Read Harvest Moon for Free Online

disposition seemed to have changed somehow, and he wasn’t quite so sad anymore. I chose to believe it was because of Bully. We both liked watching the little bull that brought us together.
    Shrugging, I tried to explain. “It was always just sort of understood that we’d get married after we graduated, next year or something. We didn’t have an exact date.”
    Gallatin nodded and turned his attention back to the calf, and I wondered why in the world I was telling him so much information about my personal life. The whole point was for me to get information about him to help us escape this darn prison camp. Why did I have to justify myself to him? Or back down from what had been set in stone between Jackson and me since forever.
    “So this is your last summer as a girl,” he said, thoughtfully.
    “I guess.” I needed a way to turn the focus back on him. “Did you have anybody special? Back in Arizona?”
    “Sort of,” he said. “But she wasn’t what I thought she was.”
    So shut my mouth. I never expected to feel so curious or disturbed by hearing those words from him.
    “What does that mean?”
    “It means sometimes people aren’t who you think they are.” Then he laughed. “But that isn’t anything you need to worry about. Your future’s all settled, and as smart as you are, I’m sure you’ve found the right person.”
    “That’s right,” I said, turning and climbing down from the fence. “I have. And your business is not my business.”
    I started walking back to the entrance to the barn, but he was at my side in two steps.
    “I’m sorry,” he said. “I wasn’t trying to make you angry.”
    I to laugh and failed. “Neither of us has any reason to be angry.”
    “So we’re still friends?”
    My blue eyes met his amber ones and for a moment we didn’t move or speak. My whole body was strangely tense, and I wasn’t sure how to answer him. After what felt like an eternity, I exhaled and nodded.
    He squeezed my arm. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Chapter 14
    ––––––––
    T he rest of the evening, I was seriously bothered by my emotions. I’d never doubted my future or my plans with Jackson, but now this prolonged separation was getting to me—messing with my head.
    It was clearly Stockholm syndrome or something—although I wasn’t quite sure how that worked. What I did know was I missed having the relationship I’d always had with Jackson, and as a result, I was using Gallatin to fill his empty spot. That’s all it was. I was lonely, and the best cure for my loneliness was to get the answers I needed and to get us the hell out of here. I’d worry later about why that prospect made me feel so sad.
    As I walked in the line to dinner, I thought about the last several days. I’d been spending too much of my free time with Gallatin at the creek, swimming and relaxing. This wasn’t a vacation, and I was getting soft, both in my resolve and in my feelings toward him. I had to refocus on being strong. Being the leader Jackson would be if he were here.
    I needed to talk to someone about our old life. Maybe Braxton or Flora. I needed to spend more time remembering what our world used to be like and thinking about reality. Not this mixed-up summer camp existence I’d somehow fallen into believing we were living.
    We took our trays to our places, and as I slid pieces of meat to Flora, I forced myself to think about how weak she was becoming, being made to work in the hot sun. Yes, she’d been moved to easier chores in the barn, but still. She missed her mother, and she cried in the night and felt alone and afraid.
    I remembered how I was kidnapped off the road and taken from my future plans against my will. Taken away from Jackson and our dreams until I slowly started to forget them. Well, I had sort of been put in an easier position and been given charge of the cows, and since my injury, I wasn’t required to do as much. Gallatin was quick to get me out of anything I didn’t