City Boy

"Okay, let's switch it up," she yelled out. "Rory, I want you on the back of the wagon. Tate, take a break and go stack for a while."

"What about me?" yelled out Jake from the top as he wiped a thick layer of sweat from his brow.

Carly glowered up at him. "You just stay right where you're at."

"Do you not realize how damn hot it is up here?" he yelled back down to her. "Stick someone else up here for a change."

"City Boy has a point," said Tate as he climbed up the elevator. "He's not looking too great."

"If City Boy doesn't like it, then he can leave at any time," replied Carly while crossing her arms, almost daring him to argue.

"Fuck that, I'm coming down," he said, finding the ladder and moving down to Tate's floor.

"Yeah, Jake come down and do the wagon," said Neal before looking at Rory. "Rory, head up to the top."

"Damnit," muttered Rory as he started sulking away.

"No, no, I want Jake up there," said an increasingly-angry Carly. She waited for him to get down to the bottom floor before she looked at him again. "Just because you can't take it up there doesn't mean you need to upset my routine."

"Your routine seems to involve trying to make me pass out from the heat," he shot back, finally having enough of her shit.

Instead of arguing, Carly's lower lip trembled and she soon turned on her heel, marching out of the barn and down the side of the hill. Jake looked back at the others for a brief moment before he heard Tate call out from above. "Oh, you did it now, City Boy."

Not wanting to find out what "it" was, Jake soon took after her. He sped down the hill until he was within arm's length of her. "What is your problem, Carly? Are you trying to kill me up there?"

"It would serve you right," she said from the corner of your mouth. She did start to slow down though, enabling him to more easily keep up with her.

"Is that what you're mad about? Is this about Logan?" he asked.

Carly reached over and smacked his arm. "Of course it's about Logan, you jackass! What else could it be about?"

So there it was. Ten years later, and she still blamed him for her brother's death. For her, there just hadn't been enough time to mend that wound yet.

"Carly, it was an accident," he protested, holding his hands up. "We were just kids, and we didn't know any better."

"Well, it was your fault that he tried to do it in the first place," she shot back. "If not for you, he'd still be alive."

Jake swallowed hard. "I can't really argue with that."

She turned her head suddenly. "Then you admit it!"

"I mean, yeah, you're not wrong about that—"

She smacked him again.

"Will you stop hitting me?" he yelled.

"No, I won't stop hittin' you," she sassed back. "I won't stop anything I do to you until you quit and go back where you came from."

"Well, you better buckle up, sweetheart, because I'm not going anywhere soon," he retorted as he started to get angrier.

She looked at him with a vulnerable expression for a split second. "Why did you have to come back here, Jake? Why? Haven't we all suffered enough because of you?"

That look on her face nearly broke his heart. It meant more to him than all of her angry words and glares. Without waiting for a response, Carly soon took off in the direction of her house, slamming the door shut behind her.

He didn't know what to do or say. All he could do was look at the other side of the closed door, wondering if they all might be better off if he just got in his car and left. He must have stood there and stared for too long, as he soon felt a hand on his shoulder.

It was Neal.

"Paul raised a fiery one there," said the older farmhand.

"That he did," Jake agreed. "Although, I can't say I blame her for being upset with me."

"She'll come around," he said, repeating her father's words. "She can't stay angry forever."

"Ten years is a long time to hold the grudge," said Jake.

Neal shrugged. "Like you said though. It was an accident. She'll see that in time."

"I hope so," muttered Jake.

"Until then, it might be best if you two work separately for a while. Let her get over her feelings or whatever," said Neal. "Maybe then, she'll start to see that it's silly to keep taking her anger out on you."

"I don't know," said Jake. "She seems to be awfully thick-headed right now. I don't know if she'll ever allow herself to get to that point."

"I'll have a talk with Paul about it," he promised before he started to chuckle. "But until then, can you come back and help us with these bales? We can deal with being one person down, but not two."

Jake nodded before turning one last time to look at the house. "Sure, I'll be right there."

Part of him wondered if Carly would ever forgive him. The other part thought she had every reason to be upset with him. Was it not his fault, even indirectly, for Logan's death?

*****

"Hey, Jake, you got a minute?"

Jake had just gotten out from his car the next morning, turning quickly to face Paul who was rapidly closing the distance between them. Paul had a satisfied look on his face, one where he looked every inch the part of the cat that caught the canary. Even more noticeable was Carly, standing behind him with her arms crossed and her baseball cap down tight near her eyes. She looked less than pleased.

"Sure, what's up?" asked Jake, coming to a stop near him.

"Listen, I need you to do something a little different today," started Paul before he pointed to a hillside on the other side of the road. "I've been planning on enlarging that main field across the road, and I've drawn out a line of where I want a new fence to go in place just as soon as we can get the holes dug."

"Okay, that sounds fine. Did you want me to do that?"

Paul grinned and pulled out a shovel. "If you don't mind? I figured it would be something different than hay, and I really want to get those posts in the ground."

Jake grabbed the shovel. "How many posts are we talking?"

"About fifty," said Paul quickly before he waved his hand behind him. "That's why I'm giving you some help."

Right on cue, Carly groaned out loud.

Jake winced. "Are you sure that's a good idea? Not that I have anything against her, but I doubt she can say the same thing for me."

"Then it's about time you two buried the hatchet," said Paul firmly. "Listen, I've heard all about the trouble you've two had doing the hay. Trouble like that leads to anger, and anger leads to negligence. This farm can't suffer any more negligence, so I'm asking you, can you two please try to get along together?"

"Paul, to be honest with you, the issue isn't on my side," said Jake quietly. "She's the one that seems to have a problem with me."

Paul's face turned more serious. "Well, her and I had a little talk about that problem this morning. I think we covered some ground on it." Paul turned to look at his daughter still sulking several feet away. "Let's just say I hope she won't continue to let this be an issue."

Jake looked past him to Carly. Her eyes still burned with anger, but what else could he do? Refuse?

"Okay, I'll do it," said Jake quietly, while throwing the shovel over his shoulder.

"'Atta boy, Jake. I appreciate it," said Paul. "Why don't you take the four-wheeler over to the field?"

Jake nearly winced again at the thought of sharing one with Carly, but to his surprise, she wordlessly jumped on the back behind him as he drove them over to the field. It was hard to concentrate with her body pressed against his back, and it was a really great change from the constant bickering for once.

They drove across the road to the field, quickly finding the line where Paul wanted the posts dug. He'd spray-painted the grass to mark where the hole would be dug for each post, and his last instructions were to dig the holes three feet deep and at least a foot wide in all directions. Seeing as there were fifty holes to dig, Jake knew they'd be there for most of the day.

"I guess I'll start with this one," said Jake, picking the first hole closest to the old fence. Since each post was spread about ten feet apart, it meant they wouldn't be far apart during the whole day. Without words, Carly walked to the next mark and began to dig too.

For the first ten minutes or so, everything was fine. Even though there was no conversation, there was at least no bickering, and they worked in silence on their respective holes. It was too good to last though, and he heard Carly scowling at him from behind after he threw a pile of dirt.

"Can you try not to throw that dirt near my hole please?" she said angrily, giving him the usual Carly stare that he was so used to at this point.

"Sorry," he muttered. The next pile he deposited more gently not a far distance from his own hole. About another five minutes went by before he noticed that now Carly appeared to be throwing dirt into his own hole!

"Watch it please," he said while he turned to face her. "Now you're getting it in mine."

Carly scowled and then repositioned herself so that she was throwing it in the opposite direction. It wasn't long before he noticed she was throwing it on top of the next hole in line, which wasn't a great option either.

"If you throw your dirt there, we are just going to have to dig harder on the next set of holes," he said, pointing it out.

"Why do you have so many rules?" she sassed while she stopped digging.

Jake shrugged. "We have enough work to do today without adding to it."

"Why don't you just let me dig the way I want to dig? Just mind your own business?"

"We should at least try to get along out here, Carly," he said back firmly. "We're going to be out here all day, we can at least be cordial to each other."

"Who says I want to be cordial to you?" she asked with pursed lips.

"Fine, whatever," he muttered, returning to his hole. He was tired of trying with her and getting shot down every time. If she wanted to be grumpy the entire day, then he'd let her. Noticeably enough though, she stopped throwing the dirt on the next hole and started to make her own piles well out of each other's way.

From there, the next hour or so went by quietly. It took them about twenty minutes per hole, sometimes longer depending on if they hit any stone underneath, but eventually they were moving along at a quiet pace.

One thing that was somewhat funny to Jake was that no matter how quickly he worked, he could never get too far away from her. No sooner would he jump a hole ahead than she would get her hole finished, jumping to the next one right near him. The frequency that she did it seemed to be too quick to be a coincidence, and he figured out that she was determined to keep pace with him, even if she would never admit it out loud.

Seeing an opportunity to make a game out of it, Jake started to work faster.

Much faster.

It was to the point that he was breathing heavily trying to dig his hole, and he sprung forward to the next one in record time. He watched out of the corner of his eyes as Carly made a face, most likely one of despair at realizing he was now firmly ahead of her. She then started working much more quickly, and in a few short minutes, she caught up to him.

Jake was trying not to laugh, their little game becoming almost too apparent.

Then the most amazing thing happened.

Carly caught his gaze at a random point as he sprung ahead. He couldn't help the playful smirk that had appeared at the silent acknowledgment of what they were doing. And much to his surprise, he finally saw a hint of a smile appear on her face.

From there, it was on. Every time he would finish a hole, he would make a face at her. Initially she would scowl, even if it was entirely playful. When she finished her hole, she would make a triumphant face, sometimes even sticking her tongue out at him. It got to the point that they would laugh each time a hole was finished, and that's when the verbal taunting began.

"Never going to catch me now," said Jake as he sprung ahead to the next one.

"I'll have you eatin' those words in a minute," she sassed back.

"Please, like you could keep up with me," he shot back playfully.

"I just need to wait until your delicate city hands get all blistered and then I'll win for sure," she added with a giggle, finishing her last hole.

Jake stuck his shovel in the ground and held up both hands. "No blisters here. My delicate city hands seem to be doing better than yours."

Carly smirked. She paused for a moment, putting her hands on her jean-covered waist. As he looked back at her, Jake couldn't help but admire her form. When she wasn't scowling, she was really quite a beautiful girl.

He wasn't prepared for the small clump of dirt that went flying so close to his face. When he next looked over at her, she was laughing pretty hard as she tried to get back to her hole.

"Oh, so you want to play dirty, huh?" he asked, reaching down to grab a small mound of dirt.

"Bet you couldn't even hit me from this distance," she said, challenging him.

"We'll see about that." Jake fired it across the short field, but it fell apart long before it reached her.

"See what I mean? Terrible. I guess they don't teach you to throw in the city," she said with a grin.

"Lucky for you, I learned to throw on the farm," said Jake as his arm wound back again.

The next throw caught her off guard as a small clump exploded against her hips. Jake nearly doubled over with laughter as she sprung forward with another mound, desperate to return the favor. Her pitcher's arm cracked off three quick throws, all of which hit him in the back or butt. Carly did a victory lap, running around him several times as the work of digging the holes was quickly forgotten.

"Where did you get that arm? I don't remember you playing sports in high school," he said, after he brushed off all the dirt.

"I didn't need sports, Jake. Working here is good enough for my muscles," she said, matter-of-factly.

"No way, let me see those guns," he challenged.

Carly walked right up to him and rolled her sleeve up. She made a muscle, displaying a modest bicep to his eyes. He quickly sized it up with his hand.

"Meh, just weak," he teased before making one of his own. "It's nothing like this one."

Carly rolled her eyes after she touched his arm. "Please, I think even Rory has bigger arms than you."

"That's because he spends all his time working it by dragging that cigarette up to his mouth."

Carly erupted with giggles. "Stop it, you're going to make me pee."

"Lucky for you, you have a lot of holes to choose from here."

She held up her hand. "Stop, seriously!"

She took a few minutes to recover her breath before she looked back at him. It was a playful smirk that plastered her face, and Jake just hoped that all that time holding that anger was finally over.

"At least you dig holes better than you stack hay," she said finally, raising an eyebrow.

"You should show me how it's done then," he shot back. "Don't think I haven't noticed you never take a turn stacking."

"You're really going to make little me stack hay?" she asked. "And here I thought you were a big, strong man."

"I'm just saying if you're going to dish it out, you better be prepared to receive it back."

Carly rolled her eyes but then she smiled. "Yeah, yeah."

For the next couple hours, they worked their way down the field while continuing their playful antics. The conversation never got any deeper than that surface level teasing, and that was for a good reason. For Jake, it seemed to be a breakthrough just to get her to this point. If they could at least have fun together while they worked, maybe there was a chance all that animosity could melt away. He didn't expect it to happen overnight, but if baby steps were needed to get them there, then that's what he'd do.

Once they were at the last pair of holes, they worked with breakneck pace to see who could be the first one done. Jake was at a considerable advantage, as he'd been leading all day. But he was starting to get a nasty blister on one hand so that slowed him down considerably.

It wasn't enough of a slowdown to matter. With the last mound of dirt deposited behind him, he held his shovel aloft. "Please give it up for your reigning champion, Jake Wittier!"

Carly smirked as she finished the rest of her hole. "All you have to hang your hat on, huh? Digging holes?"

Jake nodded. "I have to celebrate any victory I can get."

Carly giggled. "I guess I'll give it to you then."

"You mean ultimate victory is mine?" he teased.

She sighed playfully. "Sure, whatever."

He grinned and leaned against his shovel. "You know, this wasn't too bad of a day."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You enjoy digging holes all day? Are you sure livin' in the city didn't take out your common sense?"

"Not that, I meant that it was fun. You know, making it into a game like this. It made the time go by more quickly."

To his surprise, she nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It wasn't so bad."

"It was kind of like old times again."

Jake regretted the words just as soon as they left his mouth. Carly stiffened instantly, and the old glare he was so familiar with returned to her face.

"Well, it's not like old times again," she said angrily, going from zero to one hundred in the blink of an eye.

Jake looked at her. "What do you mean?" He was confused at her sudden change of demeanor.

Carly planted her hands on her hips. "If it was just like old times, then Logan would still be here. But he's not, Jake."

He didn't even have time to answer the charge. Carly soon whipped around and started marching down the hill. Not even the sight of her perfectly-formed backside could remedy his confusion.

How did I put my foot in my mouth so quickly?

Jake threw his shovel on the back of the four-wheeler and started in her direction. He caught up to her a hundred yards away and pulled up next to her.

"Carly, I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said. I just meant it was nice to work with you without all the arguing."

She looked over at him, and for the first time, Jake could see tears in her eyes. "Just leave me alone please."

"I swear I'm not trying to hurt you on purpose. I'm not trying to do anything. I just want to go back to normal."

Carly shook her head. "We can't go back to normal. Not now. I thought it might not be so bad after all this time, but it still hurts."

He killed the engine on the four-wheeler, causing her to stop walking. "I'm sorry. It just was great to be friends again. Like it used to be, Carly. I just had a hope that maybe we could be friends like we were before."

She then locked her eyes with him. "Maybe we're not meant to be friends, Jake."

Carly took off again in a hurry, quickly crossing the road and making her way up to the house while he just sat there speechless.

So close to making progress and now I feel so far away again.

*****

The next morning, Jake stepped out of his car to quite a sight.

"You dumbass, how could you have been so stupid?" roared Paul while slapping his hat against his thigh. The object of his scorn was Rory, silently shaking in front of him. "Don't you know the red tags in the ears meandon't milk?"

"I didn't realize," said Rory, almost stammering in his response as Paul went back for more.

"You didn't realize? What the fuck have you been doing this entire time then? You've done the milking over a hundred times, and you didn't realize that sick cows wear the red tags in their ears? That you're not supposed to milk them and risk contaminating the entire tank?"

"It was dark, and I guess I missed it," said Rory.

Jake had never seen Paul this mad before. The good-natured farmer could usually be counted on to be jovial or at least polite in most situations. Very rarely did Paul really shoot off, but when he did, it was memorable.