When Love Gets Corny

"Pull it out slowly and you'll be fine," he said with that same smug look.

"Ugh!" she said following his instructions.

Tamara had never sat up that high before except on a bus and everything looked so different. It was almost disorienting—at least initially. After a while however, she found herself almost enjoying the perspective 'from on high.'

Within five minutes, they were out of the city limits and headed toward his farm. Noah tried to make small talk, but Tamara didn't seem too interested. "If you're not in the mood to talk, would you like to listen to some music?" he asked.

Again, she snorted almost involuntarily. "Hardly," she replied without looking at him. "I don't much care for hillbilly...sorry, country music. It's kind of an oxymoron to me. No offense," she added.

"None taken. I don't listen to it, either."

Tamara raised her eyebrows in surprise and said, "Really? Then what do you listen to, Noah?"

"Go ahead," he said nodding at the CD player.

Tamara looked at it then back at him. "It won't bite you," he told her. She hated to admit it, but he really did have a great smile and in spite of herself she smiled back at him.

"Okay. But if I hear one note of honkey-tonk..." She hit play and when the first notes from the Bose speaker system hit her ears, she sat straight up in disbelief.

"That's Miles Davis. You listen to his music?"

"I do," he told her. He lifted up the cover storage area between them and said, "Take a look."

She gave another look of uncertainty then picked several of them up. John Coltrane, Cab Calloway, and...there it was...Billie Holliday. She also saw Lynyrd Skynyrd and Aerosmith, but she was otherwise very impressed.

"Okay, you surprised me. And very pleasantly, I might add."

He laughed and said, "You were judging the book by its cover, weren't you, Ms. Jones?"

There it was again. Was that just coincidence? She set the CDs down and said, "Guilty as charged. I'm very sorry, Noah." She looked over at him and said, "You can call me Tamara, if you'd like."

He smiled and said, "Thank you, Tamara. And thanks for being big enough to admit you'd stereotyped me."

She didn't reply at first but just looked out her window and watched the endless corn fields go by for a minute or so before saying, "I've been stereotyped my whole life, Noah. I guess it's just human nature to do the same thing to other people."

"That doesn't make it right, though," he said kindly.

"No. No, it doesn't," she agreed. "And I, of all people, should know better. I'm very sorry."

"It's okay. I'd say 'I get it' but then I haven't walked a mile in your shoes so..." He looked down at her spiked heels and said, "Thank God for small miracles."

She didn't want to laugh but this white man...no, this...man...in the jeans, the work shirt, and the dirty boots was actually a very nice guy. For perhaps the first time ever she felt a twinge of embarrassment for being the kind of person she so detested. The kind who made the worst kinds of assumptions based on race.

Noah turned off the paved road onto a side road that also paved but which wasn't nearly as smooth. "We're almost there," he announced as they drove through corn fields on either side.

Ten minutes later, they were still driving. "I thought you said we were almost there."

"We are," he told her as he pointed up ahead. She could see several buildings. Some of them looked like huge silver tin cans. "What are those?" she asked.

"Grain silos. That's where we keep the corn after we harvest it before it goes to market."

"They're huge and you have what? A dozen of them?"

"Good guess," he said as he pulled in front of a very large, two-story home.

"Here we are," he said. He went around to her side and helped out and Tamara actually thanked him. As he shut the door she screamed and jumped behind him and cowered down.

"It's just Daisy!" he told her as the big, friendly Golden Retriever came bounding toward them. Noah held up a hand and sit, "Sit!" Daisy immediately did just that.

"You have seen dogs before, right?" he teased.

"Poodles and Yorkies, yes. But not one that looks like a small horse." She was still behind him looking at Daisy as though she might attack at any moment.

"She won't bother you. Daisy? Stand!" The dog stood up wagging its tail. "Come!" he said. She walked over to him and he knelt down to play with her. "Good girl!" he said as he roughed up her fur petting her.

Tamara was trying to stay behind Noah when he said, "Go ahead. You can pet her."

"Um, no thank you," she said. "I like having two hands and ten fingers."

"Suit yourself," he told her. He told Daisy to 'heel' and she followed him on his left side to the house. As they got to the porch, a little girl of about four or five came running out flailing her arms wildly, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!"

She jumped off the porch and into his arms. He grabbed her and lifted her over his head, then lowered her through his legs, then back up for a hug. She giggled and said, "Do it again!" After two more repetitions, he kissed her on the cheek and said, "It smells good all the way out here, Punkin'. Is lunch ready?"

"Uh-huh. You're 'posed to come in and wash up so we can eat!" she said proudly.

Tamara couldn't stop smiling at this little angel. "Hi sweetheart!" she said. "What's your name?"

"I'm Emily and I'm this many," she replied holding up four fingers.

"Oh, you're four years old? Wow, that means your a big girl."

"Yes, I am!" she agreed. "You're very pretty," she said with childlike innocence.

"Well, thank you, Miss Emily. So are you!"

"I know. My daddy tells me that EV'RY day!" she said as she put her arms around her father's neck.

As Noah helped Tamara up the steps in her spiked heels, a woman about her age came to the porch and said, "Hi! I'm Angela. Welcome! It's so nice to meet you!"

"Hi, Mrs. Edwards, I'm Tamara Jones, the attorney from Des Moines."

"Oh, heavens. I'm not Noah's wife. I'm his sister!"

She was also wearing a wedding ring and Tamara was a bit confused but chose not to ask for clarification. Angela welcomed her inside, took her things, and showed her where the downstairs bathroom (and powder room) was as well as where they'd be eating. She had to admit the wonderful smells she was enjoying reminded her of home and growing up.

In the five minutes she was in the bathroom, a whole lot more people had arrived. Tamara looked around and started counting but before she could get to five, something stopped her cold. There was an older black man, a black woman about his age standing next to him, a nice-looking younger black man and and an even younger black girl. They were all talking to members of what must be a family of Latinos consisting of a mom, a dad, two girls, and a boy. Then there were two older white people, a man and a woman, as well as another white man around Noah's age and a white female who had to be Angela's twin sister.

"Everyone?" Noah called out. "I'd like to introduce our special guest. Today we have Ms. Tamara Jones, an attorney from Des Moines with us. Please make her feel welcome."

Everyone smiled and called out 'welcome' or 'nice to meet you.' Then without exception, every one of them shook her hand and told her how nice it was to have her join them. She learned the two older people were Noah's parents, Guy and Donna, the younger guy was his brother Jonah, and as she'd thought, the woman was indeed Angela's identical twin sister, Amber.

She learned the names of the black and brown people, but still didn't understand their connection to the Edwards.

"So let's go ahead and take a seat and I guess we'll have Emily say grace." Everyone did just that as Noah helped Tamara with her chair which was to his right at the head of the table.

Emily folded her hands and peeked to see if everyone had bowed their heads before starting, "Dear Lord, thank you for this food. Please bless it to make us strong. Please make the corn grow so we can help feed the poor people and please bless Mommy who's in heaven with you. Oh, and please bless Daddy's special friend, Tamarana, Aaa-men."

Suddenly, what had seemed so confusing to her all made sense now. Everyone said 'amen' afterward and no one corrected Emily's mispronunciation of Tamara's name.

"Okay, let's eat!" Noah said. He quietly whispered to Tamara, "I'm not a religious man, but Emily's asked to say grace ever since being told her mother's in heaven."

Tamara nodded her understanding as plates and dishes began getting passed around until everyone had what they needed. No one moved and everyone was staring at Tamara. "Is there something in my hair?" she asked swatting at it.

"No, your hair is just fine. It's just that when we have a guest, no one eats until they've taken the first bite."

"Oh! I'm so sorry. Here," she said as she filled her fork with collard greens. "I've been dying to try these since Noah told me he was serving them today. And thank you, Angela, for preparing all of this." She took a bite and said, "Oh, my! These are delicious! They taste just like my momma's."

Everyone else picked up their forks and began eating, too. "You have Cliff to thank for the collard greens." Cliff was the older black man she'd met a few minutes ago.

"So there's a story behind this?" Tamara asked looking at Cliff.

"Well, yes there is, young lady," he began. He looked at Noah then said, "This young man over here gave me a job almost 15 years ago. I'd done some time many years back for something I'm not proud of and I couldn't find me a job nowhere. Noah saw me just hangin' out downtown all day, every day, and then one day he jes' up and asked me if I needed work. I told him I did and I been here ever since. Ain't no one ever treated me and my fam'ly so good. My wife takes care of the house when Miss Angela ain't here and my boys works here during the summer and sometimes my baby girl helps out, too."

She looked at the Hispanic family she'd met and asked, "So do you also work here by any chance?"

The father, who's name was Hector, said, "Oh, yes ma'am. I am working here for Mr. Noah for almost ten years now. I come from Mexico alone to find the work. He give me a job then he help me to get the green card, then he help me to bring my family and let us live in the guesthouse out back. I am always thanking the Lord for Mr. Noah." He made the sign of the cross and looked at Noah and said, "Muchas gracias, Noah. You are the gift from God. Thank you."

Tamara felt guilty for the second time in her life and twice in the same day. She couldn't have been more wrong about this...white man if she'd tried. He had a heart of gold and he cared about the poor and...and she was finally willing to admit he wasn't just a nice-looking man, he was downright handsome, something Tamara had only thought once before about a white man. That man was Matthew McConaughey, a man whose 'cover' God had indeed blessed from head to toe. Noah was no Matthew McConaughey, but he was very good looking. And she had to admit she hadn't heard the name Harris Faulkner since leaving Des Moines.

During the meal, Tamara learned that harvest was just a few weeks away and all that was involved in getting the entire massive crop over 1,000 acres of land in a very short period of time. School was starting soon so the teenagers currently working the farm would be unavailable to help meaning Noah would need to hire a large number of temporary employees.

She also learned that Noah made a lot less profit that most other farmers because he offered both medical and dental insurance to all of his employees. He said he made enough to get by on comfortably but also pointed out that just one bad year could cause serious problems. Two bad years could potentially put him out of business. The same was more or less true with any corn farmer and that's why knowing exactly what to plant, when to plant, how to nurture the crop, and when to harvest it wasn't just dumb luck. It really was science while the day-to-day operation of the farm was a continuous exercise in administration, logistics, and operations.

When they finished eating Noah asked Tamara if everything was okay. "It was more than okay. It was wonderful. Especially the sweet cornbread and those greens were to die for!"

"Well, now that you've met the people that make this place work, I'd like to show you around."

"Okay, I may have to draw the line there, Noah. I'm not just a city girl, I'm an indoor girl, too. And these aren't exactly walking around shoes," she said as she lifted them up.

"Oh, wow! Those are Louis Vuitton!" Angela said enviously. She saw the surprised look Tamara gave her. "Not bad for a farm girl, huh?" Angela said teasingly.

"Angela's not just a farm girl, Tamara. She has a masters from The University of Iowa and she teaches high school here in Mason City," Noah explained.

A third stunning surprise. "Strike three, Tamara," she told herself. "Way to assume." She knew full well what assume made out of 'u' and 'me' and hated it when people assumed about her but that's all she'd done since the first time Noah spoke to her.

"No problem on the shoes," Noah assure her. "Ever been been on a four-wheel?" he asked, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Um...nooo," she said drawing out her answer. "And I'd be just fine keeping it that way, too."

Cliff scoffed and said, "Come on, girl! Where's your sense of adventure? My daughter drives that thing all over creation and you afraid to jes' git on it? Lord have mercy!"

"Okay, okay. I'll ride it. But please go slow," she pleaded.

Several minutes later, Tamara was wearing a pair of Angela's rubber boots and she nearly chickened out from sheer embarrassment. "Look at me! I'm wearing a dress and a pair of rubber boots. I can't go out like this!" she protested.

"And a very expensive dress. But that's okay. The corn won't mind," Angela kidded. "Corn never minds as long as you water it. You'll be fine, I promise."

Very tentatively, she walked out onto the front porch where everyone had congregated. She expected to be laughed at or mocked, but all she heard was, "You ready to go?" from Noah.

They walked around the barn, the guesthouse, the equipment/repair garage, and the silos as Noah explained what each machine or tool did. When Tamara asked the cost, she was absolutely dumbfounded when Noah explained it in terms of not just the initial price but the land itself, the tax per acre, the cost of the machinery and repairs each year, salaries and benefits, fuel, transportation, and other expenses.

"I had no idea," Tamara said. "Seriously, I guess I just thought you had to buy seeds and wait for it to rain or something. Talk about naive, right?"

Noah just laughed and said, "You're not alone, Tamara. Unless you farm, you really have no idea what it costs to raise a crop of any kind. It's expensive and it's a lot of long, hard hours. You can make good money at it, but also you risk losing everything every time you plant a crop. But I wouldn't trade it for the world. My parents and grandparents raised corn right here on this land, and I'm hoping one day Emily might want to run the business herself."

It was just the two of them and Tamara turned and looked at him then asked, "Noah, it's none of my business, but would you mind me asking what happened to your wife?"

He looked down for a moment, then smiled again before saying, "Not at all. She was also a high school teacher like Angela. Three and a half years ago, she started getting these headaches. The doctor told they were just migraines and gave her a medication called Imitrix. She took it every time she felt a headache coming on, but it didn't do anything. A couple of months later, they got so bad the doctor finally agreed to do an MRI and that's when they found a tumor in her brain. By that point, it was inoperable."

She saw him choking up and said, "That's okay. You don't have to talk about it."

"No, it's okay. I'm fine. She lived another six months and she was in a lot of pain most of the time. I didn't know back then there are some kinds of cancer that nothing can touch in terms of pain. People think morphine or Fentanyl can kill any pain, no matter how bad, but I'm here to tell you that's just not true. It can take away most of it, but not all of it. Anyway, we lost her about three years ago so Angela comes by as often as she can to help out with Emily and the chores. Cliff's wife is great and she does a fine job, but it's just nice to have family around sometimes, too, you know?"

"Yes, I do," she said.

"Do you see yours very often? Your family, that is?"

"Not since I've been in Iowa." She explained why she'd agreed to move here and what her ultimate goals were.

"Now it's my turn to ask something that's none of my business. Is marriage and a family in your future or do you intend to retire rich, famous, and lonely?"

"That's a touchy subject," she said.

"Okay, just curious," he told her.

"No, you shared something even more difficult with me, so I'll give you the short version." She explained her recent engagement and how she was left standing at the altar. She didn't however, mention the reason why and that surprised her because it was still bubbling just below the surface and she'd never been able to even mention her wedding day without lambasting her...that white woman or white people in general. And right about now, she was feeling more guilty about it than she ever had.

"I'm so sorry. He must be crazy." He saw her look up at him as he said, "You really are a very beautiful woman, Tamara. I can't imagine anyone doing that to you."

She was momentarily flustered and that angered her. Only two men—two black men—had ever made her feel that way before. That this man...this white man...could do that to her was more than a little bit disturbing.

As she looked around, she felt like she'd been transported to another universe where all of the former rules and standards she'd lived by not only didn't exist, they didn't matter. This place represented everything she'd hated about the way...these people...lived. They had no soul, no spirit, no life. They were bland and dull and...boring. But this place was so calming, so peaceful, and...so full of life—it was all around her from the people to the animals to the corn itself. Tamara had never felt so disarmed.

Noah's voice brought her back to reality. "So you ready to take a little ride?" he asked.

"Ugh! I was hoping you'd forget," she told him.

"Not a chance! That's the best part. I want to show you the land and where this highway's going to go and what it'll do to the farm." He paused and added, "And to the lives of those people you just met."

He took her to the barn and invited her in. "Um...no, I don't think so. How about I wait out here for you instead?" she said peering in with the kind of concern that made it seem she thought there could be bats or even zombies inside.

"Okay. I'll fire it up and be right out. But you're gonna have to hike that fancy dress of yours up to sit behind me," he said as he walked away.

"You've got to be kidding," she muttered as he walked off.

Seconds later she heard the sound of a small engine come to life and thought, "Oh, my Lord! What have I gotten myself into?"

Noah held down the clutch, put it in gear, and zipped out to the front where she was standing. She really was a site to see in her expensive blue dress and white rubber boots.

"Hop on!" he yelled.

"I can't get on!" called back.

He put it in neutral and got off. "Do you mind?" he asked over the noise of the engine.

"What are you doing?" she shrieked as he quickly and deftly lifted up her dress then picked her up and swung her over the backseat.

"There you go!" he said as he got back on.

"I do not believe you just did..." Tamara screamed and reflexively grabbed onto him as put it in gear, hit the gas, and took off.