excerpt
“Hello, Sunshine, what makes you so happy today?”
Ronald paused at the door into the farm kitchen
and watched as Rachael washed breakfast dishes at the sink.
She directed a withering glance his way and snorted. “And what
are you doing here on a Saturday? Don’t you ever take a day off?”
“Not when the weather’s good and there’s hay to cut. We’re already
behind as it is.”
Rachael clattered a dripping plate into the drain basket. “You’re so
conscientious, anyone would think this is your farm. Haven’t you got
a life of your own?”
Ronald took his cap off, hung it on the coat rack near the door
and helped himself to a coffee from the cook range. “You know something,
Rachael, maybe I haven’t. And maybe I like it that way.” Pulling
a chair out from the table, he sat down and took a sip of coffee.
Rachael turned abruptly to look at him. “Why would you like it,
always working for someone else? You’re twenty years old; are you
going to keep working for Dad all your life?”
Turning back to the sink full of water, she plunged her hands
into the suds and muttered angrily, “Why don’t you join the army or
something like you always wanted?”
Complete silence.
Rachael froze. Belatedly, she remembered that she was the cause
of the injuries to his hands and feet – injuries that stopped him
from realizing his dream of being a soldier. “Oh, Ronnie, I‘m sorry, I
shouldn’t have said … I didn’t mean ….”
Libros Libertad 