Killing Me Softly(A Broken Souls Series)

“Tell me about Oregon, do you have a large family?” I ask, unable to shake the birthmark comment and how it has me distracted.

“My family is pretty small. I grew up on my grandparent’s farm. My grandfather had a massive heart attack when I was eight. We were fishing in the pond, I tried to revive him and we were so far out, it took the rescue crews over twenty minutes to arrive. There wasn’t anything they could do for him. My grandma is a strong business woman. She has made the farm very successful, especially now that everyone is going natural. Our chickens are free range, which is funny to me since they’ve always been that way. Many farmers have had to make accommodations to be USDA Organic Certified, we already had those practices in place. We run our own Farmer’s Market on the property. People travel as far as fifty miles to get our produce and meat. Grandma was upset with me for joining the military because she expected me to take over the business and she could retire.” Tate pauses for a minute before finishing his story. “I told her I didn’t want to take over until I’m in my thirties. If I had taken over, I wouldn’t have had the time to do my music and I’d be stuck doing farm chores for the rest of my life.”

“A farmer? I would never have guessed that was your background. Not to be in your business, but is that how you can afford such fancy things?” I blurt out without thinking. “I’m sorry, that isn’t any of my business.”

Tate smiles. “No one other than my family and my friend Cassie knows this, but my grandfather left me a trust fund. It might be why I shy away from getting in trouble. He put a stipulation on the money, if I get into any trouble, the trust will be unavailable to me for a year. He did say I could get speeding tickets, but I can’t get a D.U.I.”

“At least you can get tickets,” I can’t help but grinning at him. “Your grandfather sounds like he loved you very much. Are your parents living?”

He butters a slice of bread and hands it to me. As he butters another slice, I’m assuming for himself, he tells me more about his family. “My dad broke up with my Mom when she found out she was pregnant. He’s never seen me, and I don’t have any desire to meet someone that careless. My grandfather filled in the void, he was like a dad to me. My mom, Claudia, smothers me. We fought a lot when I was living at home. I think she resents me because her father by-passed her and left it to me. When my grandmother passes away, the farm is mine. When I get out, if I don’t have a recording contract, I’ll go and run the farm. Enough about me, tell me more about you, Holland. Don’t leave out any details, I want to know you from the inside out.”

He’s good. “I’m the polar opposite of you. My Mom left when I was thirteen, I’ve never heard from her since she left. I live with my dad. He has some issues, so I take care of him and work at the vitamin store. My dad fixates on something and it drives him crazy. The military is one of those things he goes crazy over.” I stop, half expecting him to get up and leave or say something so prolific I melt in my chair.

“I’ll be honest, I don’t know what to say other than parents suck.”

I nod my head, “That they do. So, who’s Cassie?”

“You caught that huh?” For a moment, we make eye contact. For thirty seconds, we get lost in a alter universe, one that only has the two of us. “She’s the daughter of our horse wrangler, they’ve lived on the farm since my grandfather died. Cassie’s my best friend, and one of the kindest people I know. I’m sure you’re wondering if we ever hooked up.”

What? Hook up? I didn’t even go there in my mind. Well, did you? “No, I didn’t think that at all. I was wondering if she was a friend or competition.” There, take that. He stifles a laugh and suddenly I feel self-conscious about how the date is going. “Did I say something funny?”

“Oh, I’m not laughing at you. Not really. I like how you asked if she is competition. We’re only friends. We’ve never dated or anything close to it. She’s been dating the same guy for the last four years and she’s been expecting him to propose any time.”

The waiter comes over and brings us our salads.

“That’s cool that you had someone on the farm to hang out with. What’s your grandma like? Is she the sweet granny type, or the determined businesswoman?”

“It depends on the time of day. During the day, she’s working and determined. In the evening, she’s in the kitchen with the chef preparing dinner. I think she secretly has the hots for Chef Jean-Paul.” He sprinkles oil and vinegar over his salad as he talks.

“Chef? You have a chef?” I can’t help asking. I’ve never had anything remotely close to the life he has.

His ears turn dark crimson and I realize I’ve embarrassed him.

“No, I have a mess-hall to eat in, my grandma has a chef. There are so many people who work on the farm and we provide them with lunch and many days they get dinner too. They have to work hard in the fields with the gardens and the cattle. The barn has a huge kitchen and Jean-Paul is the manager of it, he has crew to help him prepare lunch. He comes over to the house and makes dinner for us.”

“That sounds cool. Not many places provide food for their employees. Does your mom or grandma come out and visit? This is cattle country, do they do any business with Oklahoma?” I take another bite of my salad just in time for my dinner to arrive.

Tate pauses as he waits for our dinners to be set down and the staff to walk away. “My Grandma came out when I first got stationed here. Oklahoma is a little far away for us to do business with, but there are trucks who ship down here. Enough about me. Did your dad buy you your car or did you?”

I lift my napkin to my mouth to cover my cough from getting on the food. “No, retail doesn’t pay me enough to cover a payment for a car. My Dad’s older sister, Aunt Laney, bought it for my high school graduation. She’s a blessing in my life. Thankfully, because of her, I’m able to have a job and take care of errands. My dad and his sister haven’t talked in a while though. He doesn’t talk to anyone but me.” Stop talking about Dad! “Tate, I don’t want to spend this incredible dinner talking about my family. Can we change to something a little less dramatic?” He smiles and reaches across the table taking my hand in his.

“Of course, but one day, you’ll tell me the story of your life. There’s so much about you that intrigues me.” He gives my hand a light squeeze before letting go.

“So what do you think about Oklahoma? Do you hate it here?”

He shakes his head no and wipes his mouth with his napkin. “It took some getting used to, but it’s growing on me day by day. There aren’t very many trees here though. The trees here are short, the kind you can hang a swing from a branch. The only thing I don’t like is the red dirt, it gets into everything. There’s no hope to ever have a pair of white sneakers.”

“Sneakers? That’s funny, we call them tennis shoes, but I don’t know anyone who plays tennis. Are you an OU or OSU fan now that you’re here?” Our college football teams are huge rivals and all the rage during football season.

“You’re not going to believe me, but I’ve never watched a football game. I am an Oklahoma Thunder fan. That is one amazing team. Have you ever been to a game?”