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“It isn’t. It’s our turn, that’s all.”
“That’s all it is,” Alan agreed.
The exchange was small, but Kate heard everything behind it. Neither of her parents thought friendship should be counted in favors. They only wanted to give something back.
Alan climbed onto the tractor, and Janice settled beside him with Penny safely between them for the slow trip across the adjoining land. Kate chose to walk, partly because there was not really room and partly because she liked watching the improbable little procession move ahead of her: her father driving his recently acquired tractor, her mother holding on to Penny, the empty trailer bumping behind them while Fox stared backward from beneath Penny’s arm.
A week ago, none of this had been part of Kate’s life. Now it looked strangely ordinary. When had she stopped seeing it as her parents’ adventure and started walking behind the trailer as if she belonged in the line? She shifted her coffee to her other hand and kept pace.
Wes’s orchard was already busy when they crossed the boundary. Pickers were working several rows at once, ladders angled into the trees and picking bags filling quickly. A tractor moved slowly uphill with a loaded trailer, while nearer the packing barn several full bins waited to be taken in.
Wes was speaking to one of the crew when he heard the Harlands’ tractor. He turned. Even from a distance, Kate saw the surprise on his face. Then he smiled.
His gaze found Alan first, taking in the tractor and empty trailer, before moving to Janice and Penny. Finally, it came to Kate. That look was different. Only slightly. Kate felt the warmth of it before he had come anywhere near her.
Alan switched off the engine as Wes approached. “I thought you might be able to use this.”
Wes looked at the trailer and then back at him. “I was going to call you later and ask whether I could borrow it.”
“Then I’ve saved you the call. We’re not using it today, and I’m tired of looking at it sitting there while your place sounds like a rail yard.”
“You sure you won’t need it?” Wes asked.
“My lower block is still not ready, as everybody keeps reminding me.”
“It’s getting close.”
Alan’s whole expression changed. “How close?”
Wes laughed. “You really have been waiting for me to say that, haven’t you?”
“I’ve been waiting for somebody to tell me I’m allowed to start.”
“You own the orchard. You don’t need permission.”
“I need somebody who’s done this before to tell me I’m not about to ruin the first crop I’ve ever owned.”
Alan said it plainly.
Wes rested one hand on the side of the trailer. “Then I’ll come over later and we’ll look again. For today, I can definitely use this.”
“Good. Tell me where you want it.”
Wes did. There was no ceremony after that.
Alan restarted the tractor and followed Wes’s directions toward the lower block.
Janice looked toward the packing area, where two people were moving empty containers back toward the rows. “What can we do?”
Wes looked around before answering. “If you’re happy to help with the fruit coming out of the lower rows, that would be useful. The crew knows what they’re doing, but we’ve brought more people onto that section and everything around them is starting to back up.”
“That sounds straightforward enough.”
“It is. If you’re not sure about anything, ask. Nobody expects you to know my orchard because you’ve spent a couple of weeks living next door to it.”
Janice smiled. “That’s reassuring.”
Kate waited until her mother had gone before she looked at him. “And me?”
