The Chattel Farmer

Ch 14 Dinner

My wrist buzzes with the alarm I set, startling me. I got a little too relaxed on the couch, and I would have missed dinner without the alarm. I sit up with a groan. Getting up this early is going to take some getting used to plus my muscles are a bit sore from carrying those boxes of peaches. I stumble into the bathroom to take a piss. Glancing in the small mirror it looks like my shirt has some stains from who knows what today. I quickly strip off my shirt. Should I put on another casual t-shirt like what I worked in all day? Thinking about that tight dress Mary was wearing at dinner yesterday, I grab something a little nicer but keep the same jeans since I don’t have time to completely change. And there’s still milking to do. Fresh swipe of deodorant and cologne, then jogging down the stairs towards the farm house.

Once I’m up on the porch of the house, I’m not sure what to do next. I don’t see anybody and the door is closed. There isn’t a lobby with a button to call up to the right apartment. Looking around again, I see a button next to the door. When I push the button, I hear a bell like sound inside the house. The door opens and the setting sun shines on Mary. Her pale white blond hair and sparking eyes fill the doorway and she brightly chirps “Hi, Aaron. Come on in. I hope you like spaghetti! Daddy should be down in a couple of minutes.” I love the way my name sounds when she says it. I can’t get my mouth to work but I follow her inside towards the dining room. I see the table set with actual dishes not the auto fab disposables that I’m used to. There’s even some fresh flowers in the middle of the table! “Wow, is all this for me? I hope you didn’t work too hard.”

“Oh, I would have made this for dinner anyways and enough for lunch tomorrow too. Well, I wasn’t going to make chocolate cake but it’s my favorite so I’ll use any excuse to make it. Oh, I’m talking too much, right?” She takes a deep breath which does amazing things to her figure. She doesn’t dress like the girls I’ve been around, not a single brand name to be seen, but I like it. “Mary, I could listen to you talk all night. I’ve never tried to bake a cake before. I bet you did it from scratch?” She blushed a tiny bit and nodded her head. “Can you tell me how you did it?” I hear a buzz from the kitchen area. “Oh! The garlic bread is in the oven. I need to get it out.” Mary spins around and her hair brushes in front of my face. It smells like heaven. I follow behind her admiring the way her hips sway. She confidently moves through the kitchen, grabbing hot pads to protect her hands, bending down, opening the oven, and smoothly sliding the hot pan of bread out and onto the counter. The smell of hot garlic bread fills the kitchen, causing my stomach to rumble. She starts slicing the long thin loaf of bread into pieces and putting them in a basket lined with a piece of fabric. “Mary, how can I help?” She jumped a tiny bit, “I’m not used to having anyone except my dad in the house. Uh, can you take those things over there and put them on the table?” I flash her a smile. “Of course!”

As we’re putting the last of the things on the table Mr. Farber comes into the dining room. “Mary, it looks and smells delicious. Thank you for taking such good care of me. Aaron, glad you could join us. Our family tradition is to take turns saying something that we’re grateful for from our day. You can go last.” We pass the serving dishes around and serve ourselves. From the smell I knew it would be good but damn this food is amazing. Mary starts talking after we’ve finished serving and have had time to eat a few bites. “I’m grateful for my good friends. I had a nice chat with both Lesley and Rachel! And also chocolate cake.” After a couple more bites Mr. Farber says “I’m grateful for a good day with the herd and a helper that’s a quick learner.” My eyes meet Mr. Farber’s and we do that guy head nod thing with serious faces. I take one more bite while planning on what I’ll say. “I’m grateful for being welcomed to Farber Farm, this delicious meal, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to be grateful for chocolate cake too.” Everyone shares a smile and a little laughter.

Talk moves on to how the garden is doing and other similar farm topics as father and daughter update each other on their work. I decide to try to add something when the conversation paused “Today I helped feed fresh peaches to the herd. They smelled pretty good. I would have sampled one but I wasn’t sure if that was ok.” Mary smiled at me. “I bet Dad had at least one! You didn’t tell me that peaches are available! Remember I want a box from Rachel’s farm to make peach jam like I did last year. This year I’m going to do a small batch with some jalapenos from my garden. It looks close to what I usually do so I hope I don’t have trouble with the new recipe.” Mr. Farber smiles at his daughter. “How could I forget your peach jam? I already talked to Rachel’s dad and the peaches you liked for jam should be ripe next week if this beautiful weather keeps up. Oh, before I forget I got a request for a tour and bonding experience from some corporation. Remind me to send you the dates and make sure you’re ok to do the catering that day. Looks like it’s time to head back to the barn for milking.” We all get up from the table. I pick up some dirty dishes and head towards the kitchen, then realized I don’t want to assume I know where Mary wants them. “Thanks for your help Aaron, put the dishes over there and any food over by the fridge.” I make a couple more trips before the table is clear. “Mary, thank you again for dinner. I hope I get some of that chocolate cake!” A smile lights up her face as we walk towards the door. “I’m about to frost it with my famous double crème buttercream frosting. I’ll see you in about an hour.” I float out the door towards the barn and my milking chores.