I was up with the sun the next morning, and after a quick shower and breakfast, I headed out, calling for Potato as I made my way down the steps. Bess, already up, barred my way. "Where the hell do you think you're going?" she asked coldly, arms folded as she glared at me.
"It's harvest time, Bessie Jane," I said, smirking as her scowl deepened. "I'm going to go lend a hand, and Potato's coming with me, aren't you?"
Potato whinnied as he trotted up to us, and Bess looked even angrier, if that were possible. "Like hell you are," she said. "Have you forgotten your fiance is coming tonight?"
"That's tonight, not now," I said, now angry in turn. "Let me have one day where I can be free before you go attaching that ball and chain to my ankle. Otherwise, I'm hopping on the first train out of here by sunset. I might be doing that anyway, you keep on the way you are."
"You are going nowhere but back inside that house," Bess said, but Potato, finally out of patience, butted her in the back, hard. She stumbled, and that was the opening I needed. I dodged, jumped on Potato's back, and left my sister in a cloud of red dust, alternately coughing and swearing. It was enough to make me smirk as Potato cantered down the hill, but I knew she'd make me pay big when I got back to the house.
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Harvest was in full swing, and while some plantations used machines, Bess believed in doing it the "old fashioned" way. Of course, since the plantation was just so damned big now, it required more hands than she had on hand. So around August, she hired workers, and they made a merry procession as they split up and went to their assigned fields. Potato and I went to the south pasture and before long, we were hard at work. The workers all knew me by name, having helped at harvest many times in the past, and Potato proved a hit as he helped the other horses. He was small, but he was plucky, and all the workers agreed he was worth his weight in cotton.
I hadn't seen Jesse since the night before, and truth be told, I was a little worried there might be a distance between us now that my engagement was a certain thing. But as we made our way to the designated picnic spot - in a nice little copse of pine trees that provided plenty of shade from the hot September sun - I spied him on a chequered red and white blanket that usually served as the tablecloth of his cabin. Potato trotted over for a nose rub, and I smiled as I followed, lugging my lunch - two sandwiches, a slice of watermelon, and a large flask of iced tea. "I thought you'd fallen off the face of the earth," I said, as I plopped on the cloth. "Where were you?"
"North pasture," Jesse said, smiling back at me. "But Big Sam's let me come to the south pasture, so you're going to have to put up with me for the rest of the afternoon. As long as my company isn't too onerous."
"It never is," I assured him. "I take it this means there's no ill feelings after last night?"
"God no," Jesse said emphatically. "I was more pissed at your sister, and I spent half the night dreaming up all sorts of creative ways to hand her ass to her on a silver platter. Thanks for lending me Potato, by the way. The little spud's a good listener."
Potato whickered happily at this, and I laughed. "He's only a good listener because he can't talk back," I said, and I got a very displeased side-eye in response, which only made me laugh harder.
Jesse chuckled. "Are you sure he isn't a smartass put into a horse's body?" he teased, and this got him an equally displeased side-eye from Potato, who decided to go get belly rubs rather than suffer further insults to his person. As he trotted off, head high to go solicit affection, Jesse touched my knee lightly. "Rob's coming tonight, isn't he?"
I nodded, my good mood dying. "I'm half tempted to jump on the first train out of here when we finish," I admitted. "I can bum a lift to Jonesboro and then get a bus to Atlanta."
"But Bess will come after you if you try," Jesse reminded me, and I sighed. "Then again," he added, "if we go via the back roads, she won't be able to catch us. And that horse float I got from Big Sam will carry two of Potato."
As with the night before, I felt the thrill of temptation chase down my spine. "I've got some cash saved up," I said, my brain ticking over as I began to make plans. "We can stop at a courthouse and get married on the way and.... what?" I said irritably, as Jesse began laughing.
"Isn't it usually the man who does the asking?" he teased.
I rolled my eyes. "It's 2024, idiot," I said. "I'll do the asking, thank you very much. And anyway, I know you want to marry me, so let's skip the asking and get to the marrying, mister. Anyway, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted ..." I was, in fact, interrupted again, this time by Jesse's kiss, and once my brain caught up with my body, I happily reciprocated, dimly aware of a few hoots before Big Sam - five foot nothing, ninety pounds soaking wet, and with a very loud and very booming voice - came over and shooed them away. Neither Jesse nor I paid attention, being too busy, and I was very dizzy when he finally let me up for air, grinning down at me. "And that is a taste of what's to come," he said, gently brushing my cheek before helping me into a sitting position. He immediately took the opporturnity to wrap his arms around me, and I closed my eyes, his heartbeat reassuringly close against my ear. Right then, the rest of the world didn't matter, but a shadow soon fell over us and we looked up to see Big Sam watching us, a faint smile on his lips.
"Go take the rest of the afternoon off," he said. "Missus up there is madder than a cut snake, but I didn't see nothin'." He nodded to us before chivvying the rest of the workers back to their positions, and even Potato got included, much to my amusement. Jesse chuckled and kissed the top of my head.
"If Missus is mad as a cut snake," he said, helping me to my feet, "we might as well give her a real reason to be mad, am I right?"
I nodded. "Let's see her try and make me marry that city slicker now," I said, grinning.
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