Country Mage 2, page 20
He grinned and followed her inside.
He had been in the farmhouse before; it was a place in need of some renovation and repair. Corinne had been clear about the history of the place — it had been in her family for generations. But she was the last of her family to still live here, and she was all alone to boot.
The place needed the care of more than one person, especially if you counted the farm and as grounds.
Corinne and James sat down at the old table in the kitchen. The wooden chair creaked when James placed his weight on it.
But the coffee was good. Corinne knew how to brew a mean cup, and he enjoyed it profoundly as she rummaged around the kitchen, fixing up a few light snack to go with the coffee.
When she was done, she sat down beside him and shot him a broad smile, making her freckles dance on her face.
“So,” he began. “What’s the plan for today, Corinne?”
She folded her hands on the table before her. “Well,” she said. “I’ve been thinking about what I need help with, and…” She hesitated for a moment, her eyes drifting to the checkerboard tablecloth. “Well, I have to admit, it’s not the most sensational job.”
He laughed. “Out with it!”
She grinned. “I need some help to pick the potatoes? Most are ready to be harvested now.”
“Sure!” he said. “Sounds like honest work.”
She sighed with relief. “Good,” she said. “I’m happy that you’re up for it. I will help out for most of the morning, but after lunch I’d like to go into the house and do some work here, ya know? I really need to clean up.”
“That sounds perfect,” James said. “Look, if you want me to, I can stay all day?”
She bit her lip as her eyes widened. “Really?” She said. “That’s great! I’ll cook for ya and… well, you can stay the night if you want to. I’d actually like that… a lot.”
He reached out and placed his hands over hers with a smile. “I’d love to,” he said. “It sounds great. We’ll work our asses off, and then will kick back, eat some nice food, and relax.”
She clapped her hands enthusiastically. “Yes, please!” she said. “It’s been way too long since I’ve had fun around here.”
He grinned and downed his coffee, then took a chocolate chip cookie from the platter she had placed on the table. “I’ll have this one on the way out,” he said. “Let’s get started!”
Chapter 40
As James and Corinne headed out into the fields together, Corinne explained to James that potatoes were ready to be harvested once the top foliage had dried.
“For early potatoes,” she said. “It’s best to wait until the flowers are gone. But then we’re talking June or July. These potatoes are my main crop. And in that case, my dad taught me it’s best to wait until all the leaves and stems are yellow or brown. Like this.”
She gestured at a stretch of land where neat rows of potatoes had been planted, their foliage turning yellow or brown, as she had indicated.
“Over there,” Corinne said. “Is my second main crop.” She pointed at several more of those neat rows of potatoes in an adjacent field. Although they were yellowing at the tops, they were still green at the base.
“I planted those later,” she said. “It’s a necessity when you don’t have a lot of staff to make sure that you don’t have to harvest your entire potato crop in one go. That it be too much work, and I would lose some of the harvest.”
Next, she showed him how to dig up the tubers using a spading fork. No doubt the large agricultural companies had machinery to do this work, but Corinne still relied on good old-fashioned elbow grease.
“Most of the farmers around these parts are small families like mine was,” she explained as she dug up the big potatoes with considerable skill and care, then handing James the fork to let him try.
“And we don’t really compete with the agricultural giants,” she continued, watching him work. “With the population of Tour being so sparse, it doesn’t really pay for them to invest in this type of small town. We simply don’t buy enough in bulk.”
James nodded, turning the earth with the garden fork. It took him some time to find a way to do it that was comfortable and still allowed him plenty of leverage to do the work correctly.
But with Corinne’s pointers and experience, he was quick to pick it up.
The trick was really to turn the earth in a way that didn’t damage the tubers themselves.
“If you damage them too much,” Corinne explained. “They will rot in storage.”
“Storage?” James asked, rubbing his forehead. “They’re not going directly to market?”
Corinne shook her head as she took over the garden fork, placed it at the edge of one of the plants, and gently lifted it out of the earth, revealing a bundle of mature potatoes.
“No,” she said. “The early harvests — the ones from June and July — go straight to market; they don’t keep for long. But these are the main crop. You let them ripen in the earth longer than the early crop. And you don’t take them out until the skin is like this.”
She picked up one of the big potatoes and rubbed her thumb over the skin. “Look here,” she said. “The skin is thick and firmly attached to the flesh. Ya see? When you take potatoes like these and store them at about forty-five to sixty degrees for, say, two weeks, they will cure and keep for a longer time.”
James nodded as she handed him the garden fork again. He mimicked her movements, pushing the prongs into the thick soil at the edge of one of the potato plans, then lifting the whole thing out of the soil. He watched with satisfaction as the big potatoes dangled from the roots of the plant.
“So you sell these to Lucy after they are cured?” he asked.
“Yup,” she said. “When we had bigger harvests, we used to sell them to a couple of other towns as well. But I don’t have the manpower to plant more than this.” She threw him a hopeful, green-eyed look. “But maybe that will change in the future.”
He grinned. “I plan to be around for some time,” he said. “I can help you. But I would like to find some kind of spell to make this process a little easier.”
She looked at him with surprise and a touch of wonder. “That sounds great,” she said. “I think that could help a lot. I ain’t gonna pretend I won’t appreciate your help.”
He smiled and nodded. “It’d be good practice for me to find some proper spells to help you out.”
“You’re a lifesaver,” she said. “Why don’t you finish his row, and I’ll check on the next?”
He nodded. “Sure,” he said. “No problem.”
She grinned and gave him a hug before moving away to check on some of her other crops. James did as she had showed him and kept harvesting potatoes, leaving the yield on the ground to be picked up later.
It was pleasant work — hard but rewarding. To see the soil yield fresh produce that would feed the people of Tour — and probably end up on his own table — had a certain appeal that James had not experienced before.
And so, he worked with satisfaction, whistling a tune to himself as the earth yielded its treasures to him and the sun crawled across the sky, smiling down on his neck and shoulders.
As James worked, part of him wondered if there would not be a spell accessible to him that ease the job. But then again, doing the work by hand was enjoyable. He got to know the land and the work, and the focus required for the physical labor allowed him to relax mentally.
Busy hands, quiet mind, after all.
After a few hours, Corinne came to check on him. She grinned broadly and clapped her hands. “Wow!” she exclaimed. “You’re really good at this.”
“Thanks,” James replied with a smile. “It’s actually a lot of fun!”
She laughed and stepped forward to put her arms around his waist. Her hands went under his shirt and caressed his stomach.
With a smile, he stabbed the garden fork into the earth and placed his hands over hers as they stood in the sunlight together, swaying lightly. She kissed his neck as a soft breeze picked up and played through their hair, cooling the sweat on their brows.
“You know,” Corinne said. “I could get used to having you around here.”
He smiled, giving her hand a squeeze. “Me too,” he said. “This is pretty much perfect.”
Her lips found his, kissing him softly at first, then with growing passion.
“Hmm,” she then hummed, drawing back. “Let’s not get carried away, cowboy. We still have some work to do.”
“Of course,” he agreed, pulling off his shirt, letting the warm, summer air cool the sweat on his chest and abs.
She bit her lip as she let her emerald eyes wander over his physique. “No fair!” she exclaimed.
He laughed. “What? It’s hot.”
“It sure is,” she crooned, giving him a playful poke. “I’ll make us lunch in a few minutes, okay? After that, I got some stuff to do around the house, but I’ll be back to check on you.”
“Sure,” he said. “Let’s take it easy.”
She winked at him before she sauntered over back to her own stretch of the fields, ready to continue our work.
He watched her go with a smile on his lips. She was a good woman, and he enjoyed her company, and it was very nice to know that the feeling was mutual.
Corinne and James ate lunch together on a blanket in the field — a little picnic just for the two of them.
Corinne had prepared sandwiches and a light fruit salad to go with them. It was a reinvigorating meal, and it combined with Corinne’s home-brewed coffee to revitalize James for the day to come.
As James took another bite from his sandwich, Corinne threw him a sideways glance. She lay on her side on the blanket, propped up on her elbow, and she had kicked her cowboy boots off, revealing her dainty feet.
“I wasn’t kidding, you know?” she said after a brief silence.
James looked at her. “Kidding about what?” he asked.
She pressed her lips into a thin line as she considered her next words, then took the plunge.
“About having you here.” She sat up, a sudden worry spreading on her pretty face. “I mean, I don’t want to intimidate ya, but… Well, I ain’t gonna lie. I like you, James. Today, being with you like this… I reckon it’s perfect.”
“And I wasn’t kidding when I said I agreed,” James said. “But my place is at the cabin for now. There is some kind of connection between me and that place — something I need to explore before I move on.”
She nodded. “Well, I understand that. Still, I would like us to spend more time together, y’know?”
He reached out to take up her hand. “Come stay with me,” he said. “A few days a week.”
Her green eyes brightened. “You mean that?”
“Absolutely,” James said. “I want to have you around. All the time, if it were possible.”
She gave him a slow smile and leaned in to kiss him.
James kissed her back, running his fingers over the curve of her cheek, then down to her neck. He pulled back and stared deeply into her emerald eyes.
“I like you,” he said. “It’s as simple as that. From the moment I saw you coming out of that barn.”
She laughed, sincerely and deeply, until tears formed in her eyes. “Yeah,” she finally said when she recovered. “I remember that. I looked like absolute shit.”
“Hot shit,” James corrected her.
She grinned and gave him a playful push.
“I’m not even joking,” James continued. “You look better in a dirty shirt and old overalls than any girl flaunting around the city in expensive clothes and makeup. You are beautiful on your own, just the way you are.”
She sighed and leaned into him, at a loss for words.
“And I want you here with me,” James continued. “To share my life, my home, everything.”
She nodded. “Yes,” she said. “I would like that.”
James smiled at the joy that spread across her face. It was the expression of a woman who had been waiting for someone like him for so long.
“But what about the others?” she asked. “What about Lucy? And what about Sara?”
“How I feel about them doesn’t change how I feel about you,” he said. “In time, I would want all of us to be together. You can bet I will ask Lucy the same thing in time — to come join me at the cabin.”
She laughed. “That might get very crowded.”
He grinned. “Crowded in a good way,” he joked. “But yeah, I would need to expand the place to make sure there’s plenty of room for all of us.”
“And what about the farmhouse?” she asked.
“We’ll see about the farmhouse when the time comes,” he said. “It’s been in your family for so long, we could try to restore it to its former glory. Hell, we might even make it into a bed-and-breakfast or something. I bet people would love staying in a rustic country house like that.”
She thought for a moment, bringing a slender finger to her lips. “Hmm,” she hummed. “You know, that’s not such a bad idea.”
“I have my moments,” James said.
She laughed. “You certainly do.”
With a smile, James looked up at the sky before turning back to Corinne. “You know,” he said. “I’m glad we had this talk.”
She smiled, her cheeks flushing a little, which made her look lovely in the sunlight.
“I had to get it off my chest,” she said. “I’ve been thinking about you a lot, James. And not just since we had our date at the lake, but before that as well. It feels…” She shook her head. “It feels like it’s fate. Weird, huh?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Ever since I came to Tour, I learned that most things I believed about the world are either not true or way too limited. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is actually something like fate that draws people together. And if so, I think fate wrote you and me in the stars.”
She blushed and nestled against him, placing a soft kiss on his bare shoulder.
James smiled and kissed her on the top of her head, smelling the sun on her beautiful red hair. Then he threw another look at the sky.
“All right,” he said. “I think lunchtime is long past. What do you say we get back to it?”
She grinned and nodded. “Yeah,” she said. “If you can get back to the harvest, that would be great. I have some work to do around the house, which I wouldn’t of gotten around to if you hadn’t been so nice to come and help me here today.” She placed another kiss on his arm. “I’m really happy that you did.”
“So am I,” James said. Then he gave her a pat on her rump as he rose to his feet. “All right, back to work.”
Chapter 41
The hard work helped pass the day quickly. At the end of the afternoon, James surveyed his handiwork with satisfaction: he had picked clean every row of potatoes that had been ready to harvest, leaving neat piles of the tubers along the rows.
He got to work gathering them all — one wheelbarrow at a time — and moving them to the barn where they could cure for a week or two. The task took him what remained of the daylight.
When the last load was laid out in the barn, James went outside and narrowed his eyes at the sun on its way west. It promised to be a beautiful sunset, and James was looking forward to enjoying it with Corinne.
A smile broke across his face as he thought of her, and he began walking toward her farmhouse. As he approached, he saw the front door open and Corinne emerge, still dressed in her Daisy Dukes and her tank top. She waved at him.
“How’d it go, cowboy?” she asked once he got closer.
“Pretty good,” he said. “I got all the potatoes that were ready to harvest and laid them out in the barn in a single layer so they can cure.”
She grinned and flashed him a thumbs-up. “Perfect! You go relax. I will make us dinner.”
James didn’t need to hear that twice. He gave her a kiss on her soft cheek, then headed into the farmhouse. Throughout the day, the house had remained nice and cool, and it was a delight to relax at the kitchen table while Corinne bustled about in the kitchen.
Like her, he could get used to this.
He watched her from his chair, admiring her toned figure in the skimpy farmgirl attire.
“So,” he said. “What’s for dinner tonight?”
She smiled at him over her shoulder. “Homemade baked fries, cowboy,” she said. “And I got us a couple of steaks from Lucy’s general store. I reckon that and some veg straight from the farm should keep ya happy, huh?”
His stomach growled. “That sounds perfect,” he said.
“Good,” she said with a chuckle. “And you’ll find I make a mean steak, too. My dad taught me, and if there was anything that man was picky about, it was his meat.”
“Sounds like my kinda guy,” James said, folding his hands behind his head and stretching his long legs under the table.
She smiled softly. “I suspect you two would’ve gotten along perfectly.”
She had told him her father had passed away three years ago, leaving her in charge of the farm. She had hinted his death had been sudden and unexpected, and judging by how often she mentioned him, James reckoned they were close.
“Do you miss him?” James asked.
She gave a wistful smile. “Every day. He was a good man, the kind who looks out for his own.” She glanced at him over her shoulder. “I’m sure many people would’ve called him a simple man. Maybe even dumb. But to me, he was a hero. And I want nothing else than to be here and to do this. I love farming. I like that it’s close to the earth. I like that it provides sustenance, and I like that it requires a lot of care and love.”
“And you’re good at it,” James said. “You’re good at it because you love it.”
She turned around and faced him, leaning against the counter with crossed arms.
“Yes. Exactly. Thanks for saying that. You know, sometimes I wonder if I’m doing wrong by just staying here.” She chuckled and shook her head. “I wonder if I’m not clinging to the past, and if it wouldn’t be better for me to just move on. Go to the city. Get a job there.”
