She seemed surprised by my straightforward answer.
"Your turn,” I said with a smirk.
Sydney huffed. "It's not that complicated. I went to college, applied to jobs, ended up with this one. I'm normally in the office, but this is our busy season, and they needed all hands on deck. Not very interesting."
"I see. Is this the job you wanted?"
"You're asking a lot of questions," she pointed out.
I shrugged, trying to seem inconspicuous. "Just trying to drum up conversation." That was a half-truth. Though I was trying to avoid any awkward silence, I was mostly interested in learning about her.
"Most people stick to the weather," she said, averting her eyes.
I let it go. It was okay. Sydney seemed like a mystery I would enjoy solving, even if it took some time. And to be a farmer, you needed patience. Plants took time to grow, bees took time to produce honey, chickens took time to lay eggs. Everything on the farm had taught me patience was the key to getting anything good in life.
If I had to be patient to learn about Sydney, it would be even sweeter.
Once we were done, I paid, though she argued with me over it the entire time.
"I have money, you know?" she insisted.
"I never said you didn’t.” I said as I filled out the tip at the bottom. "But I asked you out to lunch, so it’s my treat."
It dawned on me what I said made it sound like a date, and while that would be nice, I also knew that wasn't what this was.
Yet.
She mumbled her thanks as we walked back to the truck, and the ride home was quiet save for that upbeat pop music I actually quite enjoyed.
When we got to the house, Matilda was on the front porch, sipping tea with my grandfather. I was shocked, to say the least. They seemed amicable, which was unexpected. He had been so fervently against having the auditors here, but here he was, smiling and sipping from his mug as they chatted.
"Who's that?" Sydney asked, looking at the two.
"My grandfather."
She hopped out of the truck, looking just as unsure as I felt, and I followed suit.
"Brooks," my grandfather called in greeting.
"Hey, Gramps, what's going on?"
His smile was strangely charming. "Just chatting with our lovely auditor here. She is a gem."
Matilda giggled slightly. Were they flirting? I didn't even want to think about it.
"We should continue," Sydney said, seeming unconcerned about her co-worker relaxing on the job.
“We can go to the next barn, but it’s further away, so let’s step back into the truck.”
Matilda made no move to follow. Sydney didn’t comment, so I kept my mouth shut too.
As soon as we pulled up, Sydney got out and started doing her thing, taking photos and notes. The chores had already been done for the morning there, so I did some tidying, but there was nothing to do but follow Sydney around.
I asked her questions—her favorite color, foods she liked, things like that—keeping it very surface level so she wouldn’t go defensive on me again while still allowing me to get to know her.
She answered every one and asked some in return. I was sure she was doing it to be polite, but it still made my tail wiggle a bit every time.
This barn was much larger than the one before, so by the time she was done, the sun was setting, and she was ready to go back to the inn.
