to now?”
We climb inside and buckle up. “We better head home, I don’t want to leave Kenny to do all the work by himself.”
Craig starts the engine. “Home it is.” We pull back out on the highway and drive back to the farm.
Samantha
Iwalk downstairs, carrying thelarge, wrapped box covered in little yellow ducks and a matching bow with curled ribbon glued to the center. I set it on the kitchen table and go to check on Momma. I walk back to their bedroom and knock on the door. “Momma? I’ll be waiting in the living room when you’re ready?”
"Okay, sweetheart, I'll be right there."
I smile as I walk to the living room. Aubrey and I are having our weekly lunch today, only she insisted Momma join us this week. Miss Jane and Miss Chloe will both be there as well. While I’m not quite sure how it’s going to be a ladies only lunch at her home, since she usually cooks lunch for Kenny, Craig, and now Cameron, I'm sure Aubrey has it handled.
