“You young folks today think you invented the world,” Aunt Will said. “Still, a dash of unlawful scrumping might work for you. A lot more folks have tried that recipe than my own, even if we don’t hear testimonials.”She chuckled naughtily at that suggestion. Jesse giggled a bit herself.The important thing was that her aunt was nodding and smiling again.“But beware, DuJess,” Aunt Will told her. “Every cure has its side effects. It only seems fair to warn you. I suspect that a regular tonic of Piney Baxley can be potently habit forming.”

“Madge did the honors. “Are you…keeping company with Doc Piney?”Jesse answered carefully. “We are not dating, but we are seeing a lot of each other.” Factually true. Revealing nothing.The three women sat silently for a long moment, sharing glances with each other.“You know he has a sad history,” Walter Lou said finally.“Of course she knows,” Madge said immediately.“Everybody knows. The question is are you planning on breaking that man’s heart again?”The suggestion was not at all what Jesse expected.She stuttered out an answer.“I…I don’t…I don’t think Piney knows me well enough to get his heart broken,” she managed finally.“Oh, Lord, girl,” Madge said. “He’s a Baxley. A more lovelorn line of men never graced the earth.”“That’s the truth of that,” Walter Lou agreed. “Those men dote on their women something fierce.”

“I’ve got to get you home before I lose all my sanity and give in to the urge to imprison you here as a sex slave for my evil desires.”Jesse sighed heavily. “That does sound tempting, but I’m pretty sure that Aunt Will would miss me.”“She probably would,” Piney agreed. “And how could I explain to my son why I’ve got a woman locked up in my bedroom?”

“She was Grandma Will. That term felt foreign and unfitting to the relationship they had. She wondered if her father had ever called her Mother, Ma, Mom, Mama? Maybe in private he might have, but to the world, all the world, it was Aunt Will.”

“Why are you starting there?" Roe asked as he followed the young man curiously.Confused, Jesse looked down at the ground and then at the mule before he shrugged. "This is where I always start," he said. "This is where Pa showed me to start."Roe shook his head. "Well, that doesn't make sense, Jesse. You should start at the edge and go to the edge."Jesse gazed at one edge of the field and then at the other. His brow furrowed in concentration. "That ain't right," he said."Of course it's right," Roe told him, smiling. "It makes perfect sense. Starting in the middle doesn't make any sense at all."Jesse bit his lip nervously as again he surveyed the field. "We got to start right here, Roe. I know we do."Roe sighed and shook his head. "Now, Jesse, you just told me yourself that I was smarter than folks around here. And I told you that a smart man can make light work of his labors. You do believe that, don't you?"Jesse nodded solemnly."Then you've got to trust me when I tell you that the place to begin is at the beginning, not in the middle."To Roe's horror, tears welled up in Jesse's bright blue eyes. "We got to start right here," he insisted. "This is where Pa taught me to start and it's the way I know."Alarmed at the young man's emotion, Roe voluntarily touched his shoulder in an uncertain attempt to comfort him. "It's all right, Jesse. Don't cry," he said."I ain't crying," the young man insisted through his tears. "I'm too big to cry.”

“Miss Althea?""I don't blame you, Jesse," she said at last, taking control of her whirling emotions. "I must have…I must have led you astray somehow. But you must never touch me again."Jesse's disappointment was palpable. "Never?" That seemed impossible. To beallowed to know how wonderful it was to feel and smell and taste her and then tonever be allowed that again. It was so unfair. Jesse wanted to cry. It was too unfair.”

“He pulled her close and kissed her. Happiness and joy settled around them like a warm cloak. And gentleness spurred passion. His kiss deepened and a soft, low moan eased out of his throat.He wiggled on the bed beneath her, letting her feel the resurgence of his passion inside her."I'm ready to do it again," he said plainly."You can't do it twice," she answered, giggling."Why not?""You just can't," Althea told him. "Men do it one time and then they rest up for a day or two.""I think I'm rested up enough," he told her."Jesse, I know what I'm talking about," she said with confidence. "I was married for over two years. And I know all about it. You can't be ready to do it again."He proved her wrong.”