Beyond them, the lake was a mirror, reflecting the crescent moon and the stars overhead. In the distance, on the other side of the lake, the cattle congregated near the bank were huddled together, their white chests flashing in the darkness. Every now and then one of them mooed and the noise floated across the water, mingling with the sounds of frogs and crickets. It smelled of grass and dirt and the earth itself, almost primordial.
“It’s beautiful here,” Sophia whispered.
He felt the same word could be used to describe her, but he kept his thoughts to himself.
“It’s like the clearing at the river,” she added. “Only more open.”
“Kind of,” he said. “But like I told you, I tend to go out there when I want to think about my dad. This place is where I come to think about other things.”
“Like what?”
The water nearby was still and reflected the sky like a mirror. “Lots of things,” he said. “Life. Work. Relationships.”
She shot him a sidelong glance. “I thought you haven’t been in a lot of relationships.”
“That’s why I have to think about them.”
She giggled. “Relationships are tricky. Of course, I’m young and naive, so what do I know?”
“So if I was to ask you for advice…”
“I’d say there are better people out there to ask. Like your mom, maybe.”
“Maybe,” he said. “She got along pretty well with my dad. Especially after he gave up the rodeo circuit and was available to help out around the ranch. If he’d kept at it, I don’t know if they would have made it. It was too much for her to handle on her own, especially with me to take care of. I’m pretty sure she told him exactly that. So he stopped. And growing up, whenever I asked him about it, he’d just say that being married to my mom was more important than riding horses.”
“You sound proud of her.”
“I am,” he said. “Even though both my parents were hard workers, she’s the one who really built up the business. When she inherited it from my grandfather, the ranch was struggling. Cattle markets tend to fluctuate a lot, and some years, you don’t make much of anything. It was her idea to focus on the growing interest in organic beef. She was the one who’d get in the car and drive all over the state, leaving brochures and talking to restaurant owners. Without her, there would be no such thing as Collins Beef. To you, it might not mean much, but to high-end beef consumers in North Carolina, it means something.”
Sophia took that in while she examined the farmhouse in the distance. “I’d like to meet her.”
“I’d bring you by now, but she’s probably already asleep. She goes to bed pretty early. But I’ll be here on Sunday, if you’d like to come over.”
“I think you just want me to help you haul pumpkins.”
“I was thinking you could come by for dinner, actually. Like I said, during the day it’s pretty busy.”
“I’d like that, if you think your mom will be okay with that.”
“She will.”
“What time?”
“Around six?”
“Sounds great,” she said. “By the way, where’s that maze you were talking about?”
“It’s near the pumpkin patch.”
She frowned. “Did we go there the other day?”
“No,” he said. “It’s actually closer to the main road, near the Christmas trees.”
“Why didn’t I notice it when we drove in?”
“I don’t know. Because it was dark, maybe?”
“Is it a scary maze? With spooky scarecrows and spiders and all that?”
“Of course, but it’s not really spooky. It’s mainly for little kids. One time, my dad went a little overboard and a few of the kids ended up crying. Since then, we try to keep it toned down. But there are a ton of decorations in there. Spiders, ghosts, scarecrows. Friendly-looking ones.”
“Can we go?”
“Of course. I’ll be happy to show you. But keep in mind it’s not the same for big people, since you can see over the bales.” He waved away a couple of gnats. “You didn’t really answer my earlier question, by the way.”
“What question?”
“About relationships,” he said.
She adjusted the blanket again. “I used to think I understood the basics. I mean, my mom and dad have been married for a long time and I thought I knew what I was doing. But I guess I didn’t learn the most important part.”