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Now the biggest boulder had tumbled into the water.
I opened my door to let Casey out then reached in the back seat for one of my ball caps and tugged it on. I grabbed my gloves, stuffing them into my back pocket before I hopped out for a closer look. There were deep ruts into the grass that had been pristine yesterday when I’d left. I jammed my hands on my hips as I peered down into the spring.
At least the boulder had saved the John Deere tractor from being fully submerged. The front grill was half under water and the front tire had been punctured on the way down.
Just as I was about to climb down to take a better look, Justin pulled up.
“Wait!” He leaned out from his window. “I tried that earlier and almost caused a slide. The heavy rain shifted some of the rocks.”
I stepped back onto the muddy grass. “Damn fools.”
Justin did a three-point turn and his black truck backed over the grass to where I was standing. I shook my head at the newest addition to his never-ending alterations on his behemoth of a truck. Metal cutouts over his brake lights gave off a sinister glow with spooky eyes.
He jumped out then hopped into the flatbed to wrestle his winch down toward the tailgate. I helped him lock it into place in the grooves he’d welded to the metal. My brother was nothing if not industrious with his tools.
“We’ll try with just me and I have yours under the tarp in case we need it. It’s pretty wedged in there.”
I nodded. Justin’s engine should be enough to pull it out, depending on just how the rocks moved on us. “So who pulled this stunt?”
Justin glanced at me. “Guess.”
I rolled my eyes. “George.”
“Yep. Found out this morning that Lisa left him right after Christmas. He was a mess at the reception. Think he singlehandedly kicked one of our smaller kegs of Firefly. Then he got into Hayes’ stash.”
“Shit.” Firefly was one of our higher alcohol content hard ciders. Add in the moonshine and my cousin must’ve been feeling no pain. Couldn’t say I blamed him for drinking to forget.
The memories behind my eyelids were plenty strong from only one night. I couldn’t imagine after years of marriage.
My gut tightened as a flash of a halo of blond hair on my pillowcase hit me like a left hook.
“You good?”
“Yeah.” I reached around for my gloves and put them on. “Let’s just get this done.”
The storm had cooled down the temperatures a little, but after two hours of fighting with Jolene, my brother and I were sweating our asses off. It took Justin’s truck and mine to even move the stupid thing a few feet.
If we didn’t get the right leverage, we’d end up having to call in a tow truck from town.
“Remind me to send George the bill for this,” I said as I waded into the water around the front of the tractor.
“Careful. Maybe I should go in and do that.”
“You calling me old, son?”
Justin’s eyes crinkled at the corners. “I’m taller.”
Casey barked from across the spring. I gave him our hand signal to stay. I didn’t need him jumping in the water with me thinking it was some sort of game. The dog laid down with a whine, but didn’t come any further.
“Just get in your truck.” I spun my cap backwards. He might’ve been taller than me, but I couldn’t have Justin out of commission if one of us got hurt. He was our fix-it guy for the whole damn orchard. I moved to the front of the tractor and braced my hands on the front grill.
He stopped at my truck to make sure my winch was locked so the tractor wouldn’t fall any farther forward then hopped into his truck. He waved his arm out the window and gunned the engine.
My arms shook as I pushed, but I finally felt the give of the tire—or what was left of it—as it rocked over the flat piece of shale. It started to crumble, splintering in every direction. I ducked my head, but I felt the sting of a splinter of rock in my cheek.
I heard the whoop of my brother’s voice as the truck moved forward, dragging Jolene out of the spring. I tossed my hat onto the rocks then slid onto my knees in the water and dunked my head.
The burning sun streamed above my head, but the cool silence felt damn good after muscling the son of a bitch out of the crevice. While I was under, I looked around to see if there was any real damage, but the bottom of the spring just had a new boulder to add to its collection.
