The Longest Ride

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.”

“Which is?”

“Choosing well in the first place.”

“How do you know if you’re choosing well?”

“Well…,” she hedged. “That’s where it starts getting tricky. But if I had to guess, I think it starts with having things in common. Like values. For instance, I thought it important that Brian be faithful. He was obviously operating under a different value system.”

“At least you can joke about it.”

“It’s easy to joke when you don’t care anymore. I’m not saying it didn’t hurt me, because it did. Last spring, after I found out he hooked up with another girl, I couldn’t eat for weeks. I probably lost fifteen pounds.”

“You don’t have fifteen pounds to lose.”

“I know, but what could I do? Some people eat when they get stressed. I’m the other kind. And when I got home last summer, my mom and dad were panicked. They begged me to eat every time I turned around. I still haven’t regained all the weight I lost. Of course, it hasn’t been easy to eat since school started back up, either.”

“I’m glad you ate with me, then.”

“You don’t stress me out.”

“Even though we don’t have a lot in common?”

As soon as he said it, he worried that she would hear the undercurrent of concern, but she didn’t seem to detect it.

“We have more things in common than you’d think. In some ways, our parents were pretty similar. They were married for a long time, worked in a struggling family business, and expected the kids to chip in. My parents wanted me to do well in school, your dad wanted you to be a champion bull rider, and we both fulfilled their expectations. We’re both products of our upbringing, and I’m not sure that’s ever going to change.”

Surprising himself, he felt a strange sense of relief at her answer. “You ready to check out that maze yet?”

“How about if we finish our beers first. It’s too nice out here to leave just yet.”

As they slowly drained their bottles, they chatted idly and watched the moonlight trace a path across the water. Though he felt the urge to kiss her again, he resisted it. Instead, he reflected on what she’d said earlier, about their similarities, thinking she was right and hoping that it was enough to keep her coming back