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“Excuse me, Mrs. Hansen, but I need to ask Mother a question.”
“I’ll leave.”
“No, no. Don’t leave.” She ducked toward Katherine.
“Mother, you know that quilt we finished?” She still couldn’t get used to calling her new ma Mother. Maybe one day she would.
Katherine smiled. “Yes.”
“Well, I know I made it for Michael for Christmas, but I was wonderin’ iffen I could have it now.”
Katherine paused, a confused look on her face.
“Is that all right?”
“Oh, sure, sure. You just took me by surprise is all.”
“What do you need the quilt for?” a neighbor standing nearby asked.
“You’ll see. It’s a surprise.”
“Oh, I love surprises,” Katherine chirped. “I’ll go get it.”
“No. Not yet. Iffen it’s all the same to you, I’ll get it when I’m ready.”
“That’s fine, Selina.”
“Thank you kindly.” She gave her a quick hug and raced back to the barn.
Horse flesh, hay and saddle oil swirled up her nose. And so did dust. Oh oh. She felt a sneeze coming on. Achoo! It echoed through the barn.
“Selina’s here,” she heard Michael say from inside the tack room.
“How do you know it’s her?” Jake asked.
“I know her sneeze.”
“You two are strange. You know that?”
“Yep. Makes life interesting.” Michael stepped out of the tack room with Jake on his heels.
“What you got there?” she asked Michael.
“Prizes.”
“Jumpin’ crickets! You’re giving them away?” Her attention stuck on the brand-new halters in Michael’s hand.
“Yep.”
“Those sure are mighty nice prizes. Ain’t ever gave anythin’ that nice before back home.”
“What did you give for prizes?”
“Oh, jars of preserves and pies and sometimes a pocket knife iffen it was a good crop year.”
“Those sound like nice prizes,” Michael said.
“I agree.” Jake licked his lips and rubbed his belly.
When they finished gathering and setting everything up, the three of them climbed onto Katherine’s porch and Michael rang the bell.
Everyone stopped talking and the kids stopped playing. All attention was on her husband.
“This year, I want to do something different,” Michael announced. “Something fun.” He pulled Selina to him and tucked her under his arm. “Back in Kentucky, where my wife is from, when the harvesting is over, they have a get-together something like this. Only they hold contests. They even give away prizes.”
Selina saw the surprised look on everyone’s faces, especially her brothers- and sisters-in-law.
“So that’s what we’re going to do. First, we’re going to start with an ax-throwing contest. Anyone who wants to participate can follow me when I’m finished talking. The other contests will be…” She listened as Michael explained the rest. When he finished talking, there was silence.
Selina’s heart sank.
Michael’s smile vanished.
Jake looked shocked and angry.
Suddenly, whoops and hollers filled the air.
Selina found herself being picked up and swung around. “Put me down, you ole polecat. We got contests to run.” She giggled.
Three hours later, the last contest was the sack race.
“Come on.” Michael grabbed Selina’s hand and took her over to the table where the empty gunnysacks were lying. He picked one up and tugged on her hand, pulling her to the starting line.
“I can’t do that with you, Michael. I’m too short and you’re too tall.”
“If it gets complicated, I’ll carry you.”
She hesitated. “I don’t know.”
“Chicken.”
“Polecat. You got yourself a partner.”
“Sure do.” He winked at her and her heart winked in return. Only he couldn’t see her heart, so she flashed him a wink of her own, and he chuckled.
Excitement and anticipation bubbled over her like water over river rocks.
At the starting line, they each put a leg into the gunnysack. A feeling of being protected washed over her. She’d always had to be the protector, and now she had a sense she could give that job to Michael. After all, wasn’t that what God intended all along?
“Ready?”
“Sure am.”
“Then put your arm around my waist.” He smiled down at her. That one dimple peeked at her.
“Oh” was all she could manage. Her arm slipped around him. Being this close to him always turned her mind to mush.
She glanced to the left. Six other teams had joined them. Two couples, whose names she couldn’t remember. And Tom and Sadie, which surprised Selina since it hadn’t been all that long ago that Sadie had had her baby. But one thing she knew about Sadie, she came from tough stock. Sadie leaned past her husband and smiled at Selina.
