A dreadful longing for Vance Cumberland had become my only constant company in the last few months. It was no surprise that it was now taking up most of the space in the cab of the truck. I missed everything about him. His flashy green eyes, the lopsided smile that showed off his dimples, those shy freckles barely visible on the bridge of his nose. He’d been a part of the tapestry of my life for several solid years, weaving himself into it with such ease that I’d taken it for granted.

Now that I’d pushed him away, I felt it in every part of me, and with the secure thread of Vance removed, I began unraveling quicker than a frayed afghan.

Chapter 13: A SEASON OF RUIN

May 1987

Tobacco season was more like a carefully paced marathon than a sprint. From start to finish, it consumed most our entire year. At least after setting the plants, we could have a break. I laid my head on my pillow tonight, finally taking a breath. We’d set the last field just hours earlier, and even though my hands were tinged yellowy green and ached a little, there was a deep satisfaction in knowing this step was complete.

Sleep found me fast. So fast, in fact, that not even a dream could interrupt it. Oh, but a nightmare surely could.

“Ox, get up!” Pa shook my shoulder hard, scaring me awake.

I jackknifed in the bed, slinging the cover off and stumbling to stand. “What’s wrong?”

“Get dressed. We got a mess!” Pa was out of my room in a flash and hollering at Peg to get up from the room next to mine.

I looked toward the window and found no light and no answer to what was going on. A glance at the alarm clock on my small nightstand answered my question on the time: 11:43. Thinking someone must be sick and in need of a trip to the ER, I hurried into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt before bolting downstairs.

Peg and Boss stood at the foot of the stairs, similarly dressed haphazardly in wrinkled shirts and jeans. Boss’s eyes were closed and Peg was rubbing his.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Pa has lost his ever-lovin’ mind is what’s going on!” Peg whisper-yelled.

“Peg!” I shushed him just as heavy boots stomped across the front porch.

The front door slung open, snapping our attention to Pa waving for us to hurry up. “Let’s go. Lots of work ahead of us.”

I ushered Boss and Peg out, hoping to not wake the entire house. Pa was already off the porch and climbing on the idling tractor with a trailer behind it. “Climb in!” he yelled over the puttering.