“Will this farm have lots of animals?” he asked.
“There are some animals on the farm,” I assured him. “Are there any other questions?”
A couple students raised their hands. “Yes, Renee?”
“Will they have stuff for us to buy? Like ice cream? My aunt and uncle sell ice cream on their farm,” Renee said.
I shook my head. “While I’m sure they’ll have items available for you to be able to purchase, they won’t have ice cream. This isn’t a dairy farm. But to add to that, make sure that your parents not only sign the permission slip, but also check the appropriate boxes regarding food. There’s a section about whether you’ll be packing your own lunch or if you’ll be getting a bagged lunch from the cafeteria. And, there may be an opportunity to try different foods at the farm, so they’ll need to give their approval for you to have any foods while you are there. Luca, did you have a question?”
“I didn’t know there were different kinds of farms.”
“There are,” I began. “It sounds like Renee’s aunt and uncle have a dairy farm. Dairy farms have lots of cows and are responsible for giving us things like milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream. But there are so many other types of farms. The one we’ll be going to is a family farm. Like I said before, they do have some livestock on the farm, but their primary focus is farming crops. Places like the Donovan Family Farm are responsible for growing all sorts of fruits and vegetables. The crops they grow will depend on the time of year and what’s in season. Luckily, you’ll get to learn all about a family farm when we visit there at the beginning of next month.”
As excited as my students were about the field trip to the farm, I was just as excited. When Riggs and I had been out picking apples on Monday, I asked him if they did tours.
“Tours?” he asked.
“Of the farm,” I clarified. “When I teach a specific topic at school, particularly for science class, I like to have a way to tie everything that the students have learned together. We’re starting a lesson on the human body next, which is going to lead into our next segment on the food groups. I was thinking a trip to a farm might be a great way to reinforce some of the lessons.”
Riggs gave me a nod of understanding. “Right. Yeah, we do school tours. But to be honest, I don’t know anything about getting them set up. I’ll handle most of the tour when the kids are here, but Piper and Eden work out the logistics. We can talk to them about it when we head back down to the market this afternoon.”
“That would be great,” I returned.
And later that afternoon, after we’d picked more apples than I ever thought possible in a few hours, Riggs walked with me back down to the market so I could talk to his sisters about the school field trip.
Piper and Eden had been excited about it right from the start. They gave me all the information I needed to take back with me to school so that we could finalize the trip and get it set up.
Now that we’d gotten it all set up and I had handed out permission slips, it was merely a matter of waiting for the students to bring those back. In the meantime, we’d continue our lessons on the human body, move into the food groups, and keep our minds busy until it was time to go.
“Alright, let’s get everything packed up and ready to go home for the weekend,” I instructed them.
The excitement took over once again as the kids got themselves ready to head home.
An hour later, I was home.
And it was my first night off since I spent the night with Riggs on Sunday.
From the moment I got home on Monday evening, I had been working. Given that Riggs had offered me the chance to set up a spot at the farm where I’d be able to start our raffles, I knew I had to be prepared. So, I didn’t waste any time.
I called Kacey Monday night and gave her the good news. Of course, even though she allowed me to share it all with her and was more than willing to be there on the weekend to help out with everything, the only news she was interested in hearing about was my sleepover with Riggs.
“It was nice,” I told her when she demanded an answer.
“Nice?” she scoffed. “Just nice?”
I sighed. “Fine,” I huffed. “It was amazing. Fantastic. He’s the best I’ve ever had.”
“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” she replied, a giddy tone to her voice. “So, it was worth it then?”
“What was?” I wondered.
“Risking having you be mad at me for the rest of my life because I duped you into that photo session with him,” she answered.
“Definitely.”
At the time I hadn’t had any good thoughts about what Kacey had done, but now I was beyond grateful she’d taken matters into her own hands.
The more time I spent getting to know Riggs, the more I was beginning to realize just how perfect he was. Or, at least, just how perfect he was for me.
Not only was he incredibly handsome, he was fantastic in bed. On top of that, we got along great, never ran out of things to talk about, and we laughed a lot.
And despite his busy schedule and demanding workload, he still found the time to connect with me all week long. Over the last several days, I always received a phone call from him. Since I’d been doing all my work from the comfort of my home from the minute I got out of school, I would always give myself a break and really take the time to enjoy a nice conversation with him.
Even though we made the effort to give each other that time every night, it still wasn’t enough. I missed him terribly. My work kept me busy during the day as did his, but when I was in my bed each night, I struggled not to reach out and call him. I knew he’d have a full day the next day, and I wanted to make sure he was able to get his rest.
Now, I only had a few more hours to go before I’d be able to wake up early tomorrow morning, drive to the farm, and see him again.
Just as the thought passed through my mind, my phone rang. It warmed my heart to see Riggs’ name on the display, though I was surprised to see him calling earlier than usual.
“Hey,” I greeted him.
“Are you home?” he asked.
“Yeah, I just got home from work not too long ago,” I responded.
“And you finished all your work for this weekend?” he pressed.
“Last night. Why?”
“I’d like to come over to your place to see you. If you want me to and you don’t have any other plans, just give me your address,” he urged.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
I didn’t hesitate to give him my approval. “I’d love to see you,” I told him.
“Then text me your address and I’ll be there soon,” he said.
“Okay,” I agreed. After a brief pause, I asked, “Do you have anything special you’d like me to make for dinner?”
“I’d rather spend time with you doing things that don’t require you slaving over the stove,” he started. “I’ll grab something on the way.”
I really didn’t mind taking the time to make dinner for both of us. But because he mentioned doing things with me that likely required my full attention, things that made me squirm in my seat, I acquiesced, “If that’s what you want.”