‘Hi,’ he says, his voice friendly but his gait hesitant, not the usual sloping, confident walk that I’m used to. ‘I wasn’t sure if that was you.’
‘Hi.’ I muster up enough decency to wave, approaching them slowly. I’m opening my mouth to apologize to them, to tell them that I’m so sorry but I need to head inside for dinner, but Nick speaks before I can get a word out.
‘This is Anna,’ he says with a sweeping gesture as a cheery-faced woman steps forward. ‘She won our “Day on the Farm” competition. I was just showing her what it looks like at night.’
‘Over twothousandpeople applied,’ Anna gushes.
‘That’s great,’ I say dumbly. My mind wanders, wondering how on earth this woman manages to look so good under fluorescent lighting. I am all too aware of how I look after a day of hard work—my face flushed, dried sweat around my temple, frizzing hair and dirt caked under my fingernails.I never used to care about this around Nick, I realize with a sinking feeling.He used to make me feel sexy no matter what. The fact that I worked hard was sexy, my untamable hair was sexy,sweatwas sexy.I make the mistake of glancing at her manicured nails, which are perfectly square and pale pink. She seems nice enough, launching into chatter about how good her day has been and how excited she is for Mrs. Parker’s cooking after the lunch they had.
I reach to a nearby tree and pluck an apple. ‘Have you tried one from Andersons’ farm yet?’ I ask her. ‘They’re the best.’
Nick narrows his eyes at me. ‘I wouldn’t say that,’ he counters. But Anna is already happily reaching out to take the apple. ‘Mmm,’ she says, as she takes a satisfyingly crunchy bite, ‘this is amazing.’
‘You have to be careful at the Parker farm,’ I confide in a faux whisper, ‘there are some rotten apples over there.’
Nick forces out a laugh. ‘Very funny, Eloise.’ His forced smile wavers, the corners of his mouth pulling down slightly. ‘I guess we can let you get home.’
I stare at Nick a beat too long, wondering how we got from the laundry room to here, this feeling of insurmountable distance when there’s only a few feet between us.
Anna protests, gently swatting at Nick’s arm. ‘I’d love to talk to a female farmer. I haven’t seen one all day!’ she exclaims. ‘Well, unless you need to get home?’
I notice with a little flare of satisfaction the way Nick steps back from Anna ever so slightly, putting distance between them.
‘Oh, that’s all right, you’re not keeping me,’ I reply, warming up to her as my jealousy subsides. ‘How long are you in town?’
‘Just until tomorrow. Then I head back to Seattle.’
‘You live there?’ It seems like Anna and Nick are more familiar than having met this morning, but that’s the thing about Nick—he can really put people at ease. I wouldn’t put it past him if he did in fact only meet Anna hours ago and he’s already bewitched her.
‘I actually live in San Francisco, but I’m doing my capstone project in Seattle.’
Oh.‘Capstone? So you go to school with Nick?’
There’s a flash of confusion across Anna’s features, like she’s surprised Nick hadn’t filled me in on that, but she brushes past it, confirming pleasantly that she does go to school with Nick.
‘How are you liking your capstone?’ I ask her.
‘It’s great. But compared to this, it’s pretty boring. Not all of us are saving the world like Nick here.’
I raise my eyebrows at Nick, who at least has the decency to look sheepish. ‘I never said that. Anna, why don’t you tell Eloise what happened with the pigs today.’
Anna leans forward like she’s confiding a great secret to me and explains, through cackles of laughter, that when Nick brought her to meet the pigs Daisy got so possessive she headbutted Anna’s shins and Anna fell into the slop of the pigsty. She gestures to her outfit, which now that I take a better look at, is definitely Mrs. Parker’s clothes. I can’t help but laugh at her own ability to laugh at herself, and I catch Nick’s expression relaxing just a bit.
‘I was just showing her how fast the stars come out,’ Nick explains, ‘we didn’t mean to bother you.’
‘Why don’t we walk you home?’ Anna says happily. ‘Your house is just over this way, right? That way you can get to dinnerandtell me what it’s like being one of the only women out here. That’s something I’m working on this summer actually, the impact the #MeToo movement has had on women in male workspaces.’
‘That’s so cool that you’re doing that. I wish I had more to say, but I’ve done this all my life, so I don’t notice it too much, that I’m the only woman out here .?.?. that’s not a very helpful answer is it?’
Anna smiles warmly. ‘It’s a data point that you don’t notice, so it’s for sure helpful! Does your mom farm too?’
‘She used to. She threw her back out a while ago and had to stop doing heavy labor. I think she really misses it.’
‘And will you do this as your career?’
‘Probably,’ I say, ‘I’m born and raised here. It feels like I should take up the mantle. Enough about me, I’d love to hear more about your internship, Anna. It sounds so interesting!’
‘You should be in a lab, not out here,’ Nick interjects before Anna can answer.
