Free The Way Home by Dallas Schulze Page B

always want to fly?”
    “I wanted to farm. I’d come out here every chance I got and follow Gramps around, ‘helping’ him.” He laughed softly. “I probably set his workday back a couple of hours every time I set foot on the place.”
    “I doubt if he minded.”
    “Probably not. It meant a lot to him to think that there’d be someone coming after him, someone who loved the soil as much as he did. But when I told him I wanted to fly, he helped me come up with the money to buy my first plane.”
    “He sounds like a wonderful man,” Meg said quietly. “He was. It would break his heart to see the way I’ve let this place fall apart.” Ty’s eyes drifted past the shabby house to the neglected fields beyond it, bare of any crop but weeds.
    “I think you meant more to him than this farm. And I’d guess if you’re happy, he’s content.”
    If he was happy. If someone had asked him whether he was happy, Ty wasn’t at all sure how he’d answer. At this moment, he was content in a way he’d rarely known.
    Meg began packing the remains of their lunch back into the basket and Ty found himself watching her hands, noticing their slender grace. From there, his eyes wandered to her face. She was intent on fitting everything neatly inside the wicker hamper, and a small frown of concentration drew her brows together. He had the urge to reach out and smooth that frown away.
    “I ought to get back,” she said reluctantly once the hamper was packed. “I promised Mama I’d help her finish up a quilt for a lady in Cedar Rapids.”
    “Does your mother do a lot of quilting for people?” Ty asked the question as much to extend the peaceful afternoon as anything else.
    “As much as she can. The money comes in handy.”
    “I thought your stepfather’s hotel was doing pretty well,” he said idly. “Since it’s the only one in town, it seems to do a pretty fair business.”
    “It does all right.”
    Something in her tone made Ty take a closer look at her expression. There was a subtle tightness around her mouth and a chill in her eyes that made him think that there wasn’t much love lost between her and her stepfather.
    As far as he was concerned, he’d have been content to drowse away the warm summer afternoon under the shade of the apple tree. But Meg had other things to do. He more than half envied her. The novelty of being idle had long since worn off.
    “Well, I suppose we ought to get going, then.” His movements slow, Ty stood up. He glanced around the neglected property regretfully. There were a lot of old dreams here, his grandfather’s and his own childish plans to be a farmer. He tilted his head to look at the blue arc of the sky, knowing that flying might hold most of his heart but there was a small part of him that would always love the soil.
    “Nobody gets to do everything they’d like.” Meg’s voice was soft and Ty turned to look down at her, wondering how she could read his thoughts so easily.
    “I guess not.” He smiled, shaking off the vague melancholy and extended his hand to her. Her hand felt almost fragile in his. As he drew her to her feet, he found himself noticing how small she was, the top of her head barely reaching his chin.
    “Is something wrong?” Meg’s question made him realize he’d been staring.
    “Sorry. I was thinking of something else.” He could hardly tell her that he’d been thinking how soft her mouth looked.
    “I thought I had dirt on my nose or something.” Her fingers brushed away an imaginary smudge, her smile a little self-conscious.
    “No. Your nose is perfectly clean. Which reminds me.” He snapped his fingers and then grinned down at her. “I almost forgot. I have something for you.”
    “For me?” He enjoyed the way her eyes widened in surprise as he pulled a small package from his pocket. “A present for me?”
    “I don’t see any other recent graduates around here,” he said teasingly.
    “A graduation present? You bought me a graduation