“That’s nice.”
“If I were a cynical Northerner, instead of a kind, wholesome Southerner, I would say they also did it as a massive advertising opportunity. Especially when they were mostly only selling in the immediate area. They also sold some of the peach preserves at a booth in the square.”
“No. The grandpas would never.” I defend the men I’ve never met.
“Look who decided to come down our way!” a voice yells through the din of the crowd.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Hello?”
A Black man around Beau’s age that I’m sure I’ve never met moves to stand in front of me. He has a bright smile as he extends a hand out to me. Why is he so happy if we haven’t met?
“I’m Daniel. Part-owner of this farm and Beau’s partner in the energy business. And Beau’s told me so much about you. Sonia, right?”
“That’s me. It’s nice to meet you.” I shake his hand, wondering what Beau’s been saying.
“What’s this? Did the South do this to you, or did you come this way from the mean city?” He gestures toward my cast, as if I could have misinterpreted what injury he was talking about.
“A camel mishap. But I was told the camel is from the North?”
“Ramses? Nah, he’s from Georgia.”
I send an I-told-you-so look over my shoulder and Beau finds the hay on the other side of him very interesting. I bet you do, buddy. I bet you do.
“This is an...interesting drawing.” Daniel points to my cast.
“Beau made it for me.” I genuinely smile over my shoulder at Beau, loving what’s on my cast so much I give my left arm a little hug close to my body.
Beau made a pictorial representation of my trip to the South so far, complete with sweet tea, fried chicken, a truck (with a heart next to it), Bubba, a peach Christmas tree, a racetrack, Biltmore, and a camel. Except he’s not the best artist in the world, so I only know what everything is because he told me what each one was as he was drawing them.
And I’m going to frame the cast when it comes off.
On second thought, I’ll take a picture of it and get that framed. It’s going to smell pungent after six weeks on my unwashed arm, especially after accidentally dropping bits of candy and crumbs in there.
“Oh, no. We should take him to one of those wine-painting nights and improve that skill.” Daniel gets closer to the cast to take in the drawings.
“I love it.” I try on loyalty to a man. An unused coat in my closet since most of my relationships stay casual. But it’s got a good fit to it. Nice and cozy too for the winter months.
“What are you doing down here?” Daniel asks.
“There was a mulch emergency,” I say, like that should explain everything. And since Daniel works on this farm too, it does.
“Did you save our peaches?”
“I was very supportive through the whole process. Which is the most important thing, I think we’ll all agree.”
“So, you did nothing.”
“She was very instrumental in the support department.” Loyalty comes a lot easier for Beau.
Eve comes and steals Daniel, but I throw my shroud of guilt over Beau, telling Eve he’s so helpful to me and I can’t imagine coping without him, what with this fractured wrist.
“Nicely done.” Beau slides an arm around me. “You’ve got Southern mom guilt down already.”
“It’s exactly the same as Indian mom guilt, but at a lower volume.” Chachi doesn’t believe in a distinction between inside voices and outside voices. Neither does Priya.
“Did the South break you already?” Mee-maw intrudes on my and Beau’s quality time. “Are you that delicate, Yankee?”
