To Not Let Go

Chapter Twenty Three

           Renne parked her truck beside the empty fifth wheel trailer in the field. Glancing out over the golden field, her eyes focused on the man working the tractor. A grin spread over her face as the handsome figure made his way towards her, idling the tractor down, the driver hopping out of the cab. 

         "Good morning." Swayde greeted, wrapping an arm around Renne's waist as he pulled her up to him in a kiss. Pulling back, Swayde pushed his cowboy hat back down on his head, but only after wiping sweat from his brow. 

         "Good morning, handsome." Renne smiled up at her boyfriend. "Man, we had to choose the hottest day to bale straw, didn't we?" 

        "That's how it usually goes. The rest of the guys should be here within an hour. Do you want to drive the other tractor to start picking up bales?" Swayde asked, turning around to walk back to the tractor he was using to bale the straw. 

         "If that's what you want me to do, sure. You're the boss." Renne winked, walking towards the antique tractor at the edge of the field. 

        Swayde was right. Within an hour, almost all of the guys had shown up to help. The group was like worker bees: they knew their job, where they were supposed to be, and how to get a lot of work done efficiently and quickly.  

       Once Renne's hauler was full, she dumped it next to the fifth wheel trailer where the guys would start stacking it to haul back to the ranch, while she went to pick up more bales. 

         The team worked efficiently while still pacing themselves so they wouldn't get worn out too quickly; they had a very long, exhausting day ahead of them. 

         After only a few hours, this whole field of straw had been baled and stacked onto the trailer. With the trailer full, three of the guys went to start unloading it into the barn, leaving Swayde, Renne, Bernie, Kyle, and one of their other buddies to start baling the next field. 

         As Renne pulled the tractor into the next field, she saw a truck pulling in. A truck that could only belong to one person. Idling down the tractor, Renne hopped from the cab, walking over to the drive of the pickup truck. 

          "Hey, how are you? I hope it's okay if I am here." The driver said, stepping out from the truck. 

            "Hey, Doug. It is more than okay that you are here." Renne pulled her brother-in-law into a hug. "It's really good to see you." 

          Doug married Renne's sister, Mallory a few years back. When Mallory got diagnosed with breast cancer, Doug did everything he could to help, and still take care of Mallory's four kids. Admittedly, things had been hard on Doug, and still coming around to family functions without Mallory there just seemed awkward, and almost weird. 

           "It's good to see you too. I brought the kids over. They refused to stay at home and do chores." Doug chuckled, then sniffed. 

          Renne looked behind her brother-in-law to see her three nieces and nephew. She had missed the kids; seeing them made a guilty feeling swell up in Renne's stomach. One of the only things that Mallory had asked of her sister when she was dying was to help Doug look over her kids. Regretfully, life had been so busy for Renne recently that she hadn't followed through on her promise. However, seeing the kids now, Renne made herself a promise to be a better aunt, and make time to be with her sister's children. 

         "Hey kiddos. I have missed you. How are y'all?" Renne gave each of her sister's kids a huge bear hug, their familiar scent filling her nostrils, giving her a warm, comfortable feeling.