Jack was asleep when she went into his bedroom. She saw an empty vial of pain medicine beside the bed and knew that had probably helped him get to sleep so quickly. She did her night routine in the bathroom, turned out the bathroom light, and walked over to the edge of Jack's bed. As she stood there his hand lifted and took a hold of her hand.

"I thought you were asleep."

"I was."

"I'm sorry if I woke you."

"Are you staying in here tonight?" His thumb was rubbing circles on the back on her hand again. She felt herself melting.

"I shouldn't."

"I disagree." He pulled gently on her hand. She was torn and stood still as he pulled. "Sam?" Her heart won out over her head. She took a step towards him.

"Just give me a minute to change clothes and I'll be right back."

Jack reluctantly let go. Sam went into her room and changed into her yoga pants and a t shirt. She sat on the edge of her bed and shook her head. Why did she keep repeating this mistake? She sighed. She knew why and there was no point lying to herself about it. She loved how it felt.

Jack was fighting to stay awake when she came back into his room. She climbed into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. Jack reached out until his fingers touched her back.

"Good night beautiful."

Sam gulped. "Sleep well."

Sam woke in the middle of the night because Jack had moved over and was spooning her. The warmth from his body combined with her nightly hot flashes had left her sweating. She stuck her feet out from under the blanket and felt a little better. Her squirming had roused Jack. His hand started moving until it landed on her hip and stilled.

The feel of his body so close to hers in such an intimate position made her throat burn. She put her hand over his. She tried to pretend this was how they really lived but the reality that this was temporary brought tears to her eyes. She fought them back and lay still as her mind raced. She went through all the scenarios of how this could play out but each one ended with her heart broken. Eventually Jack rolled over onto his back, letting go of her as he moved. Sam was able to fall asleep again about twenty minutes later.

The next time Sam woke light was streaming in on her face and Jack was rubbing circles on her hand.

"Good morning sunshine."

"Are you always this chipper in the morning?"

"It helps to wake up and find you in my bed." Jack's combination of a sneer and a smile was charming.

"You invited me."

"I have my moments of brilliance."

"Yes, you do." Sam got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. Jack was sitting on the edge of the bed when she came out. He grabbed her hand as she walked past him.

"I'll be fine here today. Don't feel the need to come in and check on me over and over. You get that field done. That's the most important thing today." He squeezed her hand.

Sam looked at him seriously for a moment. "I'll be coming to check on you when I bring you some work to keep you busy."

"Work will be good. I'm getting bored."

Sam pulled out of Jack's light grip. "I've learned better than to let you get bored. That just equals trouble."

Jack grinned as Sam left the bedroom. She made them both some breakfast. She ate quickly and got out to the barn. She took the tractor out to field two and picked all the plants that looked mature. Since she was planning on tilling the whole field she decided to pluck the plants whole and take them back to the house where the beans, peppers, berries, and fruits could be harvested. She worked until midday harvesting bean plants. She loaded them into a trailer being pulled by the tractor and brought them the house. She unloaded them on the porch and came inside only to find the house empty. Jack was in the barn sitting at his woodworking bench.

"What are you doing?"

"I was bored so I thought I'd try my hand at some carving but this level of detail is giving me a hell of a headache. Not sure I can keep this up much longer."

"I brought you a boatload of beans to pick and snap. I'm not even done harvesting them yet. I can't believe you planted this many."

"I wanted to be sure we had enough."

"We'll be eating beans every day for years."

Jack stood and laid down his tools. "We can get creative with our recipes."

Sam held the barn door open for him. "I'll be right behind you. I'm going to freshen up the stalls while I'm in here."

"I'll pour you a drink."

Sam ate a quick sandwich and drank two glasses of water before going back to the field. It took her the rest of the afternoon to finish just the beans. The rest of the field would have to wait until tomorrow. When she got back to the house she off loaded the bean plants, fed the animals, and came in for a much needed shower. They had more sandwiches for dinner. Sam was too tired to do any star gazing and she fell asleep in her own bed before Jack got out of the shower. He was disappointed to be sleeping alone but after half a dose of pain medicine he fell asleep.

Jack spent the next day snapping the beans Sam had harvested. Sam spent the day harvesting a variety of pepper, berry, and vegetable plants. Like last time she pulled the plants whole and brought them back to the house to sort and prepare. The vines and stalks were used for compost. It was while Sam was tilling the field that Leila drove up to check on Jack. Sam saw the car go by and decided it was time to take a break and come back to the house for a while. Sam left the tractor in the field, since she could jog faster than driving it. Leila was just walking out of the house when Sam arrived.

"Good day Leila. I assume you already saw Jack."

"He seems to be doing well. I'm glad you've found a way to keep him busy."

"Good to know he's working."

Leila smiled. "He said he has stopped taking the pain medicine during the day but is still using at night to sleep."

"Yeah, he's never really liked taking medicine."

"Has he been a good patient?"

Sam nodded. "I guess."

"But?" Leila frowned.

Sam's lips tightened into a line. "He's not quite acting like himself yet."

"In what way?"

Sam's right foot twisted and she looked away from Leila. "Just different."

"Is he angry? Has he been hurting you?"

Sam looked up. Her eyes were wide and she was shaking her head. "No! No, nothing like that. The exact opposite actually."

"He's being too nice?" Leila's head was tilted to the right.

"Sort of. Let's just say he's doing and saying things he wouldn't have willing said or done a few weeks ago."

"And doing and saying these nice things is bad?"

"It is if it means he has a serious head injury that isn't healing."

"True. Sorry. If he hasn't returned to normal by the time the third harvest has been planted bring him to the clinic. There isn't much I can do but monitor a head injury but if his behavior stays altered I should check him more thoroughly."

Sam frowned. "Ok."

"And until then try to enjoy his overly nice attitude."

Sam grinned a little. "I'm trying to enjoy it while not getting used to it."

"That's probably for the best. Look me up when you get back into town."

Sam walked Leila to her car. "Will do."

Sam turned towards the house as Leila drove off. She decided she would go in for a quick drink before heading back out to finish field two. Jack saw her coming and moved back from the door, where he had been standing since walking Leila to the door. When Sam entered the house Jack was standing by the sink washing his hands.

"Leila says you're doing well."

"Yep. She said I didn't need to see her again as long as I keep feeling better each day."

"Well we'll see her again in a few days once the third harvest has been planted. There will be another big party in town and before you even say anything about not going her girls would be very upset with me if I didn't bring their favorite story teller."

Jack grinned. "They do love their stories."

"Yes they do. I'm going to go finish tilling the second field. I'll be back in a couple hours and we can spend our evening canning."

"Oh joy."

Sam did as promised. She tilled the whole field twice, checked on the animals, and made it back inside in time to make a quick dinner. The rest of the evening was spent canning and preserving their abundant harvest. They had some laughs as they reminisced and made the kitchen into a big mess. Sam took a quick shower while Jack did a little cleaning. Sam finished the cleaning while Jack took his shower. She was in her bed when he came out of the bathroom so he called out good night and climbed into his own bed. They were both so tired that sleep took them quickly and kept them enveloped till the morning.

Jack kept working on preserving the harvest while Sam planted hay in the second field. Sam came in for a sandwich before heading back out to cut down the corn in field three. She had been in the field for about an hour when Jorl showed up dragging a piece of equipment behind his truck.

"Hello Samantha."

Sam got down off the tractor and came over to Jorl. "Hello. What brings you out here on such a nice day?"

"I have finished my second harvest and hated the thought of you trying to finish your second harvest alone. I can cut and shuck all your corn in a matter of hours with this baby." He motioned to the equipment on the trailer. "You work on those potatoes and leave the corn to me."

Sam beamed. "That sounds amazing. Are you sure? Shouldn't you be getting your third harvest planted?"

"I'll have time for that tomorrow. Let's get this field cleared today."

Sam walked over and extended her hand to Jorl. "I really appreciate this."

He took her hand and in both of his instead of shaking her hand like she expected. "You are quite welcome."

Sam smiled nervously and gently pulled back on her hand. Jorl released her and she took a step back. "I guess we should get to it."

"Quite right." Jorl hooked his shucker up to the tractor and got to work on the corn. Sam started digging out the potatoes. They worked all afternoon. Jorl was right about being able to cut down and shuck all the corn much faster than Sam could have done on her own. They took five loads of corn back to the house so Sam and Jack could work on preserving it later. Jorl helped Sam harvest potatoes till the sun went down. They both went back to the house where Jack was waiting with fresh corn, sliced vegetables, and grilled steaks.

Jorl twice reached for Sam's hand during dinner but she deftly avoided his embrace. Jack kept the conversation upbeat even as he caught the looks Jorl was giving Sam. He was thankful for his help but his attempts to flirt with Sam were grating on Jack's nerves. When dinner was over Sam walked Jorl back out to his truck.

"Thanks for helping us today. I'll be able to finish harvesting tomorrow and the third harvest will be planted by the day after tomorrow. That gives me a good chance of getting the third harvest done before winter."

Jorl reached out and took her hand. "I'd be happy to come back tomorrow and help you finish."

Sam smiled gently and shook her head no. "I'll be fine and you need to get your own fields planted. I'll see you at the next harvest celebration."

Jorl lifted her hand to his lips and placed a gentle but sloppy kiss on her knuckles. "Till the harvest celebration. Good night."

"Good night Jorl." Sam backed up as Jorl turned and left.

Jack glanced over his shoulder as Sam entered the house. "Has your boyfriend left?"

"Don't be like that. He was very helpful."

"He hopes all that help will help him get closer to you."

"I've done nothing to lead him on."

"Nothing other than being your usual charming and beautiful self I'm sure."

Sam glared. "It doesn't exactly sound like a compliment when you say it that way."

Jack kept his back to her. "Sorry. That was a low blow. I know you haven't done anything to lead him on."

Sam scowled but decided it was best to drop it. "I'm going to get a quick shower."

Jack gave up on food preservation for the evening and sat down on the sofa. His ribs ached and his head was pounding but he had decided to lay off the pain medicine starting that night. He knew he was tired enough to sleep despite his discomfort. When Sam came out of the bathroom she went straight to her room. Jack waited a while for Sam to return but when she didn't he turned off the light in the sitting room and went to the bathroom. Sam's light was out when he was done so he went to bed without saying good night.

Sam was up early and out in the field before Jack had even finished getting ready. She spent all day harvesting potatoes, which thankfully didn't have to be preserved in any special method. Her back was too sore to even think about spending another night blanching, canning, or freezing another thing. She knew Jack had probably been busy all day despite nursing his injuries but she was too sore to think much about his sacrifices. She used the tiller to pull the last wagon full potatoes to the barn just after the sun had set. Once she had the third field plowed and planted tomorrow she would get the potatoes stored in their cellar but for now the barn would suffice.

Jack was in the barn when Sam drove in. He was messing around at his woodworking bench. Sam knew he had been working on a project before the storm but he hadn't told it what he was doing. She was curious but not curious enough to bug him about it right now. Sam parked the tractor, nodded at Jack, and headed inside. Jack finished up, checked on the animals, secured the barn, and followed Sam inside. She was in the shower when he came inside. He made them both sandwiches and left hers on the table. He had finished eating by the time she emerged from the shower.

She saw the sandwich and got herself a glass of juice to go with it. "Thanks for making this for me."

"Least I could do after your long day."

Sam picked up her food and joined Jack on the sofa. She sat her food down and stretched out her back muscles. "Potatoes are a pain in the ass to harvest."

"Is your back sore?"

"That is an understatement."

"Perhaps a bit of pain medicine would help."

"I'll be fine."

"Stubborn woman."

"Kettle."

"Oooohhhh, that hurt."

Sam shook her head and grinned slightly. She finished her sandwich and got a bowl of berries for dessert. Jack went to his room to get a shower and put on his pajamas. When he came back out Sam was asleep on the sofa.

"Hey sleepy head, time to go to bed." Sam didn't budge. Jack nudged her but she just grunted. Jack took the blankets off the back of the sofa and covered Sam up. He knew this wasn't the best thing for her back but his choices were limited.

Jack was up early the next morning. He went out to the kitchen and put water in the tea pot. He turned on the stove. Sam didn't budge. He looked over at her and frowned.

"Hey Carter, time to wakey wakey. How's your back?"

Sam heard him and one word stuck out. Carter. She'd been both dreading and looking forward to hearing it. It meant he was getting better but it also meant the affection she had enjoyed was over. She laid there for a minute and let that sink into her sleep addled brain. It was back to being Carter and O'Neill. She slowly opened her eyes and stretched her back. It hurt but it could be worse, especially considering she had slept on the sofa.

"Time to get the third field planted."

"You do get a bit of breakfast first."

Sam sat up and slid her feet to the floor. "I'll eat as soon as I'm done in the bathroom."

Sam spent a few extra minutes in the bathroom getting her face set to the business as usual tone that had greeted her that morning. She stepped into the kitchen and found a bowl of granola sitting on the table with a cup of tea beside it.

"Thanks for making breakfast."

"I know you have a long day ahead of you. I packed you a lunch too."

"Thanks." She ate quickly and headed out to care for the animals and till field three. Once she was gone Jack headed out to the barn to do some wood working. His head was feeling much clearer than it had in days. His ribs were sore but he took breaks to stretch and work out the kinks. He worked in the barn for a few hours before going back inside the house to preserve some more food.

Sam was gone the whole day. She got the third field tilled and planted with hay. She got home after the sun had gone down. She was filthy and tired but glad to be done. She went straight to the shower and came out to find the table covered in vegetables at various stages of being preserved. She started nibbling on an orange carrot like vegetable.

"Hey, I'm working on those." Jack scooted the pile of vegetables away from her.

"I'm hungry." Sam pouted as she finished off the orange vegetable.

"I've been so wrapped up blanching that I didn't get dinner started. Sorry."

"Sandwiches will be fine." Sam got up and dug through the cabinets for plates and bread. She pulled some random meats from the fridge and started layering them on her bread.

Jack looked over at her project. "That's a heck of a sandwich."

"I did say I was hungry." Sam smiled. Sam snatched a few sliced veggies from Jack's piles to top off her sandwich. She took her sandwich to the sofa and sat cross legged as she watched Jack build his own sandwich.

Jack looked over at her. "Want some juice?"

Sam nodded. As soon as he mentioned it she was parched. He brought over two glasses of purple juice and put them on the table beside the sofa. He went back for his sandwich and joined her on the sofa.

"Why are you sitting like a kindergartener?"

"It's comfortable and it stretches out my muscles."

"Those two sentiments don't go together."

"What do you mean?"

"Stretching your muscles and being a comfortable sitting position. You can't do both at the same time and if I got into that position I'd never be able to get out." Sam giggled as she pictured Jack sitting cross legged. He stretched his legs out onto the ottoman in front of the sofa just to prove he had no intention of curling up like a pretzel.

"I saw it rained a bit this afternoon."

"It did but it was light so I kept on working. We were lucky to have such nice weather for the whole second harvest."

"We've done well. We have more than enough to make it the winter."

"We'll be able to pay back some of the folks who helped us out."

"Yep and if we do this well again next year we might be able to sell some of our harvest."

"I was thinking the same thing. We should go to Marl's when we get to town and see what brings in a good price. He usually takes a large shipment to the neighboring towns a couple days after the harvest celebration and then he takes preserved foods when winter starts."

"Good plan. When are we going to town?"

"As I understood it the harvest celebration varies based on weather and how long it takes people to get the field planted again. Since it's been so nice I bet the celebration will happen soon. I guess I should go to town for a little while tomorrow to check."

"Anything to escape the heat of blanching I suspect."

"You are welcome to come along if you feel up to the walk." Sam watched his face as he pondered her offer.

"You had better go alone."

"I'll go to Jamale's and put in a few hours of work. I'll be home before dinner. As a matter of fact I'll bring home some of Lura's pot pies so you can take the day off too." The thought of going to town made Sam smile. That same smile disturbed Jack since he thought Sam was thinking of Jamale. He tried to ignore it but his mood soured and Sam could tell. She assumed his mood was caused by the thought of being stuck at home for another day. She tried to cheer him with silly stories from a different Uraba children's book but the most she got was a polite grin.

As usual Sam was up and out of the house early. She ate a granola bar as she peddled to town. She stopped at Marl's first to read the notices, the harvest celebration would be in two days, and pick up a few more supplies, like jars and salt. Her next stop was Jamale's. He was pleased to see her and had a few small jobs she was able to quickly finish.

Sam leaned against a post beside Jamle's desk. "I have time to do some more."

"I am sure Jack needs you at home and it's been getting dark earlier."

"Not that early and Jack is doing fine."

"In that case I expect we'll see you at the harvest celebration."

"I hope so. We'll see if Jack can make the walk."

"That's easy enough to solve. I'll come pick you both up a couple hours before mid day."

Sam grinned. "We would both appreciate that. Jack really needs a day out. Being trapped at home is making him a bit grumpy."

Jamale grinned and snorted. "I'm sure it has. Now go home and try to cheer him up. I'll see you in two days."

"After the celebration I should be able to come back to work for a few weeks if you still need me."

"I'll be happy to have you back. My sons are great but you have a knack for machines that I'm not sure either of them will ever develop."

"I was tinkering with machines before your boys were born, so it makes sense that I know a few tricks they don't. They're both good kids and they'll get there. Any day now you'll turn around and wonder when they became men."

"You say that like you have some experience."

Sam thought of Cassie and how she became a strong bright loving woman overnight. "I do in a way. I was very close to my friend's daughter back home. It seems like I went from playing games with her to seeing her getting engaged in a matter of days. Time passes so quickly."

"Very true. Now get out of here and have a good night."

Sam left on the bike. Her basket was already over flowing and she was wearing a large filled backpack, which was disrupting her balance. She stopped and picked up some pot pies for dinner. She had tried to make pot pies a couple times, because Jack liked them so much, but her crust just didn't turn out right. She splurged and picked up a couple fruit pies too.

A heavy rain started as she rode home. The wind combined with all her packages made it difficult for her to keep her balance but she pressed on and got home just after dark. She was soaking wet but the food had been under multiple layers and was fine. Jack heated up dinner and put away the supplies while she got a hot shower. She told him about Jamale's offer over dinner.

Jack scowled. "I don't have to go to the celebration."

"You need to get out of here and Leila's daughters wouldn't forgive me if I showed up without their favorite story teller."

Jack did want to see those girls, they were adorable. "Guess I need to be thinking up my next story."

"Or two. Those girls will want an encore."

Jack grinned. "Yes, they will."

Two days passed quickly. Sam and Jack prepared several bundles of food and were ready to leave when Jamale and his sons arrived. Sam and Jack joined Jamale up front while the boys hopped in the back of the truck. Jamale congratulated them on a successful second harvest. They spent the ride discussing what crops were best for personal use and which sold best in the distant cities. Sam was pleased that Jack was on his best behavior the whole way.

The celebration was as much fun as Sam had hoped. Leila's daughters got three stories, The Little Mermaid, Rapunzel, and Robin Hood. Sam was surprised that Robin Hood was the biggest success, with the girls and the adults. Jorl danced with Sam many times, she didn't feel she could really turn him down since he had been so much help with the harvest. She also danced with Jamale and his sons. Jack turned down all offers to dance, this time blaming his ribs. There was an abundance of food again this time so they both tried a few things they'd never had before, adding even more choices to the list of possible foods to plant next year.

After the celebration Sam and Jack went back to their old routine. Sam spent every other night in town, spending her evening working on a hay tedder and a baler. Jorl's visits to the shop had become even more frequent and he had asked her to come to dinner a couple times but she turned him down politely. Jamale started to tease her about Jorl's interest, once he knew she wasn't interested.

The days quickly grew shorter. Rain was common over the next few weeks so the hay grew quickly. Jamale helped Sam get the tedder and baler to the farm a few days before the first field was ready to be harvested. Jack had spent most of his time during these weeks in the barn working on a project he still refused to discuss with Sam.

Sam cut the hay in field one and left it to dry but the darn rain that she was glad to see help the hay grow was making it take longer for the hay to dry. A week later Jack cut the hay in fields two and three. His ribs were fully healed and he was glad to be back out working. Jack and Sam took turns using the tedder to spread the hay on the dry days. All the farmers were glad for the dry week that let them get the hay baled.

Sam and Jack celebrated a successful third harvest with a dinner of venison and potatoes. Sam was back at work at Jamale's early the next morning. Jorl visited to regal her with stories of his successful harvest that year, as if everyone hadn't had a wonderful season. He had given up the pretense of bringing in equipment that needed repairs so he chatted while she worked on a baler that had broken during the harvest. She listened to his stories politely, he was a good customer, but in the end she had to turn him down again when he invited her to dinner. Persistence was a good trait in most cases but his interest was beginning to annoy her. She spent her evening finishing a project she had been hiding from Jack.