Plowed by My Stepfather novel · Chapter 4 of 24

Chapter 4: The Diner

I drove the planter for the first time in five years that Tuesday morning.

Dean walked beside the tractor on the first pass with his bandaged hand in his pocket.

He watched the rows go down the way my father used to.

His head was tilted and his eyes stayed on the dirt.

At the end of the field I stopped and leaned out of the cab.

"Well?"

"Straight." He nodded slowly. "Your mother planted like that."

My throat closed up, and I put the tractor back in gear before he could see it.

By noon we had thirty acres of corn in the ground and I was sunburned across the nose.

Dean said we needed hardware and seed corn, and I needed a bag of clothes.

So we drove into Harlan Springs, and I got my car out of the church lot.

Birdie Haas found me before I had my car door shut.

"There she is." She came across the feed-store lot at a run in her overalls.

"The woman who gave back a diamond in front of the whole Methodist church."

"Hi, Birdie."

"Don't hi me. You walked out of your own engagement carrying a plate of ham."

"I put the plate down."

"On the church treasurer's table. She's been telling people for two days."

Birdie hugged me hard and then held me at arm's length.

"Are you okay?"

"No."

"Good. Let's eat."

The Corner Café was full for the lunch rush.

Farmers in seed caps lined the counter.

Every one of them turned to look at us when the bell on the door rang.

Birdie shoved me into a booth by the window and slid in beside me.

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