Page 62 of Hope After Loss

“Wee-wee,” she huffs, and I watch as his heart melts a little more while he beams at my daughter for calling him that ridiculous name.

Weston

Planting is in full swing at the farm, and Rich and I are putting in twelve-to-fourteen-hour days. Corbin and Garrett pitched in over the weekend, and Pop and Graham are lending their hands today. The goal is to have all the seeds in the ground by the end of April.

It takes about a hundred and twenty days for hemp to grow from a seed to a full-grown plant.

Hemp is affected by seasonal change, so as soon as the days start to grow shorter, the crops will stop growing and begin to produce flowering buds. That’s when it’s time to begin harvesting. It usually falls around the first of September but depending on the summer weather, it could be mid- to late-September.

Since we harvest by hand, the earlier the crops are ready, the better. So, getting the seeds in the dirt as fast as possible is of utmost importance.

Tourism in the valley is beginning to pick up, as it always does in the spring. The campgrounds are filling up, and the Man Caves are back to full capacity as the fishermen gear up for the season.

Anna is handling all the rentals for me, and it’s nice not to have to chase down everyone in between my hours in the field for once.

I honestly don’t know how I operated before her.

I can’t imagine walking into the office and not being greeted by her and Kaela’s smiling faces anymore.

Pop’s truck pulls into the parking lot, and I walk up to greet him and Graham.

“Thanks for coming out. I appreciate the help,” I tell them.

“You’re welcome, son. Your mother has plans with the girls tonight, so I’m yours as long as you need me,” Pop says.

“Yeah, I told Anna I’d keep Kaela for her so she can join them.”

Pop raises an eyebrow.

“You? Babysitting?”

“Yeah. She’s this big,” I say as I hold my hands two feet apart. “How hard can it be?”

He and Graham both burst into laughter.

“Let’s get to it then,” he says.

“Are you sure you don’t mind keeping her while I run to the shower?” she asks.

Mom and Leona are throwing a bridal shower for Taeli this afternoon. Since Mom or Leona are Anna’s usual babysitters, she was going to skip the party until I got wind of it and volunteered to entertain Kaela myself. It took a bit of convincing, but after assuring her that I was an old pro from Tucker’s baby years, she finally relented.

“Of course not. We’re gonna have a party of our own, watching the Rockies game. I’m going to teach her all about stats and ratings. She’ll be a baseball shark by the time we’re done. Besides, Langford and Graham will be there to back me up. You go have fun, doing whatever it is you girls do at showers.”

She hands me a loaded diaper bag.

“There are three bottles in there. I’ve started giving her baby food, but you don’t have to worry about that. She makes a mess. I’ll give it to her when I get back. I strapped her car seat into the back of your truck. Her favorite blanket and her stuffed elephant are in there too. If she gets sleepy, just spread the blanket out and give her the elephant, and she should fall right off to sleep. Oh, here, let me clip her binky to her shirt. You don’t want to lose this thing,” she says as she pulls the pacifier from her purse.

I reach my hand out and take it from her. “I got it. Go have a good time. We’ll be at Graham and Taeli’s house when you’re done.”

She sighs. “Thanks again.”

“You’re welcome. Now, get out of here.”

She grabs her keys from her desk and hurries out of the door.

I look down at the baby, who is staring at the door after her mother.

“All right, Baby Duck, it’s you and me. Let’s go party.”