“I’m sure there has to be,” I say, and she shrugs her shoulders, giving me a look I don’t quite understand. “You want me to go first?”
She nods her head.
“Okay, but for every one thing I tell you, you have to tell me something. Deal?” I ask. I don’t really understand why I’m trying so hard to know what’s behind her pretty face, but she seems a little guarded and that just further spurs my curiosity.
She reluctantly agrees.
“Now let’s see, what can I tell you first?” I say, looking up and away as if in deep thought. I even rub my thumb and index finger along my chin to really give her a show.
“Technically, you already told me your job. So, I should at least tell you I work here on the farm,” she says.
I nod my head, taking this information in and trying to understand what exactly one does on a farm. “So, do you milk cows and stuff?”
Harper lets out a small laugh, and I’m confused. Don’t farms have cows?
“Not quite,” she says. “This isn’t a dairy farm. We do have cows but they’re not for that. We have a store we run. Plus an orchard. And in the fall, we have pumpkin patches and hayrides. That sort of thing.”
“I never knew farming was so intense,” I admit.
“It can be,” she says.
“What else do you like to do?” My question gives her pause and she starts to wring her hands together in her lap. This woman really has anxiety about talking about herself. “For example, aside from my boring sales job, one of the reasons I took it is because I like to travel. And it allows me to do that. I’ve been to forty-three states and six countries.”
“I’ve never been anywhere,” she says. “Do you want more lemonade?” Harper stands and reaches for my glass.
She disappears inside, and I sit there comprehending her statement. It’s interrupted by the kicking up of gravel not far off and I look down the driveway to see a car followed by a truck making their way to the house. Harper is saved by the intrusion for now. I stand and walk to the edge of the porch, seeing my sister driving the car and Lyla following behind. The door swings open and shut behind me, and I see Harper join me from the corner of my eye.
She stands away from me by a few paces, quite careful and aware of her proximity. I can feel it radiating from her. She seems very measured, not that it’s a bad quality to have. But I wish she’d loosen up a bit. She seems knotted up pretty tightly. Maybe all the stuff with her sister’s wedding has been stressful. Weddings can be stressful, right?
I don’t know why I’m so concerned about her demeanor or the stressors of her life. Maybe my job in sales and ability to read people is spilling over right now; I can’t be sure. I did just finish traveling, and I’m always in need of a nap after that. I walk down the porch steps to greet my sister.
“Hello, bub!” Cora says as she steps out of the car.
Since childhood, Cora has called me bub. There have been some phases in my life. Like when I was sixteen and she would say it in front of all her hot friends. I begged her not to call me that anymore, but she refused to stop.
So here we are. I’m a twenty-seven-year-old bub. I smack my head even now because there are people around. Attractive people. I give her the look as I lean in for a hug. “Hey, sis. How was the trip?”
“Not terrible. I was seated next to this super cute guy who, as it turns out, lives here. Well, not here. But close to here. I told him I was coming for a wedding, and one thing led to another and now he’s gonna be my date!” She exclaims this to everyone very loudly and proudly.
I look back at Lyla who’s out of her truck and listening intently as well. “You invited a stranger to the wedding?” I ask, since everyone else has been shocked into silence.
“He’s not a stranger. We talked the entire flight. It was practically a date in itself,” she says, shrugging her shoulders.
I can see the torn expression on Lyla’s face, but she finally says, “Well, great!”
“Wait, what about me?” I ask, raising my hand into the air. “I’m supposed to be your plus one, remember?”
“Bub, listen, it’s nothing personal. But a real date with the chance of some dancing trumps a family date any time,” my sister says.
“Yes, that’s in the invisible rule book for crazy single people who haven’t been laid in a while,” Lyla says.
Everyone except Cora laughs.
“You can be Harper’s plus one!” Lyla says, with aggressive enthusiasm—a lot of aggressive enthusiasm.
I’m somewhat startled hearing this change of plans. For starters, I would’ve assumed Harper already had a date. Why wouldn’t she have a date? “Oh, okay.”
“Yeah, of course. I mean, it doesn’t mean anything really. It’s just a numbers game for seating and catering anyway, right? So yeah, of course,” Harper’s saying.
I’m watching her sister attempt to discreetly elbow her in the ribs to get her to stop rambling and I successfully suppress a laugh. “Great, it’s settled. I’ll be your date,” I say.
I watch Harper’s eyes grow wide and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say she’s stopped breathing, but I pretend not to notice.
As we’re all standing there starting to pull bags from Cora’s car, a man joins us, walking from the direction of some barns.
“Jensen, this is Gentry,” Lyla says.
The man walks next to her and wraps an arm around her, kissing her on the forehead.
“Good to meet you, man,” I say, shaking his hand.
“It’s nice to see you again, Gentry,” Cora says.
Cora’s been down to visit Lyla a few times since she moved here, and has gone on and on about how perfect these two are as a couple. And, how perfect Gentry is. Then she starts in with her why-can’t-I-just-find-a-man-like-Gentry talk and even though I’m the little brother, I do my best to comfort her.
Lyla turns to Gentry. “Babe, a little change of plans. Cora met a date on her flight. So Jensen is gonna be Harper’s plus one instead.”
Gentry’s head shoots up in my direction again and he looks me up and down in an assessing manner. I don’t exactly know what he’s looking for but I just sort of stand there and tuck my hands in my pockets while he’s doing it.
“All right, I guess,” he says. “Come on, I’ll show you where we’ll be staying.” He motions to me, and I climb the porch stairs and grab my bag then follow after him.
I stop and turn briefly. “Oh. Hey, Harper?” I call out.
She turns toward me, her long blonde hair flowing in the breeze. I watch her gently tuck it back over her shoulder. “Yeah?”
“It was really great meeting you. I hope we can get back to our game later?” I say, and I catch Lyla look at Harper.
“Oh, uh, sure,” Harper says. Then she wrings her hands in front of her again.
“Great,” I say, smiling at her. When I turn back, Gentry is looking at me now. More like staring at me. The man has sort of an intimidating glare going on. I catch up to him and we begin our walk back further onto the property. “So, what’s the story with Harper?”
Gentry looks over to me again, a little less severity in his eyes. “Listen, around here, we don’t go telling each other’s stories. It’s not our place. But I’ll tell you this, and you can take it as a warning. Tread lightly. Lyla and I aren’t married yet, but Harper’s been a little sister to me for a while now.” Gentry’s quiet again as I contemplate his words.