The Farmers Daughter

Chapter 12: Pulling on my heartstrings

[ Dallas' POV ]
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Edith goes down the familiar dark and quiet road that leads to the cemetery.

"Am I going the right way?" Nervousness was laced in her voice. "It seems a bit creepy.."

The street was only lit up by her headlights and three dim streetlights. "Yep, this is the road."

"And here I was actually starting to like this trip of ours." I could sense that she wanted to turn around and get out of here.

"Stop here and I'll get out and walk the rest of the way." I unbuckle and reach behind me to grab my drawstring bag.

She moves the truck forward a little. "I promised you so I'm going to follow through with it."

"It's maybe a hundred feet up ahead on your right." I grab the last gingerbread cookie. "Can I eat it?"

"You don't even have to ask."

Why was I asking?

I break it in half and give her a piece. "A toast to our mothers."

She smiles and taps her piece of gingerbread against mine. "To our mothers." She repeats and drives a little bit before pulling over against the curb. "This it?"

"This is it." I take a deep breath. "I haven't been back here in years but I still remember every detail of the funeral."

"So do I.. I remember every detail of my moms funeral." She whispers and puts the truck in park.

I eat my half of the cookie while taking the scrapbook out of my bag.

"What's that?" Her voice was full of curiosity.

"A family scrapbook.. I felt like it was appropriate to bring it."

"Is that you?" She pointed to the little boy in the picture on the cover.

"The one and only." I smile a little.

"You're a cutie." She smiles. "And your mom.. she's stunning. Your whole family looks perfect."

"Looked perfect." My smile fades. "That didn't last long."

"I'm sorry, Dallas. You can be rude at times but even you don't deserve the pain you've been through." She says softly. "I've seen a different side of you tonight and I'm happy I did."

"Why are you so nice all the time? I mean.. I can lash out at you and you'll still forgive me." I turn towards her.

"It's the Christian way of living. Jesus died on the cross for all sin so that we could be saved through Him, we don't have the right to judge others. We're not the ones who pick and choose who goes to heaven, although sometimes we feel like it should be our job." She opens my scrapbook and flips a page.

"But doesn't it get hard? There's people I just can't forgive.. like my dad for instance."

"Why should I not forgive you but want God to forgive me every time I do something wrong." She glances up from the scrapbook to look at me.

"So what you're saying is?" I was still confused.

"Don't be a hypocrite." She smiles softly and nudges my shoulder gently. "I want to apologize because I've been a big hypocrite here lately."

"I deserved it. I honestly deserve everything bad in the world since I'm such a jerk." I sigh as I look down at my lap.

Edith pokes my cheek twice before giggling. "Don't worry, be happy."

"What were in those donuts?" My lips twitch, wanting to burst into a smile.

"Maybe a little too much sugar?" She goes back to looking at my scrapbook. "Don't be so hard on yourself. Jesus still loves you."

"You're something out of this world, Edith Thompson. I can't quite put my finger on it..." I raise my head back up and look over at her again. The way her hair framed her face and the slight pinkish tone to her cheeks made me want to kiss he- "No!"

"No! No! No!"

Edith looks over at me skeptically. Did I say that out loud?

"Um.. are you alright? I'm sorry for looking at your pictures.." She places the scrapbook on my lap.

"No uh.. it's just-" I shake my head and rub my eyes hard enough to see swirling blackness. "I need some fresh air." I open up the heavy passenger side door before kicking it shut behind me.

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Hey y'all! I'm back from writers block which I'm super excited about and I know you guys are too :)

I hope to keep moving forward from here on out.
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~Xoxo Madison Grace