The Farmer's Daughter

Chapter 6

I sat beside her on the back porch in the rocking chair to her left. I took the sweet iced tea from her outstretched hand and smiled at her, silently thanking her. The sun was in and out of behind the clouds as if playing peek-a-boo with the people below, and because of this it wasn’t hot enough to take a trip out to the stream. We went out into the woods plenty of times when the day was too hot and we needed to cool down. Going was never planned, it was a spur of the moment decision that ended with us in the water wearing nothing but our undergarments. 

I sipped the sweet iced tea as I looked over the fields before me. A sort of longing settled in the pit of my stomach. It was my last day working for Old Man Miller and I knew I was going to miss this place and the heat of the sun pouring down on me as I worked and listened to the mooing of cows in the background like music. I was going to miss walking with Amber to visit Misty, and going to take a dip in the stream when the days were hot. Instead, starting the next day, I would wake up early and go to a different kind of field: a football field. I would still run around under the unforgiving sun, but I would be with a team of guys, the only sound around would be the huffing and puffing of those of us out of breath from letting our selves go on the off season. I sigh. She hears my sigh and smiles at me as of she knows what I’m thinking, and for some reason I think she does. 

She reached her left hand toward me and softly placed it over my right hand. “Are you excited?” she asked, and as if it wasn’t enough she added, “about tomorrow?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I am.”

She smiled, pleased with my answer and kept her hand over mine. I liked the feel of it there so I was glad she hadn’t taken it back. “You’re going to be a great addition to the team.”

I chuckled. “Thanks, but how would you know? You haven’t even seen me play.”

“Well, you’re a hard worker, so even if you’re bad you’re gonna be good.”

I laughed. “Thanks, Amber.”

She laughed with me. We laughed until it wasn’t funny anymore. Then we just sat in a comfortable silence. The rocking chairs rhythmically squeaked as we rocked back and forth. A subtle wind blew around us and over our faces, cooling us in the midst of the dry heat around us. 

Beside me Amber sighed, she seemed to be doing that a lot recently, but I didn’t know why. “I’m gonna miss you being here everyday,” she said. 

“I’m surprised you’re not sick of me yet,” I replied, following it with a low chuckle. 

I watched her slowly shake her head. “I could never be sick of you.” 

A small smile turned the corner of my lips up. She was so damn cute, and everyday I was with her she became cuter. It was moments like this that I wanted to place my hand on the back of her neck and press my lips against hers, but I couldn’t. I still had Amanda back in Atlanta, and even though I had seriously considered breaking it off with her I couldn’t bring myself to actually do it. 

“You’ll get to see me everyday when school starts in a week. You shouldn’t miss me too much.”

“Plus I’ll see you tomorrow after practice,” she agreed. 

I rose my eyebrows at her. “You’re going out with us tomorrow?”

She nodded cooly and nodded her head once. “Yeah. Bryce called me up yesterday and invited me. Said that some of the guys were bringing dates and the party wouldn’t be good without me, which I doubt.”

I chuckled. “Nah, he hit that nail pretty much on the head. I just feel dumb for not inviting you myself.”

“You should,” she joked. “I’m the life of the party.”