January
You are adrift on a sea of lucid dreams.
“I’m what?” Andie dragged her spare pillow over her head and groaned loudly into it. “A sea of lucid dreams? I’m far too sober and uncaffeinated to figure out what it means. Rups? Do you think I can get hazard pay for the trauma Nonna put on me with her meditation app?”
Rupert leapt onto the bed and flopped across her. Andie burst out laughing when he dragged the pillow off her face. He definitely wasn’t fazed by her dreaming about the now-deleted app.
Sitting up in bed, Andie tossed her pillow to the side and gently nudged Rupert further down. He wagged his tail excitedly. She grabbed her phone and turned off the alarm that had woken her up.
“What’s on the to-do list today?” Andie pulled up the app where she jotted down notes each night for her plans for the next day. “Ah. Time to start clearing out the beds in the first four polytunnels. And talk to Doc about moving into the farmhouse and changing the tiny cottage into his writing studio.”
She had no idea how Doc would react. He might panic. She hoped he didn’t; communication was definitely going to be critical.
After letting Rupert out for his morning run, Andie got coffee and toast. She was a little anxious to start the conversation with Doc. Her mind kept going over all the ways it could go wrong.
She had most of the morning to consider. Doc had been ensconced in front of his laptop, working on edits, when she’d popped by the tiny cottage to leave coffee and breakfast for him. It was hours before he came out to find her.
“Do you want to live with me?” Andie blurted while clearing out her tenth raised planting bed of the day. She was elbow-deep in dirt and muck. “Doc?”
“We already live together.” Doc latched onto that particular point. “On the same farm.”
Andie dragged her fingers through her hair a few times, regretting it immediately when she realized how much dirt covered her hands. She didn’t want to get frustrated when they were obviously having some sort of miscommunication. Doc was rarely pedantic for the sake of being a stubborn git. “Not in the same cottage.”
“Takes like five seconds to get from one to the other. Okay.” Doc held his hands up when she gave a huff of frustration. “It feels like we’re saying the same thing, but we’re obviously not. Maybe different words? More words? Something?”
“You love me.”
“Yes.” Doc nodded.
“I love you.” Andie waited until he nodded for a second time before continuing. “And we like cuddling together.”
“Why are you stating the obvious?”
“We’re snugglers. Kissers. And we’re in love. So…”
“You want to live together?”
“I’m explaining this badly,” Andie sighed.
“Or I’m understanding badly.” Doc moved closer to her. He reached out to take her hands where she was fidgeting. “Tell me.”
“People who love each other live together.” Andie had definitely not practised this conversation in her head enough, and she was running out of words. “Don’t they?”
“Just tell me. I’ll muddle my way through figuring it out.” Doc had apparently grasped it was important, whatever she wanted to tell him. “Andie?”
“Not overly interested in weddings, dresses, rings, and crying like a numpty in front of a crowd of people we never see most of the time. I do want to spend my life with you.” Andie got it all out in one breath. Then, she focused her attention on Rupert, who had come up to squeeze between them. “In the same cottage.”
“As a couple?”
“As a couple,” she repeated.
“Officially, but not matrimonially.” Doc laughed when Rupert finally succeeded in pressing his body in the small space between them. His wagging tail bashed against both of their legs. “Easy there, Rups.”
“Officially as a couple.” She had to chuckle with him. “We’re talking in circles.”
“You dig in the mud. I’ll write some words. We’ll circle back to the conversation later.” Doc leaned over Rupert and squeezed her into his arms. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m not going to leave you standing in the orchard again. I promise.”
“Okay.” Andie didn’t get a chance to say anything else since he gave her one last squeeze and then strode out of the polytunnel. She smiled when Rupert darted toward the exit and back to her. “Go on. Keep him company if you want.”
With a rueful chuckle and shake of her head, Andie returned to the next raised bed. She’d made decent progress in clearing out the last harvest's remnants. This was her least favourite part of running the farm.
By noon, Andie managed to clear out the rest of the polytunnel. She’d gotten all of them prepped for the new seedlings. Planting would start in a few weeks if the shipment ever arrived.
Her shipment of new berry seedlings was a few weeks late. The pandemic had slowed everything down. Andie counted herself lucky to be getting them at all, given the current state of affairs.
The impending snow likely wouldn’t help matters. They often got a little snow in winter. But a storm was brewing according to the weather forecast; she planned to spend the rest of the afternoon making sure everything was ready.
They might get a dusting of snow, or a gale might blow up on them and bury them in snow. Andie preferred to prepare for the latter and be pleasantly surprised by the former. She’d already stocked up on food supplies and gotten wood for the fireplace—if the power went out.
Lunch was a quiet affair. Andie made a sandwich with leftovers and sat by the fire with Rupert. Doc had yet to make an appearance.
The wind picked up by the time they stepped back outside. It had turned bitterly cold. They were definitely in for a rough few days.
“Once more into the breach?” Andie laughed when Rupert pressed against her side instead of racing off ahead of her. She scratched his head. “Why don’t we check on the barn first? Make sure all the cats are fed and water—and warm enough.”
Rupert poked his head out into the blustery wind. Andie followed him outside. She had to carefully close the door to keep from getting it ripped out of her hand.
“Hello, darlings. How are we doing? All warm and snuggly?” Andie double-checked their food and water. She also ensured everything was secured in and around the barn. “Well, Rups? Let’s take a quick walk around all the polytunnels and ensure nothing’s flying away.”
The snow started halfway through her trek around the farm. She found a couple loose ties on one of the new tunnels. It took forever to get them fixed.
She was cold.
Too cold.
Everything took longer while her fingers struggled to cope. Rupert whined anxiously at her side. She managed to get the last tie back into place, but she’d begun to shiver uncontrollably.
“Let’s get back to the cottage, Rups.” Andie tried to get her gloves back on, but she kept dropping them. “Bugger.”