He gave her the bucket and lingered, watching as she walked away. He had a date with Lois! But somehow it had turned into a not-real date.
He was unsure whether to sigh or laugh out loud. The laughter won.
He had a date with Lois!
Chapter 12
“Dinner?” Martha said. “In Smallville? Tonight? That’s a nice idea. Are we going to the Chinese place? Or Benson’s?”
Clark gulped, knowing he looked horribly uncomfortable.
His mom stared at him, awaiting his reply.
Then, she burst into fits of laughter – a sound he hadn’t heard in almost a year.
“I’m joking, Clark,” she said. “Who takes his mother on a date?”
“It’s not… it’s not actually a date,” Clark said.
“Then what is it?”
“A dinner… colleagues… to thank her for helping around the farm.”
“I have never seen you look at any other farmhand the way you look at Lois.”
“Mom!”
“Only saying it as I’m seeing it.”
“Mom, Lois is… she’s a city girl.”
“She seems to have adapted to the farm just fine.”
“Lois isn’t… she isn’t ready. Her last relationship ended badly.”
“Nothing like new love to heal the hurts.”
“Mom, you know it’s not that simple. Not for me.”
She stopped prodding the bacon and looked at him. “I thought you wanted marriage and a family of your own.”
“Of course, I do. More than anything. But…”
“It can be that simple, Clark. You just have to decide you’ve found the right woman and see if she feels the same way about you.”
“It’s a far bigger deal than for most guys,” Clark said.
“It doesn’t have to be,” she insisted.
“How long before breakfast is ready?” Clark asked.
Martha eyed him for a stretched moment, letting him know she hadn’t missed the change of topic. “Ten minutes,” she said.
“Just enough time to pack the truck,” Clark said. He opened the door and then paused and turned back. “It was great to hear you laugh again, Mom.”
“Get to work,” she growled through a hovering smile. “The trees are waiting.”
~~~~
Later that morning, Lois discovered that Clark had yet another set of skills. He wielded the large chainsaw with ease and was able to bring down huge branches and have them fall exactly where he wanted.
And, as she had come to expect, her safety was paramount in everything he did.
She loaded some of the cut wood onto the truck, very aware that her ‘help’ was a small contribution. But they worked well together. And Clark seemed to enjoy having her along.
She wondered if he ever thought about the time after she’d gone when he would return to doing most of his farm work by himself.
She wondered if Clark appreciated company, or her company.
When Jack Mackenzie returned, maybe Clark wouldn’t need her so much.
She wondered a lot about their date that night. What would he wear? What would they talk about?
Where were Clark’s thoughts on the scale from ‘completely about Lana’s reaction’ to ‘real date with Lois’?
When he’d asked her to go out with him, her mind had been switched to problem solving mode and she’d genuinely thought he’d meant his invitation as a means to finding information without actually asking.
Now, she wasn’t so sure.
And she was even less sure about her feelings.
The scars from Claude’s betrayal still stung.
But Claude and Clark were about as different as two men could be.
Was Clark hoping for a kiss at the end of their ‘date’?
If he was…
If he went to kiss her…
Lois gulped.
The thought of kissing Clark sent a thousand tiny skittering explosions through her body.
Kissing Clark…
Clark turned off the chainsaw, leaving a long branch cut into footlong logs, and Lois slammed shut her wandering mind. “Why did you take down that particular tree?” she asked, inwardly congratulating herself for thinking of a question and delivering it with a mostly steady voice.
Clark didn’t seem to notice anything amiss. “Because if it were to drop, it would take out that tree,” he replied, pointing. “And they all need their share of the sunlight, so those two smaller ones will find it easier to compete now.
“Are you concerned about the safety of your animals?”
“That is part of it, too.” Clark gestured around the field. “The best environment is one where there are trees of many different ages,” he said. “Established trees, still-growing trees, young trees, and dead trees.”
“Dead trees?”
“Dead trees provide shelter for wildlife,” he said. “When a tree dies, we try to leave it for a couple of years. The wood dries out, making better firewood.”
There was way more to farming, even something as elementary as trees, than Lois had ever imagined.
Clark continued, “See over there? The two dead trees? I’m going to take down the one on the right today and leave the other one. The bigger one was here before my father was born and died a couple of years ago. It will provide a lot of wood for our fires this winter, and it’s starting to be dangerous.”
Clark helped her finish loading the cut wood onto the truck, and they drove over to the two trees. He directed her where to stand, started the chainsaw, and five minutes later, the tree crashed safely to the ground.
Lois noticed he’d left the stump about waist height. “Did you leave that for the wildlife?” she asked.
Clark nodded. “Partly.”
“What was the other reason?”
Clark chuckled. “The cattle use old stumps as scratching posts. Sometimes where they’re scratching their rumps, it looks like they’re dancing.”
Lois laughed, too, imagining that scenario.
Clark systematically cut up the tree, then they loaded it onto the truck, Lois doing the narrower branches and Clark lifting the wider chunks from the trunk.
She was in awe of the weight he could lift, seemingly without much effort.
“Lunch?” he suggested, as he tossed the last piece onto the truck.
“Good idea. I’m starving.”
~~~~
Clark laid out a blanket on the grass under a tree and added the basket that contained cold beef and tomato sandwiches, apples, plums, grapes, and a couple of chunks of his mom’s chocolate cake.
Once they were sitting down, Lois poured the lemonade and Clark organised the food.
“How long will the wood we collected last?” Lois asked. “All winter? A month?”
“This lot will do about two months,” Clark replied. “We have some stockpiled from last year.”
“Are we doing more wood this afternoon?” Lois asked.
“I had planned to, but I think I need to start raking the hay.”
“Why?”
“The forecast was for rain in the early hours of Friday, so I intended to rake and bale tomorrow and Thursday. But now they’re saying the rain will get here Thursday afternoon. And they’re predicting there will be a lot of it over following two to three days.”
“That would be a problem if the hay is still in the field?”
He nodded. “Yep.”
“Why didn’t you start this morning?”
“It’s still drying. It’s not really ready yet.”
“Is there anything you can do to make it ready earlier?”
There was plenty he could do. He could dry it to perfection with his eyes, he could rake it in seconds, have it baled in minutes, and loaded into the barn in the blink of an eye. But… “No.”
“Why can’t you bale it if it’s not dry enough?”
“It can go mouldy and spoil,” he said.
“When Martha and I drove into Smallville, I noticed some barns are already full of hay.”
Clark nodded. “It’s traditional around here to make hay in July.”
“Why are you making it in September?”
“I…”
“It’s OK. You don’t have to answer anything you don’t want to.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to answer. It’s that I don’t want to bore you.”
“You haven’t managed to bore me yet.”
And that was yet another reason why he loved her. “When I travelled, I saw farmers in other parts of the world, and they all did things a little differently. Some cultures use old ways that we have long discarded. I think there could be value in some of that, and I’m keen to experiment.”
“Like making hay in September?”
“After making hay, the fields are bare and the soil sparsely covered. July and August are often our hottest months, so the bare soil bakes. The longer the rain holds off, the worse it gets, and the longer it takes to recover.”
“Is hay made in July different than hay made in September?”
“Yes. But answers take a long time in farming… make the hay, feed it out, compare the condition of the stock, try to take out other variables… and then… maybe… come to a conclusion.”
“Did you make any hay in July?”
“Yes. About half.”
“Is this the first year you’ve done this?”
“No. We left about a quarter last year.”
“And?”
“And the fields from the later hay seemed to bounce back after a dry patch better than the others.”
“You left more this year?”
“June and July were unusually wet, so it made sense to leave more until late summer.”
“Because you didn’t want the hay getting wet?”
“Yes. And because I wanted to minimise the damage the tractor and baler did to the wet soil by compacting it.”
Lois smiled. “See, that wasn’t boring at all.”
“You are…” He paused, discarding so many words that would tell her more than he should. “… surprising.”
She grinned. “I am?”
“In the best possible way.”
Her grin widened. “Are you going to unload the wood before raking?”
“No. I can park the truck undercover and unload later.”
“I’m not sure I’ll be any use in doing the hay,” Lois said, “but I will help however I can.”
“Thanks,” he said, his heart leaping a little at Lois’s easy acknowledgment that she would be here for a few more days. The downer was that he would have very little chance to spend time with her. “I was wondering if you’ve given any further thought to Jack.”
“A little,” she admitted.
“Have you accepted that he’s not who you were looking for?”
“Not entirely.”
Their eyes met, and Clark figured there was a good chance he and Lois had come to similar conclusions.
“If Jack’s mother went to Australia…” Lois said.
“And met Mr Mackenzie…”
“It’s possible your Jack is also…” She shrugged. “… my Jack.”
“Yeah.” Clark took a swig of his lemonade. “A letter arrived for him yesterday.”
“From whom?”
“I… ah… didn’t look.”
“Clark!”
She was still smiling, although he could see she was a little frustrated by his unwillingness to pry into Jack’s life.
“Did it look official?” she asked. “Was it postmarked Metropolis?”
“No. The stamps were Australian.”
“Oh,” she said, looking disappointed.
“The name and address were handwritten.”
“A personal letter,” she concluded.
“What is your father’s name?”
“Samuel,” she said. “Why?”
“Because the letter was addressed to S J Mackenzie.”
“So the ‘S’ could be Samuel?” Lois said.
Clark nodded. “Could be. Do you think you want to meet him?”
“I really don’t know. Do you have any photos of him?”
“No. Sorry.”
“Does he look anything like me?”
Clark took a moment to gaze into Lois’s face, committing more tiny details to memory. “No,” he said eventually. “I can’t see any family resemblance. Do you look like your sister?”
“No. We’re completely different.” She reached for a piece of cake. “What’s Jack like? How old is he?”
“He’s twenty-two. He seemed young at times, but I think that was just because he was away from home and intent on having a good time.”
“Martha said he is a good worker.”
“He is. Great with the animals. Thorough. Knowledgeable. Hard working. Willing.”
“Did he say much about his parents?”
“Not a lot. But enough to show he has a great relationship with them.”
“Do you know why he left Australia?”
“He said he’d spent the last seven years milking cows and would probably spend the next fifty doing the same thing, so he wanted to see a bit of the world before settling down.”
“Imagine thinking you’re ready to settle down at twenty-two,” Lois said.
“I know,” Clark said, grinning as their eyes met.
“Did he say anything about looking for his father?”
“No. From everything he said, his father is in Australia, milking cows.”
“But he had to leave here, and he’s been delayed.”
Clark nodded. “And he’s not the type to be unreliable on a whim.”
“So, whatever is keeping him away, it’s important to him?”
“Yes.”
“He could be looking for his father.”
“Yeah.”
“The agency claim they don’t pass on information without permission, so I doubt he knows my father’s name. If I did meet Jack, I’d have to decide what, if anything, I told him.”
“If he came all this way, he has questions.”
“Yes,” she conceded. “But if he is my father’s son, the answers are not going to be what he’s hoping.”
Clark winced. “Poor Jack. Whoever he is.”
“I think he is better off not knowing.”
“Not knowing is tough.”
Lois squeezed his arm and slowly withdrew her hand. “You have raking to do.”
“And more importantly, dinner.”
“Will you have time? We can postpone it.”
“Yes, I’ll have time. I made a seven o’clock reservation. Is that OK?”
“Yes, of course.”
As they packed away the remains of their lunch, Clark checked his watch. It was almost one o’clock. Six hours until his first date with Lois.
His powers didn’t include pushing time more quickly, but if they had, he would have been sorely tempted to do just that.
~~~~
Clark parked the truck near the barn. He swung down and began getting out the lunch basket.
“I can do that,” Lois said. “You get on with the raking.”
“Sure?”
“Yep.”
“See you later,” Clark said, heading towards the barn.
“Sure will.” Lois watched him until he disappeared.
Tonight, she had a date with Clark.
It was supposed to be a way to gauge the reaction of Lana and send a message to the locals.
It was supposed to mean nothing.
But it didn’t feel like nothing.
It felt like something.
And she couldn’t wait.
~~~~
“Any problems?” Martha asked, looking up in surprise as Lois entered the kitchen.
“No. Clark decided to start raking. He’s worried about the rain coming early.”
“He’s going to rake today?”
Lois nodded. “Can I help you?” She looked around the kitchen and saw about a dozen jars of jelly waiting to be labelled.
“I’ve finished the jelly,” Martha said. “Anna called and asked if I’d like to go to Wichita with her this afternoon. I thought it would be OK… with you and Clark going out.”
“Of course, it’s OK,” Lois said. “I think it’s a wonderful idea. What are you going to do?”
“Anna has two tickets for a show. She planned to go with Tom, but he wants to get seed into the ground before the rain.”
“That’s fantastic,” Lois enthused, thinking how pleased Clark would be at this development.
Martha looked hesitant. “We need to leave about three, so you’ll be alone.”
“That’s OK,” Lois said. “I can always go and talk to Daisy.”
Martha smiled, but still looked unconvinced. “You’ve been looking tired, honey,” Lois said. “Are you sleeping well?”
“Yes,” Lois said. Wanting to allay Martha’s concerns, she added, “I think I’ll spend the afternoon resting.”
“If you’re sure…”
Lois patted Martha’s shoulder. “You have a wonderful time, Martha.”
“Lois? I don’t want to intrude if you have other plans, but would you like me to return your rental car?”
“Wouldn’t that be inconvenient for you?”
“Not at all. The theatre is only a few minutes from the airport.”
Lois considered it for a moment. While the rental car was here, it seemed as if her departure was imminent. With it gone, it would be almost as if she’d made her stay less temporary. But Martha wouldn’t have suggested it if she felt it was time for Lois to leave.
“It seems a waste to be paying for a car you don’t need,” Martha said. “Once the hay is in, Clark will drive you to the airport if that’s what you want.”
“Have I stayed too long already?”
Martha chuckled. “Not at all. We love having you here. And you’re welcome to use my car anytime.”
“Thank you,” Lois said, hoping her gratitude was clear. “I love being here.”
“I’ll return the car?”
“Yes,” Lois said. “Thank you.”
It seemed like the dissolving of another link with her life beyond the farm.
But Lois didn’t want to think about that.
She wanted to think about tonight. And going out with Clark.
~~~~
Lois had brought only two nicer outfits with her, so her decision regarding what to wear was relatively simple. The black dress was more formal than the red, so she went with the red. She left her hair loose and added some pearl earrings and a simple necklace. Knowing it would cool off later, she slung her black jacket over her shoulder as she looked into the mirror.
She wasn’t sure if she were dressing for a date, a dinner with a friend, or a meal with a work colleague, but she was reasonably happy with the result.
She wondered what Clark would be wearing.
She opened her bedroom door and stopped.
Clark was emerging from his bedroom.
Lois stared. He was wearing black pants, a white shirt, navy tie, burgundy jacket. Simple. Classic.
Stunning.
She realised he was staring at her. “You look amazing,” he said, his tone rich with appreciation.
“So do you.”
“Shall we go?”
“Yes.”
He indicated for her to go down the stairs first. They crossed the back porch to where Martha’s car was parked. Clark went to the passenger door and opened it.
Lois got in. Clark smiled – a little restrained – and closed her door. In the driver’s seat, he paused before starting the motor.
Was he feeling apprehensive?
She understood if he were. He was going to make a splash in his local community, and Clark didn’t seem to be the sort of person who relished being in the limelight.
Or perhaps he was regretting having agreed to this.
He drove towards the road and, at the gate, turned right towards Smallville.
“Are you feeling nervous?” Lois asked, breaking into the silence.
He glanced her way. “Should I be?” he asked, smiling, yet his non-answer indicated she wasn’t far from the mark.
“Maybe a bit,” Lois said. “They all know you. I guess they’ll talk about it. I mean, that’s why we’re doing this.”
“Yeah.”
“And of course, there’s that they have you almost engaged to another woman.”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s just have a fun time,” Lois said. “If there are ramifications, we’ll deal with them tomorrow.”
“Good idea,” he said with a more genuine smile.
His smile was seriously his most powerful asset. And he seemed completely and endearingly oblivious to that fact. How had he remained single for so long? Were Smallville women blind?
Clark slowed significantly, rounded the bend, and carefully negotiated down a steep incline to a bridge.
“Thanks for warning me about this bit of road,” Lois said.
“They put in a sign at the top, telling drivers to slow down, but I’m not sure how effective it is.”
Safely across the bridge, Clark sped up again.
“Will you know most of the people in the restaurant?” Lois asked, wanting to avoid long silences.
“Probably all of them.”
“You don’t have to introduce me.”
“That seems rude.”
“Not if we agree that’s what we’ll do. I can be your mystery lady.”
He smiled but didn’t comment further.
They arrived at a brightly lit restaurant that surprised Lois with its appealing front and elegantly painted name – Benson’s. As they walked from the car, Lois felt an inclination to slip her hand into Clark’s – to present a united front and let him know they were doing this together.
She didn’t. She wasn’t sure if Clark would be comfortable with that much ‘unity’ in front of his friends and neighbours.
Lois entered the restaurant first, after Clark had opened the door for her. She was further surprised when they stepped inside. The atmosphere was warm and casual. The décor was a charming combination of chic and country.
Every head turned towards them. There were two waitresses and eleven diners – four couples and a group of three young women.
They were all casually dressed – jeans, sweaters, a couple of tee-shirts.
Suddenly, it seemed as if she and Clark were dressed for a date.
A waitress approached them. “Hello, Clark,” she said. Her eyes swung to take in Lois.
“Hello, Tracey. I have a reservation.”
“Yes,” Tracey said, still looking at Lois. “Your… your table is over here.” She led them to a spot near the window.
“Thank you, Tracey,” Clark said as he pulled out Lois’s chair.
“Great choice,” Lois said as she sat down.
“I’m glad you like it.”
Tracey brought a carafe of water, two glasses, and two menus. She drifted away as Clark poured their water and handed Lois a menu. “I’m paying,” he said firmly.
“You don’t have to do that, Clark,” Lois said quickly. “I can pay my half.”
“No, you can’t,” he said. “My father taught me that if I take a lady out, I pay.”
Now was not the time to argue. “Thank you,” she said, giving him a smile.
The menu was more sophisticated than Lois had expected. She chose the Herb Crusted Salmon. Clark ordered the Chicken Wellington.
“Would you like a drink?” Clark asked.
“Iced tea, please.”
He added that and his lemonade to their order. Tracey left. Lois looked at Clark, and suddenly, this seemed uncomfortable.
They had driven in the truck together, ridden on the ATV together, sewed up a steer’s leg together, watched Bess give birth together, and spent several hours in the dim barn in the middle of the night… together.
But this…
And it wasn’t just because everyone in the room was pretending they weren’t watching them.
Their dinner was supposed to be nothing more than a fact-finding mission.
But it was.
Lois knew it. She suspected Clark knew it.
But, as pleasant as it was to dress up and go out together, as good as Clark looked, as insistent as he was that he pay, and as much as it felt like a real date… none of that changed two facts.
He was a Kansas farmer.
She was a Metropolis reporter.
Last edited by Female Hawk; 07/09/24 01:05 AM.
