A Farm In The Country

“I wouldn’t go in there if I were you. ‘Ol Red doesn’t take kindly to strangers.”

Micheal was caught off guard by the voice coming from behind him. He hadn't been back to his hometown in just over 12 years. Not since both his parents were killed in a car accident but felt compelled to come back when he heard that Uncle Zack had suffered a stroke. He didn’t really want to leave the town that he grew up in but after his parents died, there were just too many ghosts for him to stay. Those same ghosts also kept him from coming back. At least until now.

“I may have been gone for 12 years but I’m hardly a stranger.” He replied while turning to see who called to him. He instantly recognized the attractive woman climbing out of her truck. “Chelsea, is that you? My God, you look like you haven’t aged a day.”

“I see you’re still a charmer, Mikey.” She ran up to him and gave him a big bear hug. “I guess you’re here about Uncle Zack? To answer the question that you’re about to ask, he’s doing well. He’s already back home dreaming about this year’s corn maze. And driving Aunt Patty crazy.”

“That’s good. I figured that not even a stroke could keep Uncle Zack down. I’m also glad to hear that Red is still around.” As if on cue, a large bull appeared from behind a stand of trees and sauntered up to the gate. He gave out a loud huff and placed his head on the top rail of the fence. “Hey there big guy, do you still remember me?” Micheal asked as he put his hand in front of the old bull’s nose. Red responded by sniffing the outstretched hand for a few seconds and then giving it a sloppy lick. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

She unlocked the gate and the two old friends walked across the familiar pasture with him guiding the huge bull that he bottle-fed 16 years ago when it was the runt of the litter that nobody expected to survive.

“So Chels how have you been doing? I heard from my sister that you got married.”

“I was married, then I wasn’t. Not much more to say about it. The silver lining is that I got my beautiful daughter Rebecca from it and he’s choosing to stay out of both our lives. How about you? I don’t see a ring on your hand.”

"I've had a couple of near misses but no bull's eye yet. Finding love in the big city is a lot harder than you might think." Reflecting on his failed relationships only made his feelings of homesickness grow even stronger. “Sometimes I think that the only way I’m going to find anyone is to move back here to the country.”

She gave him a jab in the side, “Don’t say that too loudly because Aunt Patty still fancies herself quite the matchmaker.”

The rest of the walk was spent catching up on the changes in their lives and re-living memories spent on Uncle Zack’s farm. He wasn’t their real uncle of course but everyone called them Uncle Zack and Aunt Patty. They were fixtures in the community and everyone in the small town had reams of stories about them. Whether it was Uncle Zach's corn mazes and hayrides or Aunt Patty's lemonade and cucumber sandwiches, they were unofficial members of almost every family there. That's why, as soon as the news about Uncle Zack's stroke came out, Micheal's sister called him and he was on his way back as soon as he could get the train tickets.

“Have you seen your sister yet?”

“First place I stopped at. She already gave me the gossip about their farm.”

She shook her head, “So I guess you’ve already heard about what junior did?”

He just nodded disapprovingly. As much as Uncle Zack and Aunt Patty loved children, they were only able to have one, Zachary junior, or junior for short, who couldn't be more different from his parents. After his father's stroke, he pressured his mother into signing over power of attorney to him claiming that it would give her time to focus on his recovery. The ink was barely dry on the paperwork before he put the family farm on the market. He claimed that by selling the farm, there would be enough money to pay off the mortgage and care for his father's needs in a long-term care home. The real reason, of course, was that he wanted the money for himself.

She bumped her shoulder against his, “So, besides a lousy love life, how is being a big city author treating you? Bringing in the big bucks yet?”

He bumped her back, "I wish. I spend my days either writing instruction manuals or proofreading them. Hardly what you would call being a big city author. As for the pay, it’s about as exciting as the job. It covers the rent on a one-bedroom apartment but not a lot more than that."

They were just opening the gate to Uncle Zack’s and Aunt Patty’s yard when a familiar voice called out to them, “Micheal? Is that really you?”

“The one and only, Aunt Patty. I came back as soon as I heard. How are you doing?”

“Zackary and I are doing well. I hope this means that you’ve come to your senses and decided to move back home?”

“Don’t tempt me. I just might do that, even if it’s just to enjoy some of those world-famous cucumber sandwiches of yours."

Aunt Patty smiled back at them, “I guess I’d better hop to it and whip some up for you then. And if those don’t do the trick, that one there might be able to help persuade you. She’s been pining over you since the day you left.” She motioned to Chelsea who was now as bright red as a stop sign.

As soon as they stepped into the house, Uncle Zack grabbed his hand and shook it with a force that belied any sign of a man that had suffered a stroke only a week earlier. If it wasn't for the cane that he still needed to walk, one would have never known. "Good to see you again son. You've been away too long. I couldn't help but overhear Aunt Patty trying to set you two up but pay her no mind because if it were up to her, she'd already have your kid's names picked out."

The next hour was spent catching up on 12 years worth of gossip before Micheal’s phone rang.

He saw that it was his sister calling. Probably to ask if he was coming to dinner. "Hey, sis... Um, yes... I have no idea... I can ask... Ok... See you then." After he hung up the phone, he turned to Chelsea. "It seems that someone saw us walking through the pasture together and now you, me, and Rebecca are invited to dinner at her place."

She put down her glass and shook her head. “I guess I had better get you back to your car to make sure you don’t get lost. I wouldn’t want your sister’s wraith on my head.”

As they headed back across the pasture with ‘Ol Red following like a 1200lb puppy, Patty watched them from her porch and turned to her husband. “Mark my words Zackary, I think we’ll be planning a wedding in the near future.”

Somewhere between the two gates of the pasture, the two friends began holding hands.

As they reached their vehicles he turned to her and said, “I need to head into town to take care of some business before going to my sisters. It shouldn’t take me more than an hour.”

“That works for me too. Gives me time to pick up Becky and change into something more presentable.” She caught him by surprise by pulling him in for a quick kiss. “Beat you to it.” Then she jumped in her truck before he could say anything back to her.

Most of the dinner was spent fending off his sister giving him reasons why he should move back home. She did have several good points since most of his work was done via email or networked files so he could easily do most of it remotely. She even offered to let him stay in their guest room until he had a place of his own and with what he would save by living there, he could easily take the train back to the city a few times a month and still wind up ahead.

“See bro, it all makes sense.” Then she winked at Chelsea. “And a little bird tells me that you might have another reason to consider moving back.”

Now it was his turn to blush. “Ok, ok. I promise to give it some serious thought.” He wasn’t lying because that same thought had been on his mind for some time.

A few days later, they stopped in to see how Uncle Zack was doing and found Aunt Patty in tears. “We just found out that the farms been sold. The deal closed yesterday. Junior hasn’t said anything to us yet so we don’t know how long we’re going to have to move out.” As soon as she said it, she burst into tears again and Uncle Zack did his best to comfort her.

Micheal stepped forward and pulled some papers from his pocket. “The answer to that question is never. This farm is yours for as long as you want it.” Then he handed the papers to her. “These are only copies but the originals should be here in the next day or two.”

They read over the documents in disbelief and looked up to him with an expression of shock on their faces.

“As soon as I heard what junior did, I contacted an investment broker that I know and had him put in an offer under their firm's name so that he wouldn’t know it was me.” Uncle Zack was about to protest when he stopped him. “You two have been the heart and soul of this community since long before I was born and you still have a lot of years left. If there is one thing that life in a small town has taught me it’s that there are some things far more important than money.”

Chelsea was just as shocked as they were and asked him, “How can you afford this? There is no way that you could have that kind of money.”

He took out his phone, started tapping on it and then he held it up to her. She wasn’t an expert in accounting but knew what an account balance looked like and that account balance had a lot of 0’s in it.

He just smiled back at her, “An instruction manual writer might not make a lot of money but someone who knows how to trade in crypto-currency can.” He could see the tears in all of their eyes and added, “I’ve been thinking about moving back for some time now and all of this was just the push that I needed. You will be seeing a lot more of me from now on.”

Then he smiled at Chelsea, “I know you swore that it would never happen hun, but it looks like you have a rich boyfriend."

She grabbed him in another bear hug, “I think I’ll manage.”