I’m exhausted from homecoming, and Gran has the nerve to wake me up before the crack of dawn to help her on the farm. I reluctantly slide out of bed, put on her old boots and follow her to the barn. Wiping my eyes, I notice that Barrick isn’t here, and I find that strange. He’s been here every day since I’ve arrived.
“Cadence, I need you to bring in the cows for milkin’,” she says.
“You what?” I ask, knowing I didn’t hear her correctly.
“Girl, you heard me. Go get the cows.”
“Isn’t this Barrick’s job?” I question.
“Barrick has the day off. He’s gone fishing up the mountains with some friends. You, my dear, are going to help me ‘round here today and tomorrow.”
“Gran! Do you know what happened the last time I had to help Barrick?”
She smirks. “Doesn’t matter. I’m going to show you how it’s done. Now come on, daylight’s burnin’ and I don’t plan on being in this barn all day.”
I slowly follow Gran into the milking stations. I watch as she gets everything ready. She turns to look at me. “Cadence, go get the cows, honey.” Well, damn. This morning isn’t starting off as I planned.
I bring the cows in, only touching them when absolutely necessary. Gran has the station ready to go and insists that I help her. She gives me direct instructions on what to do, and I am amazed at how different this is than working with Barrick. She is straightforward, doesn’t try to prank me, and she’s down to business. Before I know it, I’ve successfully milked a cow and we are done for the morning.
When she begins to clean up, I offer to help without being told. Gran smiles at me. When we finish, we head to the house. I smell coffee and pancakes as we walk into the kitchen.
Gran offers to help Mom but she insists we take a seat. She finishes the pancakes and sets them in front of us. My mom’s pancakes are my favorite because she makes them low fat and high in protein just for me.
I get to relax for the remainder of the day so I watch TV, dance in my room, and call Jade to see what she is doing. She doesn’t answer and I can only assume she’s at dance. A few hours later she calls me and confirms my assumption. She tells me that she’s going to The Loft tonight and I should, too. I, however, do not have that on my agenda. I believe I’ll stay home and catch up on the latest Lifetime movie because Gran has already informed me that I’ll be back at the barn before the rooster crows in the morning.
Barrick
It’s strange being away from Ms. Mae’s farm all weekend. I almost feel lost. It’s my first day off in six months. Aaron and a few guys invited me to go camping and fishing this weekend in the mountains. I couldn’t resist after having to attend all of the homecoming festivities yesterday. I swear, I never liked watching all of that when I was in school, but I also know it’s what our town is about.
We arrived at our campsite around ten last night since we had to wait around to find out who was crowned homecoming queen. Luckily for us we aren’t really roughing it. Aaron’s parents have a permanent site, so everything was ready when we arrived. It would not have been fun at all to have to set up a tent that late at night.
We are sitting around the campfire preparing our fishing gear when I think about the look on Maddie’s face when she didn’t win last night. I always knew Jade had it in her to stand up for herself. My mind quickly wanders to Cadence and her dress. She looked amazing and I wish I could have had a dance with her. I don’t think Cadence realizes it yet, but she’s making an impression on this town. I wish she’d come around and realize that Delight isn’t so bad.
“Dude, are you comin’ or what?” Aaron asks.
“Yeah,” I say as I grab my fishing rod and head to the lake.
We sit back and relax as we wait for the fish to bite. I’m so happy I’m not milking a cow right now.
“So what can you tell us about that new girl?” Sam asks.
“What do you mean?” I question.
“You’ve been around her. She’s hot as hell.” Sam states the obvious and I start to laugh.
“She’s hot all right. She’s got a hot temper and I’d hate to cross her ass. She’s a lot like Ms. Mae but she needs a lesson in the respect department. She’s a bitch to Ms. Mae most of the time.”
“I’d hate to be her ‘cause Ms. Mae doesn’t handle that well I’m sure,” Aaron laughs.
“Damn right. She’s made her work every day on the farm since she arrived. Y’all should have seen her when I had her clean the stalls.”
“Please tell me you didn’t make it hard on her?” Aaron asks.
“Hell yeah I did. The way she ran her mouth she deserved it, and when she landed her ass in a pile of shit, I’d have paid money to have that on video.”
“Barrick, you’re kiddin’ right?” Sam asks.
“Nope, and we’ve been making each other’s lives a living hell ever since.”
They all look at each other and I know exactly what they are thinking. They think I like Cadence. Maybe I do, but messing with her is just too much fun to stop and I’d believe she’d say the same thing.