every time she heard that line.
Ugh. This was going to be impossible, not laughing and reciting every line in the movie, but Christian didn’t know yet what a freak she was, and she didn’t dare let him figure it out.
“Buttercup was raised on a small farm in the country Florin,” Grandpa told his grandson in the movie.
Carla settled back with a happy sigh. Food, cutest guy around, and best movie ever. If she managed to keep from annoying her date, this would end up the most perfect first date of all time.
She just had to keep her mouth shut.
She could do this.
Chapter 9
Christian
I give you full marks for bravery.
~Prince Humperdinck in The Princess Bride
Christian swung up into the cab of Stetson’s latest acquisition – a Case-International Magnum 400. It was so new, the leather seats were still (mostly) clean. He swiped at the light layer of dust and then settled in, letting out a happy sigh. Field work had become a hell of a lot nicer with this tractor around, now that his boss allowed him to play with the new toy too.
Stetson had practically danced a jig when Jennifer had given him the go-ahead to sign the paperwork for it. Considering that Stetson and Jennifer had met because she’d been part of the bank’s team sent out to repossess the Miller Family Farm just a couple of years ago, Christian felt like this meant he could finally draw in a full breath. He knew finances were better with Jennifer in charge of them – Stetson had no head for numbers and was more likely to fly to the moon next week than balance a checkbook – but still, “better” wasn’t much of a measuring stick when you were starting out at “verge of bankruptcy.”
They had to be doing much better if Jennifer said yes to buying a beast like this. Whistling softly, Christian started it up and put it into gear, heading back out to the north 40. It’d been off the pivot long enough that the ground would let him disc between the—
His internal train of thought came to a screeching halt as he saw a figure out in the field, standing there patiently as if waiting for him to show up.
He shielded his eyes from the early morning glare of the sun and squinted. That looked like…
Carla?
As he got closer, he could see her fine figure – curves in all the right places – and her thick brown hair blowing in the gentle morning breeze. Either it was Carla, or she had a twin.
He pulled up to a stop next to her and he could see her lips moving as she tried to shout something up to him, but of course over the deep rumble of the diesel, she didn’t have a chance. He cut the engine.
“—here!” she shouted, and then turned a bright pink at the sudden quiet.
He opened the door and swung out, quickly taking the built-in steps to the ground.
“Hi,” he said. He sounded a little breathless, which he decided he’d attribute to the stairs he’d just come down. His eyes skimmed over her features, drinking them in – her wide red lips that were ever ready to break into a smile; her large hazel eyes that constantly intrigued him. He never knew what to expect – dazzling blue with hints of green? Sparkling green eyes tinged with blue? This morning, in the field of lush green against a sky of brilliant blue, her eyes were a mix of the two, creating a color he swear he’d never seen before, and loved all the more for it.
Also, he came from a family where it was sacrilege to leave the house without putting on makeup, and he could see that Carla was cut from the same cloth.
He liked that.
He liked that very much.
After their spectacular date 10 days ago, he’d been at a complete loss as to what he should do. He’d wanted to ask her out again, of course – watching The Princess Bride with her was more fun than he’d had in the last year combined together – but he’d blown his wad. He had no idea what to do as Date #2. Turned out, he still didn’t own a jet or a tuxedo, and flying her to Paris was still out of the question. After watching The Princess Bride with her, he’d realized that Jennifer had been right: Carla wanted big. Carla wanted romantic.
Christian didn’t do big or romantic.
So, he did nothing.