Chapter 3

When Adam goes in for dinner later, Paula isn’t there. Cindy has a roast chicken with baked potatoes and a salad made from the first of the spring’s lettuce and spinach already on the table. Practically all the food that gets eaten on the farm comes from the farm itself. Cindy bakes bread, milk and butter every day so that way it’s always fresh. He wonders where the girl is, but certainly doesn’t want to ask and let either of her parents know that he is interested in her. Besides, he’s not sure how they would react to a man being twice her age interested in her.

Instead, he just keeps quiet, letting his mind drift back to this afternoon. The thoughts and the images go through his head as Wyatt hands him a plate. Adam feels like he is living two different lives—one that is a hard worker trying to learn the trade, and another who is the horny guy that loves to fuck the farmer’s daughter. He feels like a teenager again whenever he is around Paula.

Cindy gets up from the table and calls upstairs, “Paula! Come down. Dinner is on the table!”

Paula calls back, “Coming, Mom!” Then her footsteps are heard on the stairs. When she appears, she has just finished up with a shower. Her hair is still wet and her face glows like a freshly scrubbed face would. She has on a short shirt that barely makes its way down to the middle of her thigh. It clings to her body and shows that fact that she is not wearing a bra. Adam tries not to look at her, but the sight of her breasts and nipples make him gasp. Their eyes meet briefly, but both pretend to ignore each other.

Wyatt turns to the farm hand and asks, “Did you hear about those killings a few counties over?”

“No! That’s horrible,” Adam replies, shaking his head.

“Yep, a couple of towns are fighting for some company that wants to plant genetically altered corn,” Wyatt goes on, taking a bite of chicken and continues, “Won’t happen here because of our community. We’re like a labor union, and we sure as hell won’t let some shit like that come in.”

While they talk, Paula is listening, and then adds, “I watched this film on genetically altered plants. I can see the benefits of it, but that’s just messing with nature, so who knows what would happen.”

The conversation goes on for a while and Adam is impressed with how much Paula knows about farming and things scientists are doing concerning it. Eventually, Cindy stands up and says, “Sorry to interrupt such an important discussion, but who would like some peach cobbler for dessert?”

Adam raises his hand and Wyatt gets up to clear the table, following his wife into the kitchen. When he and Cindy leave the dining room, Paula looks over at the farm hand and smiles. Then she mouths the words I want to fuck you. He smiles back, nodding that he understands.

Cindy calls from the kitchen, “Anybody want ice cream with your cobbler?”

“I do!” Adam shouts back.

“Me too!” Paula adds.

While they wait, Paula leans back in her chair and stretches her arms in back of her, causing her shirt to stretch across her breasts. Adam knows that she does this on purpose because she sees him staring at her chest. She looks at the man in the eyes and smiles before placing her hands on both of her breasts to rub them. Her eyes remain locked with his, teasing the man while biting her lower lip. She removes her hands just as her father comes in with two plates of cobbler and ice cream, followed closely by his wife with two more plates.

Adam digs into the pie and ice cream. Wyatt asks if they have any plans for the evening. Adam quickly glances over at the man’s daughter, but turns to Wyatt and says, “I’m starting a new book.”

“I noticed you like books,” Paula says. “I’ve got a few I think you might be interested in. Maybe I can drop them off at your cabin.”

Wyatt stiffens in his chair and looks at Adam, clearing his throat, yet he doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t have to. The sudden silence says it all and is clearly a warning.

Finally Paula speaks up. “Dad, your rule about me and the farm hands is dumb.” She slams her fork on the table, stands up and looks at her father. “It’s stupid and you have to stop treating me like I’m a little kid.” She glances at Adam and then back at her father before stomping out of the room.

Adam doesn’t know what to say or do so he just keeps on eating his dessert. The sudden change in mood at the table is not palatable. He notices Wyatt and Cindy looking at one another. Finally, Cindy is the one to say something first.

“Wyatt, why can’t they share their love for books?”

Wyatt stands up and says, “Because I know where that will lead and I have my reasons for keeping Paula away from the hands.”

Cindy stands up too and leans forward with her hands on the table. Adam is caught in the middle of this disagreement and he tries to stay out of it, keeping his eyes on the cobbler and ice cream. “You know as well as I do that your stupid rules are not going to stop the girl from doing what she wants. You’re making more of a problem than is necessary.”

Adam is stunned by how such a pleasant dinner and great conversation has suddenly become a battle of strong will and how he has become snagged into it.

Cindy leaves the room and Wyatt sits back down in a huff. He doesn’t say anything more for a little bit, but eventually he turns to the farm hand and says, “Sorry about that. You might think I’m being ridiculous, but I have my reasons for that rule.”

Adam looks up at the man and nods. He understands because he is a father himself. He thinks about he would react if a man twice his daughter’s age was fucking her. He finishes his ice cream then gets up and says, “See you in the morning.” Work on a farm is never done!

Before long, Adam is in his cabin, sitting in his chair with a book in his lap, trying to find the will to open it and begin reading. He tries to shut out what happened at the dinner table. He has been sitting there for a while when he notices that it is getting late. Maybe not late, but beyond his normal time for bed so that he is refreshed enough to get up early for work the next day. His mind drifts not to tomorrow’s work, but to Paula. He starts to wonder if she is going to sneak out of the house and come over. He gets up to look out the window. The light is on in her room, so he assumes that she isn’t coming. Just then though, he sees the light go out, thinking that she is going to bed.

He goes back to his chair and finally opens the book. After several minutes he closes it again, barely having read the first chapter. He just cannot seem to get the girl off his mind. This summer will be one hell of a summer. A fling, and probably nothing more, should they survive it undiscovered. Then she’ll go back to school and he will have to move on, learning how to be a farmer. He will have to buy that farm before the girl comes back home for the next summer break or else he is certain that all hell will break loose then. It has to. Nothing can stay a secret forever, can it? And part of him wants to get to know her on a deeper level, not just as somebody to fuck.

While sitting back with the book on his lap, he hears a light knocking at the door and then it opens. “Want some company?” Paula asks, poking her head around the edge of the door.

“Sure, come on in,” Adam gestures. “I was hoping you would come.”

“I had to wait until my father went to sleep,” she explains, closing the door behind her. “He was up later than usual.” The girl is still wearing that short shirt. It is tight, clinging to her hip and ass. She has on the same shirt too. Adam sees how her breasts bounce when she moves.

He looks up at and notices two dimples forming next to her mouth when she smiles. Her eyes crinkle and she has the cutest little nose like her mother. “You’re absolutely beautiful,” he blurts out, surprising himself.

Paula blushes when he says this. “Thank you, Adam.” She looks at the book in his lap. “How’s the reading going?”

“Good,” he answers, noticing the books in her hands for the first time. “Are those the books you promised?”

“Yes, they are,” she says going over to sit on his lap. “I didn’t know if you had a preference, so I brought a variety—crime, mystery, sci-fi...”

“Romance?”

“Romance?” she repeats. “I didn’t think any guys were into romance.”

“Well, there are some prominent male writers of romance,” he offers.

“Well, yeah, but I mean, reading?”

“Why not?”

“So, you’re a romantic then,” she says with a smile, looking him in the eyes. She then leans forward and kisses him, prying open his lips with her mouth muscle. She presses her chest into his arms and Adam returns her passionate kiss. They start kissing harder with the girl moaning into his mouth.

Suddenly, Paula pulls away and looks at the man. She gets up from his lap. Quickly she strips off her clothes, then reaches out to take his hand and pull him so that they are both standing. Adam blinks, startled by her strength, even though he knows where it comes from. In that split second she has transformed into the radiant beauty of her horse form. They look at each other, smiling. Seeing a horse smile might be impossible, but in this moment, Adam sees what it would look like. She has her arms on Adam’s shoulder, pulling him closer. He can tell that their relationship is taking a turn, moving from something as fuck buddies to something more. “I think I’m getting a real crush on you, Adam,” she says. “I’ve liked fucking the farm hands, but that’s about it. But with you, there is just something different.”