“I don’t think your buddy is out there tonight,” I tell Riley as he runs around the yard, tail wagging. I pull the blanket tighter around my shoulders and sit on the porch swing, looking out at the dark yard. It’s another beautiful night, full of stars and an entire orchestra of crickets and katydids, singing their nighttime lullaby.
Pushing off the porch with my feet, I send the swing back and close my eyes, trying to clear my head—which doesn’t work. The more I try not to think about something, the more invasive my thoughts about said thing are.
“Jo?” Louisa calls from inside the house. “Is that you?”
“Yeah, it’s me,” I say back right away, not wanting to freak her out since the front door is open and you can see my shadow cast on the porch from inside the house.
“What are you doing out here?” She wraps her bathrobe around herself and steps up to the screen door, blinking.
“I couldn’t sleep.”
“So, you came out here to get murdered?”
“I’m not going to get murdered,” I tell her. “Riley the fierce guard dog is out here with me. Somewhere. And if someone really wanted to murder me, I’m sure they’d find a way inside the house.”
“Stop making me miss my apartment with doormen and security.”
I let out a laugh. “Sorry if I woke you.”
“You didn’t. Not directly, at least. I got up to pee and saw the light coming in from the porch. Now that I know it’s you and not a murderer, I’m going to go pee.”
“Have fun doing that.” I lean back, looking out at the yard once more. I can’t make out much but I don’t need a lot of light to know the yard is becoming more and more of a jungle as each day goes on. I’m going to have to do something, and I think the most cost-effective option would be to hire someone to come and mow at least once. It’ll tide me over for another two weeks. Though, with the rain in the forecast next week, the grass is going to shoot up again much faster than it did the previous week.
I have a push-mower in my garage in Indy, and while it will take forever to mow the large yard on foot, it’s looking like my only option until I get some extra cash to either fix the old mower in the shed or buy a new one. I looked up the price of getting a pull-behind mower for the tractor we hook up to the manure spreader, and it’s comparable to a new riding lawn mower for some models. But I have absolutely no idea what makes a mower good or not.
The door creaking open startles me and I turn to see my sister coming onto the porch.
“What’s bothering you?” She joins me on the swing, pulling the blanket from my shoulders and tucking it around both of us.
“Nothing.”
“Oh, okay,” she says, tone dripping with sarcasm. Tipping her head in my direction, she raises her eyebrows in waiting.
“I…I think I got played.” No, that doesn’t sound right. I shake my head and try again. “Well, maybe not. Lied to? Maybe? Shit.”
“Back up. What happened?”
Slowly inhaling, I feel my heart start to speed up. Telling Louisa why I’m upset means admitting it to myself. “The vet,” I start, already knowing I’m going to fumble all over my words. “He…he…he really irritates the shit out of me. From day one, he kept dropping subtle hints that I’d never be able to step into Aunt Kim’s shoes when it came to taking care of the horses. At first, I was insulted. But, over time, I really thought maybe he was just concerned. But then, any time I spent with him, he just grated my nerves more and more by reminding me of how hard this is—like I don’t know.”
My nostrils flare as I take in another breath, words coming out uncontrollably fast.
“And he never failed to remind me that he was a vet and just knew so much better. Like, of course you do, and I’d hope you would. Ya know? He’s a freaking veterinarian, after all. He should know more. If he didn’t, I’d find a different vet. But he’s good at what he does—being a vet I mean. And then tonight…tonight we danced and had fun and—fuck, he’s annoyingly good-looking—but I found out that he wants to buy this land. If you go straight through the woods, you end up in his backyard. He wants to expand his animal hospital and needs my land to do so. He lied to me, Lou, the whole fucking time, trying to scare me away.” I shake my head, close to full-on fuming right now.
Only, I’m not just angry. I’m fucking hurt.
“Whoa, that was a lot to unpack. Let me make sure I got this. You have a hot vet who tried to manipulate you into selling the farm?”