I pulled my phone back out and tapped on Solitaire. Thank God I at least had a few games already downloaded that I could play offline.
But an hour later the phone had beat me more times than I’d beaten it, and as far as I could tell, Jeremiah wasn’t even sleeping as often as he was shifting like he couldn’t get comfortable. And still, the rain hadn’t let up.
“This is ridiculous,” I said, slamming my phone down on the seat between us. “I’m going to go out of my mind with boredom. At least talk to me so I don’t go freaking nuts.”
At first, he didn’t react, but finally, he tipped his hat back, exposing his long-suffering facial features as he looked my way. “Fine. What do you want to talk about?”
“I don’t know—just talk. Like normal people do. You don’t have to make it awkward.”
“Wow, you make such an inviting proposition. No thanks, I think I’ll keep napping.”
I snatched the brim of his hat and yanked it away before he could resettle it over his face. “Oh cut the bullshit, you aren’t even sleeping.”
He glared my way. “Has any one ever told you that you are the most annoying human they’ve ever spent time with in their lives?”
“No. Most people find me delightful.” I plopped his ten-gallon hat on my own head and smiled prettily at him. To which I got an eye roll, naturally.
“Sorry, I don’t do fanclubs.”
“Your loss,” I sing-songed. “Or we could make this interesting and play five-card stud if you aren’t in the mood for talking. I’ve got a deck of cards in my purse.”
He squinted at me. “You just carry around a deck of cards with you everywhere you go?”
I just stared back. “Yeah. Sometimes it takes a long time for food to come at restaurants. And some of us know how to have fun in our lives.”
“While the rest of us are busy working.”
“Oh, please,” I said, reaching down between my feet and pulling up my purse. “I have a job that’s starting after the wedding stuff slows down. A good job. Where I’ll go into an office and everything.”
“An office? Where you have to get dressed up and shit?”
“Yeah, where I get dressed up and shit. Some of us are actual grownups. We can’t all just roll around in the mud with the cows our whole lives.”
He guffawed. “That’s rich coming from you. Plus, I can’t think of anything more grown up than having the well-being of other living creatures resting on your shoulders. There’s no days off, no down time, you know that. This new job, you get to kick off at what? Five o’clock every day?”
I sighed. This conversation was depressing me and that was the opposite of why I’d brought up my new job. I was trying to be excited about it. “I know. And I know I’m gonna miss being out with the animals and the rhythms of the ranch.”
He frowned, not used to me backing down. “You couldn’t find any other ranch work?”
I scoffed. “What am I gonna do, go try to be a hand somewhere? I’m used to running the joint. You know the pay’s shit and where are they even gonna put me? In a bunkhouse? I don’t think so.” I shook my head. “I gotta go forward, and this is where it’s taking me. I met the regional manager of this start up, FarmGro, when I interviewed. Rick’s a great guy. He thinks I’ll be a good fit.”
“I bet he does,” Jeremiah said under his breath.
I smacked him on the arm. “Not like that. Jesus.”
He shrugged. “So what exactly are you gonna do for this Rick guy?”
“Nothing. I don’t even work for him. I’ll be a Precision Technology Specialist.”
“A what now?”
“I’ll do a bunch of things. Install software for growers, train them how to use it, and provide tech support. Then we’ll collect all the data and maps and analyze everything. I’ll do it all, start to finish, even traveling out to the farms to talk to them about what we’ve discovered about their yield cycles.”
I was getting excited again talking about it. I’d actually be able to put my ag degree to use. Not at all in the way I thought I would by running my own ranch—but still in a really practical way that would help farmers get better usage out of their land, water, and resources. Rick had an amazing vision with his startup. He was basically trying to save the planet—in his small way, anyway. It was inspiring, and I was excited to be a part of it. Well, I was trying to be excited.
“So, what? You’ll live in Austin and just drive out to farms in the hill country?”
I bit my lip as I shuffled the cards. “Well, I’ll do my training in Dripping Springs shadowing with a Tech Specialist there, but if everything goes well, then I’ll be moving to Fort Worth at the end of the year.” Shit, why did I just tell him that? I looked up. “Don’t tell Charlie, though. I haven’t told her yet, what with the wedding and everything she’s got on her plate right now.”