Still, forcing herself to concentrate on the business side of the farm hadn’t removed the unsettled feeling that had spread through her after Emmy’s incident. Or diminished her desire to touch Mitch, whisper words of comfort and ease his mind. To offer strength and support for Emmy and the kids, too, however tiny or insignificant her help might be to them in the long run.
“What do you feel?” Emmy asked after pressing Kristen’s hand toward the ground.
Kristen touched the soil, moist and warm beneath her fingertips. The brief rain showers of last night and this morning had loosened it. She drifted her hand farther across the flat ground, her stomach dropping at the absence of any obstruction, then jolting back up when a soft object brushed against her skin.
“Something small.” Kristen curled her fingers gently around it. Her heart pounded hard, echoing in her head. “Flexible, fragile.”
Emmy untied the blindfold at the back of Kristen’s head and whispered in her ear, “New life.”
The cloth fell away, and Kristen blinked, then focused on the tiny green seedling cradled against her palm. It was barely more than a sprig, less than four inches tall.
“This,” Emmy continued, “is the cotyledon.” She guided Kristen’s pointer finger to the lowest part of the plant, where a tiny green stalklike leaf protruded from the ground. “It doesn’t emerge very far, but it’s the seed leaf, part of the embryo.” Guiding Kristen’s finger farther up the seedling, she stopped at the edge of one of the three small leaves. “See this rounded tip? That means this is the first leaf. And we call the place where it meets the sheath here a collar.” Her tone softened. “It’s at the V-two growth stage, just a baby still. When the collar shows up on the third leaf, it’ll be at V-three.”
“And when I see it on the fourth leaf,” Kristen prompted, “it’ll be V—”
“Four,” Emmy said at the same time. “And so on, till you reach V-ten. After that, you’ll start to see tassels, silk, then kernels.” She smiled and cupped Kristen’s elbow. “Now, help me up, please, and we’ll take a look around.”
Kristen did, glancing at Mitch and returning his warm smile, and then she slowly turned to take in the expansive field surrounding them. Rich red soil was the most visible element, but the delicate tips of thousands of corn seedlings danced in the breeze along perfectly formed parallel lines that met the horizon. The gray clouds, drifting low, sheltered them in a cool cocoon, providing a respite from the late afternoon heat.
“This would’ve made Joe so proud.” Emmy slipped her hand in hers, a slight tremor running through it. “You would’ve made Joe proud, my dear girl.”
A soothing sensation unfurled in Kristen and poured through her veins, filling a little of the emptiness inside her. She leaned closer to Emmy, the older woman’s solid warmth and approving tone making her heart swell. Stirring a deep longing she’d buried with Anna.
What would it be like to have this? To start every day with someone at your side, standing on firm, stable ground where you felt like you belonged? To be a part of something bigger than you could ever become on your own?
“There are so many,” Sadie shouted happily from the edge of the field, Dylan at her side.
“Yep,” Mitch called back, a hint of pride in his voice. “Ms. Kristen’s first crop. I think this calls for a celebration.”
Kristen’s skin heated, and that delicious tingle stirred in her belly.
“Can we go to town for some ice cream?” Dylan asked, smiling.
Sadie bounced in place. “Ice cream,” she squealed. “Can we, Uncle Mitch?”
“Before supper?” Mitch made a concerned face. “I don’t know.”
“Oh, come on, Uncle Mitch,” Dylan said. “It’s Friday. We don’t have school tomorrow. We can eat supper later.”
Mitch smiled at Kristen, the teasing light in his eyes lifting the shadows from his expression and sending a renewed surge of pleasure through her. “What do you say, Kristen?”
She grinned. “I say, you can buy me two scoops.”
The drive into town didn’t take long, and the increasing clusters of storm clouds above provided a blanket of shade across the landscape. The cooler air prompted Kristen to ask Mitch to lower the windows. He did, and a swift breeze swirled through the cab, lifting Kristen’s hair from her face and settling sweetly in her lungs. She turned her head and admired the passing scenery.
Wide ditches sprinkled with tall grass blurred by, and beyond that, every now and then, the distant hills would flatten and a field would emerge. One as big as hers. And as rich with potential.
Her smile grew.
“What kind of ice cream are you gonna get, Ms. Kristen?”
She glanced to her right, where Dylan smiled up at her. He sat in the middle of the backseat this time, between her and Sadie. Seemed her assistance in rescuing his cell phone had gone a long way in thawing his chill toward her.
“Oh, I don’t know. What kinds do they have?”
“All kinds,” Dylan said. “Chocolate, vanilla, rocky road, mint, bubble gum—”
“Bubble gum?” Kristen shuddered.