Tour Part One
"Hey, do you think you could manage for a few hours by yourself today?" Punk asked Daryl whilst they were opening up the shop.
A week had passed since he'd left a donut in AJ's shop for her. He hadn't spoken to her since and was taking Lyla's advice on giving her some space, even though he wasn't quite sure why he needed to give her space. He figured with time, she'd maybe stop being on his mind so much, but the more time passed without seeing her or speaking to her, the more she played on his mind.
"By myself?" Daryl asked worriedly, "Like… just me here on my own?"
"Yeah." Punk said.
"Where will you be?" Daryl questioned.
"Mister Eckles called last night and asked if I wanted a tour of his farm." Punk shrugged, He said since he delivers our milk it'd be nice for me to see it straight from the source."
"Ew. You're going to milk cows?" Daryl asked.
"No." Punk shook his head, "He just wants to show me around, which I thought was pretty nice." He shrugged.
"I bet you end up milking a cow." Daryl shook his head.
"Will you be alright or not? Do I have to call Linda?" Punk asked.
"What use is she to me? She can barely stand for longer than five minutes." Daryl shook his head, "I'll be fine. I got this." He spoke to himself.
"You're more than capable." Punk agreed, "And it's a weekday so we're not as busy. And I'll be back after lunch."
"Ok. Yes, I'll be fine." Daryl nodded.
"I mean… call me if there's an emergency, obviously." Punk nodded, "But I have full confidence in you." He said, more to himself than to Daryl, to convince himself it would be alright leaving his shop in this young kid's hands for a few hours.
"Phil, you're here." Mister Eckles smiled, opening up the door to his house where Punk was standing.
Like most of the houses in the town, Mister Eckles lived in an old-fashioned farmhouse, and had the most acres of land out of all the farmers in the town. He'd explained to Punk over the phone that the land had been in his family for generations and Punk could hear the pride in his voice when he told him all about it.
"I'm here." Punk nodded, "This place is amazing." He looked around, noticing some horses over in the fields beside the farm. Growing up in the city amongst nothing but concrete made sights like this all the more beautiful for sure.
"Thank you. It is my pride and joy." Mister Eckles smiled, "You're not familiar with our attire here yet?" Mister Eckles chuckled a little as Punk looked down at himself.
He had some sweats on, a pair of his favourite trainers and a hoodie.
"What was I supposed to wear?" Punk asked.
"It's alright. I just hope you don't mind those nice trainers getting dirty." Mister Eckles patted him on the shoulder, "Come on. April is already here, round at the stables." He walked out of the house and shut the door behind him.
"April?" Punk asked with confusion, walking down off the porch and down the stairs.
"Yeah, I asked her to come along too. Seeing as I provide milk for both your shops I wanted to give you both a tour. I really appreciate you both working with me, you know." Mister Eckles nodded kindly, making his way around the house as Punk followed him.
"You didn't mention you were inviting both of us on the phone." Punk said.
"I didn't?" Mister Eckles asked, "I thought I did." He shrugged. Punk could tell the man just genuinely wanted to do a kind thing.
"What are you doing here?" AJ shook her head, standing by the stables when she noticed Punk walking towards her with Mister Eckles. She hadn't meant for the question to sound so cheeky, but she was surprised to see him.
"I was invited." Punk said.
"You see, April came prepared with her boots." Mister Eckles pointed with pride as Punk looked at AJ, dressed in jeans which were tucked into knee-high boots. She also wore a flimsy vest and a plaid shirt tied around her waist with a baseball cap on her head.
"Yeah, she's just missing some pig tails." Punk grinned a little.
"Shut up." AJ rolled her eyes.
"I have a treat in store for both of you." Mister Eckles said excitedly, "Follow me." He said as Punk and AJ followed him into the stables which smelt far from pleasant.
"You get used to this smell?" Punk asked unhappily.
"What smell?" Mister Eckles chuckled.
"I guess being born and raised here your whole life, you would get used to it." AJ nodded.
"Here she is." Mister Eckles approached one of the pens where a cow was standing in the middle of some hay, surrounded in the pen by a metal railing, "This is Daisy."
"She's… big." AJ widened her eyes a little, leaning over the railing.
"She's having a baby." Mister Eckles nodded, "Right now." He grinned as Punk and AJ turned to him.
"What?" Punk said.
"She is the reason I can supply you with so much milk every morning. She's one of my very best." Mister Eckles nodded, "And she's about to be a mama." He smiled excitedly whilst Punk looked at the cow.
"I bet she'd want some privacy." AJ nodded hesitantly.
"Nonsense." Mister Eckles said, "I want you both to see the spirit of farming life. Get in here." He said, opening up the gate to the pen as Punk immediately stood behind AJ.
"I can't…" AJ shook her head, laughing nervously, "Mister Eckles… we are really no use to you for something like this." She said as Punk nodded along in agreement.
"Just come in and watch." Mister Eckles said, "My workers will do the hard part." He insisted whilst AJ and Punk stood still, noticing a few other farmers at the other side of the pen.
"Ok." AJ nodded, feeling Punk shove her forward a little.
She entered first with Punk following behind, closing the gate behind him.
"I thought he was just going to show me around and then offer me a coffee." Punk whispered to AJ.
"He's insane." AJ nodded in agreement, "And he never told me you were coming."
"He never told me you were coming either." Punk replied, getting interrupted by the loud moaning from the cow standing a few feet away from them.
"I delivered my first calf when I was twelve." Mister Eckles nodded over to them whilst getting prepared for the delivery with the other farmers, "Now I've lost count on how many I've delivered."
"You breed all the animals on your farm?" Punk asked.
"Not all. Depends on how much livestock we have." Mister Eckles said, "Mostly just the horses and cows."
"What other animals do you have?" Punk asked. Meanwhile AJ was just staring at the cow who was clearly dilating right in front of their eyes.
"Oh, we got cows, horses, pigs, goats and chickens." Mister Eckles nodded, "I deliver eggs to April for all her baking too." He said.
"Jesus, is that it's legs?" Punk asked, stepping behind AJ again once he noticed little hooves sticking out from the cow in front of them.
"Front legs." Mister Eckles nodded, "You have to pull on them to help it along." He said whilst AJ watched with fascination.
"She'll only have one baby, right?" AJ nodded.
"That's right." Mister Eckles nodded, "And this little baby will be providing milk in no time. Isn't that right, Daisy?" He smiled, patting the mama cow comfortingly.
"This feels really unethical to watch." Punk whispered to AJ.
"Stop being a baby." AJ pushed Punk away from behind her.
They stood in silence for the remainder of the birth whilst Mister Eckles and the other farmers helped the calf come along. When a head popped out, Punk moved behind AJ again.
"Almost there." Mister Eckles nodded whilst AJ watched with fascination as the calf dropped out onto the hay, covered in slime and some blood whilst the mama cow immediately turned around to lick her.
"Oh, good job mama." AJ smiled, clasping her hands over her mouth as she watched the new mother clean her calf.
Meanwhile Punk moved out from behind AJ, watching the calf looking around whilst its mother cleaned her up, amazed and horrified by what he'd just witnessed.
"Isn't it beautiful?" Mister Eckles smiled.
"Beautiful." Punk nodded sarcastically, turning to AJ who he noticed was smiling as she watched the little calf.
"These are the horse's stables." Mister Eckles said, making his way into another part of the farm after leaving his other workers to deal with the newborn calf and its mother whilst he continued to show AJ and Punk around.
"You got a lot." Punk nodded, noticing all the slots where the horses were kept at night.
"They're a beautiful animal." Mister Eckles smiled, "Most of them are out in the fields just now but I kept my two favourites here for you to see up close." He said as Punk nodded.
He did not expect to have such an in-depth tour of this man's farm. He truly thought he'd be briefly shown around and that would be it. So far, he'd witnessed a birth, caught a chicken and fed some of the goats. He felt like a kid on a school trip.
"Oh, wow." AJ smiled, "What's their names?" She asked, looking on at the blonde horse and the dark brown horse.
"Blondie and Brownie." Mister Eckles said as Punk looked at him, "My great-granddaughter named these. She's six." He nodded.
"Ahh." Punk nodded.
"They are… so beautiful." AJ smiled, stepping closer to the animals.
One thing Punk had noticed was that AJ was definitely having more fun than him. A few times he'd heard that wonderful giggle of hers, particularly when the chickens were running around them squabbling, and she'd almost looked teary when she saw the baby calf being born. Today was definitely not going how he had thought it would… but he wasn't mad about it.
"And they're all saddled up for you both." Mister Eckles smiled.
"What?" AJ said.
"Yeah, what?" Punk shook his head.
"There's no better way to see the rest of my land than on the back of a horse." Mister Eckles insisted.
"Honestly, we can walk." Punk nodded.
"Yeah… I mean, I don't know how to ride a horse." AJ said nervously.
"Squeeze your legs to go. Pull the reins to stop." Mister Eckles waved his hand, "These are two of my best. They won't pull any funny business with you." He said, opening up the stalls where the two horses were all saddled up.
"Oh, we're actually doing this." Punk realised.
"Sure are." Mister Eckles nodded, guiding the two horses out into the stable, "Ladies first. Which one?" He asked AJ.
"Blondie." AJ nodded.
"Ok, let's get you on first, April." Mister Eckles nodded, showing AJ how to get on the horse, helping her get her foot in the stirrup and instructing her on how to get onto the saddle.
"Ok. Ok." AJ spoke to herself, pushing her weight on the stirrup and swinging her other leg up and over the horse, sitting herself down on the saddle.
Punk rolled his eyes, because of course she'd gotten on the horse as elegantly as possible, like she'd done it a hundred times before.
"You're next, Phil." Mister Eckles nodded, holding Brownie by the reins whilst Punk put his foot in the stirrup, pushing up and swinging his leg over to sit himself on the saddle, only his horse moved back a few steps.
"Why is it moving?" Punk asked worriedly as the horse paced a little from foot to foot.
"You're such a little girl." AJ shook her head, chuckling as she'd watched him get on the horse.
"He's just getting used to you." Mister Eckles assured Punk, standing in between the two horses and guiding them out of the stables, "I'll come find you in an hour." He nodded.
"What?" AJ turned to him, "You're not coming with us? Neither of us know what we're doing."
"You just gotta sit there and enjoy the view." Mister Eckles said, "There's more to life than just coffee and cakes, Miss April." Mister Eckles winked to her.
"Exactly, Miss April." Punk nodded to AJ who scowled at him.
"These two will look after you if you look after them." Mister Eckles nodded, tapping both the horses at the back as they began to trot off into the field.
"This is completely irresponsible." Punk shook his head, his horse trotting alongside AJ's, "I mean… that man is insane."
"Oh, would you just be quiet?" AJ turned to him, "You're such a city boy." She couldn't help smile.
"No. I'm just not a farmer." Punk shook his head.
"He's right. Look at this view." AJ said. There was nothing but grass in front of them, not a single building in sight.
"I could enjoy it with my two feet on the ground, too." Punk said as AJ smiled to herself.
"It is a little weird that he invited us here." AJ admitted, "He told me it was because he appreciated us doing business with him."
"Yeah, he told me the same." Punk nodded, "In his heart he probably thinks he's doing a good thing but… I would have accepted a cup of coffee from him and been on my way happily."
"You don't like animals?" AJ asked whilst their horses continued to trot further into the field.
"I love animals." Punk said fiercely, "I've just never ridden any."
"Me neither." AJ admitted as Punk turned to her, stealing a quick glance of her smiling as she looked around the field. She was truly the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. He'd almost completely forgotten that the last time they spoke, she had asked him to leave her apartment abruptly.
"You did it." AJ turned to him, catching him already staring at her.
"Did what?" Punk asked.
"The donuts." AJ nodded, "I had the one you left for me. It was… so great." She nodded.
"Couldn't have done it without your help." Punk said, "I… wanted to thank you in person but after how things ended at your apartment… I just wanted to give you some space."
"I appreciate that." AJ nodded.
"You're a tough cookie to crack." He admitted as she laughed a little, "I'm pretty sure I didn't do or say anything wrong… right?"
"You didn't." AJ shook her head, "I'm just dealing with some stuff."
"Right." Punk nodded slowly.
"And honestly? I just can't fathom how you defended criminals for a living." AJ said honestly, "It's just… so wrong." She nodded. She wasn't trying to instigate a fight with him, she was merely telling him how she felt, and he could sense that in the tone of her voice.
"Not all of them are criminals. Some needed my help to prove their innocence." Punk nodded.
"But some were." AJ stated, "And you just… turn a blind eye?"
"I defended them with the evidence that's provided." Punk said, "I know it's a pretty ugly job but… someone has to do it. It seems to have triggered you more than I'd expect." He said.
"I've been on the other end of a defence lawyer." AJ told him, staring out at the never-ending field, "I guess it's left a bad taste in my mouth." She turned to him as he nodded.
"I can understand why." Punk said, "Well, I'm sorry if I brought up some bad memories." He nodded as she looked at him.
She hadn't expected him to be here today when she agreed to visit Mister Eckles. Like Punk, she thought the old farmer just wanted to show her around his farm and thank her for doing business with him, she didn't expect to have taken so much part in the workings of the farm, never mind being on a horse right now with Punk.
"It's alright." AJ said, "But shame on you." She said seriously as Punk just nodded. She appreciated that he didn't push her on the subject. Clearly he knew she had gone through something that resulted in court, but he stayed silent, only allowing her to speak about it if she wished to. She admired that.
"He really just let us come out here unsupervised, huh?" Punk eventually asked, turning around to look at the farm which was growing smaller and smaller as they headed out further into the field.
"I never realised how much land he has." AJ admitted, "Everything looks so… untouched." She smiled.
"Not like that in New Jersey?" He asked her.
"Not at all." AJ laughed a little.
"What do you think about breakfast sandwiches?" Punk asked her, their horses walking side-by-side, trotting at a steady pace through the grass whilst the Spring sun beat down on them.
"Breakfast sandwiches?" AJ turned to him, "Love them." She shrugged.
"I was thinking of doing them at the coffee shop." Punk said, "You think it would go down well?"
"I think everybody loves a breakfast sandwich so… why not?" AJ shrugged, "Won't you need more staff soon? You and Daryl must be exhausted."
"Yeah, I've been thinking about it." Punk nodded.
"Maybe hire someone your own age so your only friend here isn't a child." AJ smirked a little.
"Ouch." Punk nodded, "But you're right." He agreed as AJ chuckled a little.
"You've never took a day off yet, as far as I can tell. Don't you have family to visit in the city?" She asked him.
"No, my parents are both dead." Punk said.
"Oh… I'm sorry." AJ winced a little.
"Don't be. It's how I managed to afford the coffee shop." He said, "My mom died last year so I sold their house."
"Oh." AJ said, "That's… good?" She questioned with confusion.
"I didn't really get on with them, honestly." He said, "My dad was a raging alcoholic. Drank himself to death when I was 23, basically. And my mom died of a heart attack. She wasn't particularly fond of me."
"Of her own son?" AJ questioned.
"Didn't feel like she was." Punk nodded, "I got an older brother. Stuart. He was very much her favourite."
"You don't speak to him either?" AJ asked.
"No, he's in prison. And he's the reason I'm disbarred." Punk nodded as AJ looked at him with surprise, "I mean… I'm also to blame I guess." He admitted.
"Shit… I'm sorry." AJ said. It was all she could think to say.
"You don't visit your folks in New Jersey?" Punk asked her, desperate to get the subject away from him.
"My folks aren't in New Jersey. They live in Puerto Rico. My aunt raised me in New Jersey. She travels a lot now so it's mostly conversations through a laptop screen." AJ nodded.
Being out in the quiet of the field, there was nothing else to do but talk.
"You must miss them." Punk said.
"I miss my aunt." AJ nodded to him, "She comes here every Christmas. It's my favourite time of the year." She smiled to herself, "Oh, look at that." She pointed over to a stream of water over by the trees they were approaching.
"He's never invited you out here? I thought you've worked with him for years." Punk said.
"I have. He's invited me to the farm to see the cows but… that was it." AJ said, "I've never been out here before."
"It is pretty nice." Punk nodded, "My ass kinda hurts, though."
"Cowboys are laughing at you everywhere." AJ nodded as he chuckled.
"This suits you better than me." Punk agreed, watching her as she smiled to herself, brushing her hand over the horse's mane gently, "You're ok, right?" He nodded.
"What do you mean?" She turned to him.
"Just… you seem like you're dealing with a lot. You were so upset that night I found you. It just… it felt like more than just a bad date." He said.
When he first arrived here, all he could think about was how rude and obnoxious this woman was, but the more he got to know her the more he realised how many layers she carried, perhaps just as many layers as him.
"I'm ok." She nodded, "Thank you for asking."
"We're doing ok at this… civil thing, right?" Punk nodded.
"Don't speak too soon." AJ smiled as he chuckled, "You think we could tie these guys to the trees over there?" She said as he nodded.
"We can try." He said worriedly as AJ chuckled, making their way over to the trees by the stream.