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“Just, okay?”
“Maybe we had some issues, but we never talked about it.” He had wondered if that had been the problem. Had it been over, and he hadn’t even realized it?
“I think it is getting heavy in here. You must have work for me to do.” She got up off the stool.
Leaving the dishes on the counter, they got their boots on, and Tess pulled her sweatshirt back over her head, covering her tight T-shirt. He missed it already.
Once outside, he asked, “Did you want to continue in the barn or go with me to check for new calves?”
Her gray eyes lit up. “Do you even have to ask? Calves.”
“Let’s go then,” he replied and grabbed her hand, heading towards the back of the house where the cow pen was. He slowed his steps to match hers as they went, though he didn’t let go of her hand. He couldn’t even force himself to.
Once they were in view, she started to ask about the cows. Nothing in general about them, but specifics about certain cows—how old is that one, does that one have a name, does that one get along with another one? He had expected her to be a little frightened about the large animals. When people who have never been around them get close to them, the person usually gets nervous, but not Tess. At one point, she walked up to one and petted its head until the cow wandered off.
How many days would it take for her to lose her excitement over the black creatures, to be uninterested in them at all like Karen?
Walking back to the yard after no babies were found, he thought she was a little disappointed. After making sure she had gloves on, he left her in the barn again. She went willingly.
After two hours, he went to check on her again, finding her sweeping the barn floor. He stopped her—sweeping was a little too much for the barn floor. But it was cleaner than even he would have left it.
His next project for her was a dirty one. A few weeks ago, he had removed all the grain from one of his steel bins, but it needed to be swept and cleaned of the remaining grain. It was a dusty and dirty job, perfect for the prissy bank president to end her day.
After opening the door, he leaned into the cavernous steel circle. She did the same, looking to see what he was seeing. Their shoulders were touching as he said, “I need this cleaned. All the grain goes into those pails, and it needs to be swept after you’re done.”
He looked over at her and thought that she was going to say something but held back.
Soon she asked, “Can I say no?”
“You still owe me two hours.” Looking at his watch, he knew he had found something that was too dirty for her, too hard. This was what it was going to take to make her run.
“Anything else you can have me do?” She continued to look in the bin and started chewing on her lip.
“Scared?” He almost let her off the hook, almost.
“No, wheat dust makes me break out in hives.” She sneezed twice as she said it.
“I think you can do it. You can clean up some grain, can’t you? Or is this too hard after spending too much time in an office?” he taunted her as she backed away from the open door.
“Then I can leave?” She was looking into the bin still, just a few more steps from it.
“Yup, then you are done.” He hated the disappointment he felt; he’d had a fun day with her.
As he watched her stare into the bin, he really wanted to tell her she didn’t need to do this, but she had nearly run from the task. This was the one that would show him she wasn’t someone he should waste his time with. After her performance all day, he had been able to see her here. He thought she’d enjoy being here, thrive here, but that wasn’t what this day was about. He needed to be reminded that she didn’t thrive here. She didn’t belong.
CHAPTER8
Tess lookedaround the bin full of grain and its evil dust. The sun was shining into the bin, and she could see the dust spinning in the air around her. The storage container was bigger than anything her dad or brothers had by a lot. Everything on Mathias’s farm was bigger and newer than she was used to.
She sighed as she pulled the gloves back on, knowing they would slow her down, but her hands would be swollen to twice their size tomorrow if she didn’t wear them. After pulling the top of her sweatshirt over her lower face and tightening the hood over her hair, she hoped it would be enough but knew it wouldn’t be. Nothing ever was.
By the time she was twelve, her father had stopped making her help with wheat at all. It occasionally made her sick enough to be hospitalized, and he didn’t have the time or money for that. She should just leave, but she wouldn’t give Mathias the satisfaction of seeing her leave with work unfinished.
Already sneezing before she even started, her eyes were watering within minutes of stepping into the bin, and her cough started before she was half done. Her chest and arms were on fire from the itchiness of the hives that she knew were there. By the time she started sweeping the last of the kernels up, she knew she would be calling in sick the next day, and maybe the day after that as well.
As she put the filled pails in the grass alongside the broom and shovel, she wanted to lay down and catch her breath in the dustless air, but she knew she had to get home and showered. Pulling off her sweatshirt to get some of the dust off her, she laid it on a chair outside the house. She pulled off the borrowed boots but left her socks on, then grabbed her bags and left the house. Halfway to the car, she realized she had not put on shoes. She was still in her stockings. But she didn’t care and was not going back.
Getting into the car, she leaned back on the seat and knew the hives were forming on her back too. They must be everywhere. Starting the car, she saw that it was only 3:45 pm. It had taken her around forty-five minutes to get the job done.
