The Deal

Ch. 2

As I lay in bed I think about dinner. Pa, told all of us the whole story about how he got in over his head with the bank. He thought this year he could pull us out of it, but spring brought a flood that wiped out a lot of our crops; leaving us with a bigger hole to fill.

I just don't know what to do. I would never consider Paxton's proposition, but seeing my family suffer is not something I want to go through, especially if I can fix it. I can hear my parents yelling at one another down the hall. I don't know what they're saying, but it doesn't sound good.

    I must have dozed off because about an hour later I'm startled by a bump, Pa is cussing and telling Ma not to leave. I sit up in bed, pulling the blanket off my body when I hear my mother's car start. She can't be leaving. I run to the window and look out. My mother is driving away and my father is standing with his head in his has, completely defeated. I run out of my room to the front of the house. Trevor and Brent must have heard too because they come out of their rooms as well.

    I get to the front door and rush out to meet my father. I run to him, hugging him as hard as I can. She left. I feel hurt, I can't imagine what he must be feeling. "She left, she's going home to California to stay with her sister," he says, his voice breaking. I feel his tears on my cheeks which cause my own to fall. My big, tough dad is crying, I've never seen him cry. I hug him harder and pray that I'm dreaming.

"I can't believe she left," Brent says, stunned.

"Things got tough. I'm surprised she lived here for as long as she did, she always hated it," Pa admits.

"What about us? She just abandoned her family! What kind of mother does that? She didn't even say goodbye. I'll never speak to her again. I promise you that," Trevor declares, shaking with anger.

"She'll come back," I say, not really believing my own words. Like Pa said, she would always complain about living here. I know she hated it, I always wondered why she stayed in the first place. It certainly wasn't her love for me.

   She wanted out for a long time. She saw the opportunity and left without looking back. I'm starting to get as mad as Trevor. I scoff, when I recall my own thoughts of wishing I looked like her, or was in anyway like her. No, I'm happy I'm nothing like her. Thank God I won't have to look in the mirror tomorrow and see her. I'll never forgive her for leaving us. She was and will always be a weak woman. Why Pa married her, I'll never know.

"It's late. wWe have work to do in the morning. Let's go on in, to bed, all of us," Pa orders, sadly.

    I look back down the driveway. I'll make her pay for this, I swear I will. We all go to our rooms. I know what I have to do, but everything in me is screaming not to. I pick up Paxton's phone number from the bedside table. The front has his work phone number, on the back it has two cell phone numbers written in ink.

    Why would he want to marry me anyway? It doesn't make any sense. If he wanted to settle down with someone, why wouldn't he choose someone he knows? I've only seen him here and there. I've never spoken to him before today. To propose marriage to me for the farm confuses me. Why marriage? Maybe he has to marry and can't find anyone... No that's not it. I've heard the women in this town talk. All Paxton West would have to do is point his finger if that were the case. Ugh, I'm going to drive myself crazy. I should just call him and ask. I pick up my cell phone dialing the first cell phone number on the back of the card. I take a deep breath and hit send.

I count one ring....two rings..."What?" he asks irritated. I woke him up I think to myself and grin wickedly.

"What? You act like you were sleeping, it's only three in the morning. Get up. I have questions for you." I demand.