“I’m here with Miguel,” she told him. “Everything okay?” She glanced at Miguel and could tell by his tight jaw that something was up.
“I was just telling Miguel that I might want to buy Anna’s calf,” Aaron said.
“And I was just telling him to come to the auction,” Miguel explained.
“But I was going to offer a fair price right here,” Aaron said. “But he is refusing.”
Jewel looked at Anna. “Well, it’s your calf, Anna, shouldn’t you have the last word?”
Her brown eyes were wide. The poor girl was clearly too nervous to deal with this.
“I’m sure she wants to participate in the auction,” Miguel said firmly. “Right, Anna?”
She nodded eagerly.
“Sounds like you’re doing her thinking for her.” Aaron narrowed his eyes. “Kind of like you did with her mother.”
“Aaron Hanford,” Jewel scolded him. “That’s untrue and unfair, and you really should apologize.”
Aaron shrugged. “Well, you might be right. That wasn’t necessary.” He cleared his throat. “Sorry.”
Jewel looked from one man to the other, and since no one was speaking up, she decided to just continue. “So, Miguel was just telling me more about the auction, and I can understand why it’s important for Anna to participate. She’s spent all this time raising her calf and hoping to win a blue ribbon. Why would you, her very own uncle, rob her of the opportunity to see how Barney does in the auction?” She pointed to Aaron. “Why can’t you just join in and bid with the others? Or are you above that?”
“No, I’m not above that.”
“Then are you trying to take unfair advantage of your own niece to get a better price?”
“No, that’s not it,” he said quickly. “I just, uh, wanted to—”
“Then why not stick to the program?” she challenged. “Don’t you realize the price Anna gets will go to her college education?”
“That’s right!” Cooper declared. Jewel hadn’t even noticed her daughter standing right next to her.
“And, Aaron, even if you should be outbid”—she eyed him curiously, knowing she was taking a poke at his pride now—“at least you’ll help to get her price up there. Isn’t that what a loving uncle would do?”
He took in a slow breath, then nodded. “Yeah, of course. I just thought I could simplify matters. But now that you’ve explained it better... Sure, I’ll wait. I’ll bid with the others. Might even be fun.” He gave a crooked smile, then tipped his hat and left.
“I think he got the hint,” Anna told Jewel. “Thanks.”
“Yeah.” Miguel nodded. “Thanks.”
“That was great, Mom.”
When it was time for Barney and Anna to take their placeon the auction block, the bidding was solid, but in the end, Aaron Hanford won the bid. And when he went up to shake Anna’s hand, they were both smiling. And back behind the crowd of chattering bidders, Miguel and Cooper and Jewel were all smiling too.
35
Honey
The crisp autumn air always filled Honey with a sense of wistful hope. It wasn’t that she didn’t like summertime, but when it was time for that season to end, she was never sad to say goodbye. This year was no different. As she and CT took their usual morning stroll, slowly but surely due to his cane and his limp, she shook her head at her worn-out vegetable garden. Okay, that always made her a bit sad. But then again, that was life. In the spring, all was fresh and green and new. The world was young and alive, full of promise.
But now, as usual, her garden looked faded and picked over. The leaves were shriveled and brown, and her sunflowers hung limply, waiting for winter birds to come foraging. A few brave tomatoes and some hearty squashes still hung on, but it was like the writing on the wall for the end of the growing season. For the first year in memory, Honey had taken a pass on canning, other than putting up a few jars of peaches from their favorite peach tree. Maybe next year, if summer wasn’t too jam-packed with activity like this summer had been.
The consolation was that most of her garden’s yield had been sold at Cooper’s and Anna’s roadside produce stand. The structure, designed by Jewel and constructed by Miguel, with CT’s “help,” had been operating on the edge of town for a couple ofmonths now. Jewel had created handsome signs for the stand, and the whole thing was so attractive, she’d even made a charming painting of it. The piece was so loved by everyone that she’d had it reproduced into prints, which they also sold at the stand.
She and CT paused by the lavender now. Faded and worn and draped in the gray morning fog, the field reminded her of sweet-smelling Gladys Price, an elderly woman who attended their church. Like Honey, the lavender plants were ready to hunker down for winter. Their aromatic purple blooms had been cropped and bundled into thick bunches and tied with twine by the enterprising girls. Some of the fragrant bunches still hung from the roof of the little produce stand, but they’d probably be sold out before long.
They continued along slowly, but CT eventually stopped walking and asked to rest on the bench that Honey and Jewel had set next to the pumpkin patch. Littered cheerfully with colorful pumpkins, this field still had some life left in it. They hoped some of the remaining pumpkins would grow jack-o’-lantern size in time for the church’s annual harvest party. The other somewhat deformed ones, nibbled by deer, would remain to provide seed for next year’s crop.
