Winter Harvest (18 page)

Two long, lonely weeks passed, and every day Traye fought the urge to run back to the farm. Andrew hadn't talked to him at all. He'd even avoided Traye's texts, almost as if the two of them had never had their last conversation. Traye left Victoria alone as well, but he missed her until the ache in his heart became his friend. His proof he was still alive. Never in his wildest dreams had he ever imagined he would experience such emptiness.

His maintenance job didn't fulfill him like working with the rich earth did. He didn't want to ditch Wally, but he couldn't comprehend spending the rest of his life this way. Even the cabin with all the bad memories held more attraction then the loft. The cabin would always be his home. If he couldn't be on the O'Connor farm and had no money to buy his own property, now might be time for him to look west. A part of him had hoped Victoria, Robert, or maybe even Andrew would seek him out and beg him to come back. Only a few weeks had passed, and yet the silence screamed they'd all dismissed him. That tore his heart in two.

He studied the town as he drove to Jerry's for a burger. The quiet inside his new home had him climbing the walls, and he needed to be surrounded by people. At the farm, silence had never bothered him, but at the loft it drove him crazy. This town had never defined him. The farm did. If nothing else, leaving it had helped him learn who he'd become -- and who he hadn't. The boredom alone made him want to drink like his father and drown out his shortcomings.

For the first time, he understood his father's attraction to the bottle -- and that scared the hell out of him. He needed interaction. Jerry's would have to do, even though he'd rather visit the farm, talk with Victoria, and see her amazing smile. He itched to draw her close and engulf her in his arms, to taste her lips and feel her smooth skin. He closed his eyes for a second and shook the thought away. Didn't pay to dwell on what he'd lost, but he had no idea how to move forward.

The beauty of the green grass and sprouting spring flowers did nothing to ease his pain. He missed the rich dirt, the smell of the farm, the company, and Victoria. Meal times were too quiet now. Wherever he turned, he came up with emptiness. He didn't like it and had to find a way to change his thoughts. Victoria had made her decision, and he had to learn to live with that.

Walking into Jerry's, he found a corner booth and grabbed a menu. If nothing else, the buzz of voices cured his problem with silence. The waitress took his order.

Through hooded eyes, he watched other people knowing he should try to make nice. Having been alone so much throughout his childhood, he'd never meshed with folks. He'd hid his father's addiction as best he could and never interacted much. The O'Connor family had filled his needs, made him whole. Now he realized depending on them so much had been a mistake. Yet he couldn't bring himself to drop his defenses and join in with the people in town. He'd always be the one on the outside looking in.

He enjoyed his burger and fries but still missed the home-cooked meals he'd shared with the O'Connors. He couldn't cook worth squat, and yet couldn't afford to eat out every meal, either. He gradually relaxed while he watched the people inside the restaurant. Even though eating here wasn't the same as the farm, he decided to make the most of it knowing this was his life now.

A female voice drew his attention away from his fries. He paused with a fry midway to his mouth. He'd know that voice anywhere. He cringed still not seeing the woman it belonged to, but hearing her high pitched, annoying cackle.
Liza
. She was always louder than normal.

She soon came into view with three other girls and chose a seat at the bar. All three of them were dressed in high heeled shoes, short dresses with plunging necklines that showed too much cleavage, and makeup and hair made up like they'd just left a Broadway show.

Not appropriate attire for Jerry's.

Liza's voice carried to him almost like she stood right next to him. He couldn't help but hear her slurred words.

"You wait and see what the dance will be like next year.
I'll
be in charge then. It's going to be so sophisticated, this town won't know what hit them. Victoria throws such lame, cheesy parties. They embarrass Andrew, but his father won't take the dance away from her. By next year,
I'll
be the woman in charge, and she'll be married to Evan and gone." Liza threw back her head and shook her mane full of curls. "I can't wait."

"You think she'll give up the farm?" one of the other girls asked.

Liza nodded. "Andrew will see to it. That farm has
our
name written all over it. As soon as I can, I'll renovate on the house. It needs a major overhaul. I never met that Tessie, but she sure had rotten taste."

Traye formed his hands into tight fists, pushed himself against the back of the booth, and held his breath. He wanted to strangle Liza. No one talked about Tessie like that.

After finding his inner calmness, he left the booth and walked over to Liza. "It's not nice to bash someone you've never known."

"Traye." Liza twirled around on her bar stool, an evil smile distorting her perfect features. "How have you been?"

"Don't pretend you care."

"You're right. I don't"

"What brings you here? Isn't this place beneath you?"

"It is." She covered her ruby lips and giggled. "I was at an elegant party and had too much champagne. The people in this dive couldn't care less if I'm drunk. The only folks who come here are a little uncultured, if you know what I mean."

"Like farmers?"

"Yeah, like you." She sneered at him. "Of course, you're just a hired hand. It's not like you own anything."

"Andrew's a farmer. Did you forget that?"

"Correction. He
owns
the farm. When he gets his dad to put him in charge, he'll hire people to do the actual work while we get rich."

Traye figured that either Andrew had been telling her stories, or she just didn't get it. Farmers in Russet Grove didn't get rich. They could live a good life, but the O'Connor farm wasn't big enough for her dreams.

"Andrew doesn't own the farm yet," Traye said. When had Andrew become so greedy? Had Liza corrupted him, or had he just gone off the deep end after his mother's death?

She lifted her chin. "He will."

"With Victoria."

"Oh, no. She's history."

"How so?"

"She finally found a guy to take her away from the farm. She'll get married and move in with Evan. He has a good job. Not a very respectable one, but good enough for her. It's just a matter of time."

"I wouldn't start picking out new furniture yet." Traye narrowed his eyes.
What a bitch
. "Victoria won't be going anywhere anytime soon."
I'll see to it

"I wouldn't bet on that. Of course, you've been a loser since the day you were born. Took me a while to get Andrew to see the light. He didn't want to believe you were interested in taking away his birthright."

If Liza wasn't a woman, Traye would've laid her flat by now. She didn't deserve to be called an O'Connor. Using Andrew's grief to turn him against his family and get her an easy life. The problem with her plan was that farming is never a breeze. If you didn't live and breathe it, it wouldn't bring you happiness. Neither would walking away from it and becoming a mechanic. What a fool he had been.

"We put the plan into motion a long time ago." Liza's whiny voice brought him back. "We got rid of you, didn't we?"

"Who's
we?"

"Seriously? You still haven't figured it out? I told Andrew you aren't that smart. Of course, with parents like yours, it's understandable. Can't expect much from your kind. It's not your fault. It's just the way life rolls." She shrugged, reached for her drink, and almost spilled it in her lap.

Traye wanted to grab it and pour it over her pretty, fake little head. If he did, however, he wouldn't find out what she was up to. "Guess you're right. Having a drunken father stunted my brain and made me stupid."

"I'll say."

"So why don't you spell it out for me?"

"Andrew and I will run the farm. Pretty soon, Robert will move into town or a nursing home. I couldn't have known he'd break his leg and never recover to full capacity. Then you screwed up and made Victoria's illusions disappear, and she met a good guy who has no interest in the farm. Last but not least, you got yourself thrown off the farm for your mistake. All three of you did everything I wanted. It has to be fate."

"Wow. You're right. I'm an idiot." Traye nodded and flexed his fist, the anger rising up within him so intense he feared he might explode at any second. "How'd you get Andrew to play along?"

"He's such a momma's boy, it wasn't that hard." She gave him a sloppy smile. "I just told him he'd end up with nothing unless he took the bull by the horns. His grandfather had planned for him to have it in the end, anyway. After his mother talked to you as if you were her son, it didn't take much convincing."

"Huh." Traye's mind returned to the awful days before Tessie died. He'd sat at the end of her bed holding her frail hand and choked back the tears. She'd promised him he would always be part of their family and had assured him his father's blood had not destroyed him. She'd told him she loved him like a son, and that part of the farm would go to him someday. "I had no idea Andrew heard that and resented me so much."

"I think he cared about you a little bit." She held up her index finger and thumb with a slight distance between them. "Then you and Victoria ruined it. Once you decided you loved her, he couldn't let you stay on the farm. You two would own more than Andrew. That's not fair. He's the son, not you, even though Tessie and Robert wanted you to be part of the family. Still, he'll need your help to work the farm. So once Victoria's gone, you can come back."

"That's mighty nice of both of you."

"It is, isn't it? We aren't above slumming. We'll pay you well so you can have a good life. Everyone will win -- even Victoria, whom I despise."

"Clearly."

"We'll get along fine once she leaves. Andrew and I plan to live a wealthy life."

"Hmm. What if everything hadn't gone so smoothly for you two?"

She shrugged. "I'd have figured it out. I'm pretty good at these things. What counts is that I've got Andrew wrapped around my little finger. He'll do anything I want."

"Guess so. I hope things continue to work out for you guys." If Traye had anything to say about it, the two people leaving the farm would be Liza and Andrew, not him and Victoria. Once Andrew got his head screwed on straight, he could come back and help run the place.

She smiled again. "Oh, they will. We'll change the O'Connor farm back to what Andrew's grandfather intended it to be."

How sad the crotchety old man had corrupted Andrew. No more. Traye had to crush his friend's plan and bring him back to reality. Their whole friendship had been destroyed, and he no longer trusted Andrew. Now, however, Traye's stupid days were over. He owed it to Robert to fix things. Hell, he owed it to Victoria. He'd let Andrew pull the strings and beat the words
she deserves better
into Traye's head. Andrew was good; Traye had to give him that. He'd known exactly where to find Traye's weak points. Too bad Liza would get all the credit.

At the dance on Saturday, he'd show up and surprise Andrew. He'd reclaim Victoria's heart, but this time he'd do it
his
way. One last shot. He'd also tell Robert the truth, get his old job back, and get the guidance Andrew claimed Traye needed -- with or without Victoria.

Traye smiled at Liza. He'd thought he'd messed up, but apparently Andrew had the same problems he did. For the first time, he stood on the same level as his friend, and his confidence exploded. He met Liza's eyes. "That's a nice dream. I had no idea Andrew was such a softy. I knew he loved his grandfather, though, and I guess you knew just how to play the poor sap."

"His grandfather was a great man."

"You've never met him. How do you know?"

"Because Andrew has told me how much he admired him, and Andrew is never wrong."

"You almost sound as if you love Andrew."

"Of course I do. He's strong and smart, and he knows how to follow directions to get what he wants. What's not to love?"

She loved the Andrew she'd molded, not the
real
Andrew. Maybe they did deserve one another.

"Well, I'm going to shove off," Traye said. "Thanks for the insight. You've made everything very clear. I know what I need to do now."

"No problem. Letting Victoria go is for the best. Andrew will still need your help, so hang in there and wait for our instructions. You follow them, and we'll give you everything you could ever ask for."

"Yeah, sure. I'll do that." He walked away with a surge of renewal as the cloud over his head dissipated. He'd get everything he wanted, all right. Just not the way they'd planned.

Chapter Fifteen

Traye ripped the silk tie from his neck and tossed it aside.
No.

He'd go in as himself. Isn't that what Victoria wanted? She didn't like the Traye he had become.
Hell, I don't like myself too much at the moment, either
.
The guy I've become makes my gut churn. Who am I trying to kid? What did I let Andrew do to me?

Of course, Andrew couldn't hold all the blame, although Traye did hold him three-fourths at fault. He'd been so eager to keep the peace, he'd tripped all over himself to bring things back to normal. A trait he'd developed thanks to his father's drunken behavior. The sooner he could get things back to normal after every drinking binge, or as normal as they could be, the safer he was.

He'd done the same thing with the O'Connors. Only… he shouldn't have. Robert would love him no matter what. How could he have thought otherwise? He still loved the insecure, conniving Andrew, didn't he? Traye had come from a family in turmoil, and Robert had taken him in time after time. He was surprised by how troubled Andrew had been since Tessie's death. Tonight, Traye would set him straight.