"Um… No. It's mine. Is it okay if I take photos?"
"Take as many as you want," I told her. I wanted to ask her to show them to me, but she didn't seem inclined to do it, and I didn’t want to push.
I went back to cleaning all the coops, and by the time I was wrapping up, it was almost lunchtime.
Sydney was taking a few more notes when I found her, scribbling away at her tablet. "Want to break for lunch?" I asked her. "I was going to head over to Ted's to grab a bite."
She looked around. "I'm not sure if I should… I didn't really have lunch plans, and Matilda is still not here."
"Well, Ted's is really your only option unless you want a pastry from Cool Beans. And we might as well go together, considering you don't have a car. If she’s at my parents’, we’ll bring her along."
She contemplated it for a second. "I guess that's fine," she said, and I couldn’t keep myself from hoping my mom had taken her colleague somewhere.
We headed back to the house where my truck was. I opened the passenger door for her, and she looked at me suspiciously before moving to get in while I went inside.
The kitchen was empty. I wasn’t worried about Matilda—I was sure my parents had taken her somewhere—so I ran to the driver’s side. The engine roared to life, and I began down the dirt path toward town.
“She wasn’t there. Maybe she’s checking something else around the farm?”
"Maybe.” I thought that would annoy her, but she seemed at peace with it. “May I?" she asked, pointing at the radio.
I handed her the cord that was sticking out. "There's no cell service around here, but if you have music downloaded, you can play it."
She took it and plugged her phone in.
"Yeah, well, isn't it odd, living without cell service?"
When I glanced at her, she seemed to be scrolling through a playlist.
"Not really," I said. "I grew up like this. To have it now might be even stranger."
"I guess it is nice. I don't think I remember a time I didn't have it, but it’s nice to have a break. I’m still carrying my phone around, though it’s as good as a paperweight.”
I laughed, agreeing with her assessment. It’s why I never even bothered to buy one.
Soon, an upbeat pop song came from the speakers. It was pretty good, though I'd never heard it before.
"Is this okay?" she asked.
"It's perfect." We listened the rest of the way into town until I pulled into Ted's.
The building had been the same my entire life. It was tan on the outside, with a large, slightly worn red sign withTed’swritten in bold letters.
The inside looked exactly the way I assumed every other diner in a small town would, with worn red pleather seats, linoleum floors, and overly aggressive fluorescent lighting.
We were seated in a booth, and Lerana came to take our drink order. I stuck with a sweet iced tea while Sydney asked for a matcha, which they didn't have. So then she decided on an iced black coffee.
"Who doesn't have matcha?" she asked, perusing the laminated fold-out menu.
"Ted's," I responded with a smirk. Though I never picked the same thing every time, I had this menu memorized front to back. Almost anyone who lived in this town did.
Lerana came back with our drinks and Sydney ordered a wrap while I got a turkey burger with fries.
"So, how does a big city girl like you end up with a job in agriculture?"
She looked shocked by the question. "How did you end up a farmer?" she asked, turning the question back on me.
"My family has owned that farm for at least four generations," I replied easily. "It was bred into me to own the farm, and I took it over from my father about five years ago."
