“That sounds really nice,” Bridget smiles.
“What is her favorite color?”
For a second, I get a little wary about why Bridget is asking me so many questions about Ava. But the questions seem to be innocuous and innocently curious, so I don’t see any harm in answering them.
“Well, I haven’t asked her that question recently, but if it hasn’t changed, then her favorite color is still blue. The kind of blue that looks like how the sky turns just before sunset.”
“That sounds pretty,” she says as she comes closer to where I am standing by the side of the barn.
The planks on the side of the barn are buckling because of all the firewood stacked against it and the wood is rotten. It’s an easy fix, and I can build a separate bin to hold the firewood in that will prevent that issue in the future.
“Is there a way to make it so that the planks are more resistant to the elements?” Bridget asks as she sidles up next to me to look at what I’m doing.
“Yes, I can weatherproof the whole barn,” I answer.
“Perfect!”
She is so excited that her face is beaming.
“Remember back when you made me that birdhouse?” she asks with a little giggle.
“Yeah, do you still have it?”
I turn my head to look around to see if I can see the birdhouse anywhere, but I don’t see it.
“I actually tried to turn it into a little rabbit hutch for one of the baby bunnies that was a bit sickly. I brought him inside and used that as a little place for him to stay.”
“Really?” I ask. “Wasn’t it too small for a rabbit?”
“Not a newborn one, but he ended up liking it so much even after I brought him back out to the barn, that I had to permanently install the birdhouse next to the rabbit hutch,” she laughs.
I laugh too, at the thought of a rabbit falling in love with a birdhouse. Bridget could be fun and sweet when she wasn’t acting impulsive and crazy.
“This is nice,” she smiles. “I’m glad that you guys accepted my offer and are willing to help me.”
“Yeah,” I agree. “It’s nice to be working on a large farm again.”
Bridget threw an arm around my shoulder, but it wasn’t in an intimate sort of way. It was more in a collegial gesture that seemed to smooth things over. I’m happy that things are working out well now.
But when I look up, I can see Ava looking out the farmhouse window at us, and the frown on her face makes me immediately aware of the fact that Bridget still has her arm around me. It meant nothing, and I can tell that Bridget didn’t mean anything by it either. But I can also see how it might be misinterpreted by Ava. I quickly put some space between us and will plan on letting Ava know later that nothing was going on and that there isn’t anything to worry about at all. Until I get distracted by other things during the day and forget to address it altogether.
6
Ava
So, it’s not enough that I’m already on edge after several days of seeing Bridget and Trevor working together, but now they are acting likeverycomfortable friends. I’ve been trying to focus on work, and on getting some great pictures here on this scenic farm to use for the website I’m creating for our business. But every time I look out the window, I happen to catch the two of them laughing and talking, and Bridget hanging all over him as if they are a couple or, at the very least, best friends. I know they’re working on the farm and I can see how much progress Trevor has already done in just a few short days. But this is supposed to beourtime. Trevor and I are supposed to be growing our business and making plans for our wedding. And instead we are here sharing our days with his old ex-girlfriend and working on her farm instead of cultivating our own. I get it that she is helping us out with the money she’s paying Trevor and with the animals and supplies she’s giving him for us to take home. But that doesn’t mean that she needs to be tied to his hip the entire time he’s out there working. Doesn’t she have her own work to do on the farm? I try to talk myself down from getting upset and to stay focused on making plans for an upcoming project, but when I happen to look up and see her with her arm around Trevor’s shoulder again, I have finally hadenough. I march right out the door and across the farm to the barn where Bridget and Trevor are standing.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?” I ask Bridget as soon as I reach where they are standing.
She drops her arm from Trevor’s shoulder and the two of them both look at me as if I have just caught a child with their hand in the cookie jar.
“I’m sorry,” she says in a much more sincere tone of voice than I had expected. “It was just casual and platonic, I promise.”
“Yeah, Ava, I promise you there’s nothing to be worried about,” Trevor says as he reaches for my hand. “I was just showing Bridget how to rig a new feed system that would require less monitoring and we remembered something funny about the time that one of the cows—”
“I really don’t care,” I interrupt.
“I wasn’t trying to start any trouble,” Bridget says. “I’m just enjoying Trevor’s company again and trying to learn about some of the things he’s doing to bring the farm up to speed so that I can manage it myself when the two of you finish up here and leave.”
