Page 13 of Forever with the Farmer's Daughter
She shakes her head, her grin widening. “Nothing.”
“Right,” I draw out not believing her. Not wanting to give her an opportunity to voice her suspicions, I raise the bowl in my hands to distract her. “Your banana pudding, as requested.”
Aubrey's eyes light up as she moves toward me to take the bowl, “Oh thank you. I’ve been dreaming about this since the last church social.”
I glance up at her a little sheepishly. “There’s one little thing. I may have promised Cameron, you’d save him some.”
Aubrey laughs. “Of course you did. Let me put this in the fridge, and then I want to find out what’s in the box,” she says, pointing to the gift on the coffee table.
When Aubrey returns, Momma, Miss Chloe, and Miss Jane are with her. She takes a seat on the couch, me on one side of her, Momma on the other. Momma hands her the box as the others look on, waiting for her to open the gift.
Aubrey carefully removes the wrapping and lifts the lid of the gift box revealing a handmade quilt for the baby. A red barn sits in the center of the quilt with whimsical farm animals stitched in place along the border. Yellow sunflowers with green leaves grace each corner. Aubrey gasps as she runs her hands over the soft material. “Oh, Miss Amy, this is beautiful.”
“Well, I can’t take all the credit, Samantha stitched her fair share too.”
Aubrey’s head whips in my direction. “You helped make this?”
I smile feeling my cheeks turn pink at the attention I’m getting. “I did. The sunflowers were my idea,” I admit with a shrug. “You know, in case you have a girl.”
Aubrey taps her rounded belly. “Did you hear that coconut? Auntie Samantha wants you to be a girl.”
I swat her arm and scold her as she laughs. “Aubrey! Don’t tell them that. I’m going to love them no matter if it’s a boy or a girl.”
“I know you will crazy girl, I’m just giving you a hard time.” Momma laughs along with Miss Jane as Miss Chloe shakes her head at her daughter. “Seriously though, this quilt is amazing. I can’t believe you two made this for our baby.”
“I’m so glad you like it,” Momma says. “I have one for you and Kenny as well, but you’ll have to wait until after the fair to get it.”
Aubrey’s brow creases as confusion settles over her face. . “The fair?”
Miss Jane begins to fill in the blanks. “Amy makes some of the most beautiful quilts in the state. She enters one or two in the fair every year, and usually goes home with a ribbon.”
Aubrey’s eyes widen. “You want us to have one of your award-winning quilts?”
Momma giggles. “Well, it hasn’t won any awards yet, but yes the quilt I’m entering into the fair, I want you and Kenny to have as a wedding gift.”
Aubrey’s eyes fill with tears as she squeezes Momma’s hand. “We would love that. Thank you.” She leans over and hugs Momma and then me. Aubrey sniffles and wipes the tears from her eyes. “Since you’ve already made me cry, I think it’s time to eat because you know, at this point food makes everything better.”
I laugh, not even trying to hide my amusement as I get to my feet. “Then by all means, let’s eat.”
Aubrey links her arm with mine as we walk into the kitchen. “So tell me, Auntie Samantha, can you teach me how to quilt?”
Cameron
“Well, damn,” I hear Kennysay as he steps into the barn. “Looks like I’m buying lunch today.”
I chuckle as I pull myself out from under Uncle Ken’s old pickup truck and get to my feet. “What bet did you lose?’
I grab the rag laying on the edge of the hood and wipe the grease from my hands.
“Craig said you’d be working on an engine; I was betting Aubrey talked you into having lunch with them.”
I raise a brow at my cousin. “What makes you think that?”
Craig gives me a shove. “Come on man, we all saw how you looked at Sam your first day home.”
I shrug sheepishly, surprised I was so easy to read. “Nothing wrong with appreciating a beautiful woman.”
“Didn’t say there was,” Kenny says, agreeing with me. “Just try to be more subtle about it or Momma and Aubrey will have you engaged by Christmas.”
