A Second Harvest by Eli Easton Read Free Book Online Page B

have some more doctoring to do this afternoon. Can I walk you to your car?”
    Evelyn hesitated, the expression on her face saying she wasn’t sure how to take this. She apparently decided to take it as a compliment. “Of course, David. You may walk me to my car.”
    “This way.” David walked around Evelyn carefully and opened the barn door.
    There was absolutely nothing wrong with Evelyn Robeson, he reminded himself as they walked up the driveway. She was a decent Christian woman. It was purely David’s own fault he wanted nothing to do with her.

Chapter 5
     
     
    THEY WERE in for a dry few days, according to the weatherman, so David mowed the far pasture on Monday. It had been a mild autumn, and the grass had grown tall enough for a late cutting. On Wednesday he ran the baler over the felled grass, leaving bound square bales dotting the field. A shift in the forecast called for rain on Friday, so on Thursday late afternoon, he had to pick up all the bales on the flatbed truck and get them safely stored in the barn before rain ruined them. A farmer lived and died by weather text alerts these days, and David loved his smartphone as much as anybody.
    Storing hay was one of the many preparations he made every year for winter. Once he saw how much hay he’d gotten off his own land, he’d know how much he had to order from the Millers down the road. He needed enough to get his herd through ’til April. His cows had access to the pasture all year round, and they’d dig through the snow to find grass, so he didn’t need as much hay as confinement operations. But there were weeks sometimes when the weather was too bad to let them out. Besides, they loved the soft hay like it was candy.
    He backed his flatbed truck, overloaded with bales, through the huge, wide-open doors on the top story of his bank barn. He set the brake and began unloading the bales and stacking them in front of the bales from previous cuttings.
    River and Tonga were in the barn with him. River lay watching him work, and Tonga hunted the corners for mice. When River gave off a sharp bark and stood up, David turned to see Christie Landon in the open doorway.
    “Hey there, neighbor.” Christie’s voice had a lilting quality that echoed in the big barn.
    “Hey.” David nodded at him and pulled another two bales off the back of the truck by the twine that bound them, but his stomach did an uneasy slide. He still felt humiliated about the way he’d buttoned Christie’s coat for him the last time he came around. He had no idea what he’d been thinking, just that it came automatically to him, an urge to take care of Christie, make sure he was warm. He couldn’t even remember doing that for Joe, at least not since he was a little tyke.
    He shoved the bales in place in the stack he was making.
    Christie fussed over River, who ate it up. He was all about receiving kindness from strangers. Then Christie wandered closer as David moved two more bales from the truck, one in each hand. “Wow, impressive. I bet those aren’t as light as they look.”
    His easy tone made David relax. “Why don’t you try one and see?”
    Christie was carrying a white box that looked like a cake or pie box, and he had the old coat David lent him over one arm. He put the box and the borrowed coat on a beam and then lifted one of the bales from the flatbed. He made a face. “Yeah. What is that, like, forty pounds?”
    “Forty to fifty, I guess.”
    “I should come over here to work out instead of going to the gym in town,” he joked.
    David grabbed two more bales and swung them into place. “Anytime you want to break your back working for me, you’re more than welcome.”
    Christie raised a challenging eyebrow. “Maybe I will. I brought you more cookies. I’ve been channeling Betty Crocker lately, so I could use all the weight lifting I can get.”
    “That’s nice of you, but not necessary.” He stopped and wiped the sleeve of his work shirt over his sweaty