Give Em Pumpkin To Talk About (Pumpkin Patch Mysteries Book 1) by Joyce Lavene, Jim Lavene Page B

the patch.
    The field was bumpy as they passed through it. It was difficult to maintain her seat, but she finally balanced herself holding on to the wood sides of the wagon. She was going to feel the strain of that, and walking around the rough pumpkin patch, tomorrow. It was a lot more work than she was used to.
    “How’s it going back there?” Jack called out as they crested the hill before the land dropped down toward Mr. Pope’s farm.
    “I’m fine,” she called out and waved.
    “Hold on tight,” he said as the tractor climbed up and over the rise.
    Sarah held on, gritting her teeth. She didn’t plan to fall out of the wagon and have to see his smirk because she didn’t ride up front with him. Pumpkins weren’t the most comfortable things to sit on. They kept shifting. She lost her balance several times and had to climb up on top again, but she didn’t fall off the wagon.
    Once the land leveled out, she was steadier but glad she didn’t have to ride back with the pumpkins they’d cut. How had she ever thought this was fun?
    Jack took the tractor between the large, two-story house and the site where all the building materials were. She guessed that’s where the new barn was going up.
    Mr. Pope was working on an outside pump that gushed water. He stopped when he saw them and walked over. “What’s all this?”
    “Sarah wanted to give you some pumpkins,” Jack explained as he shut off the tractor engine.
    “That’s nice of you.” Mr. Pope smiled at Sarah who was still in the wagon. “Need some help getting out of there?”
    “No. I’m fine.” She laughed like she wasn’t worried about the pumpkins shifting as she tried to climb out. “I just wanted to say thanks for cutting the grass.”
    “You’re welcome. I hope you’re coming to the barn-raising tomorrow,” he said.
    “I am. Should I bring anything?”
    Mr. Pope glanced at the pumpkins. “I think you’ve brought enough. Thanks.”
    “What’s going on over there with the pump?” Jack asked.
    “Darn thing broke on me this morning. I think it’s the seal.”
    “Let me take a look.”
    Sarah took that opportunity to climb out of the wagon in case she fell on her face. The pumpkins kept shifting as she moved her weight toward the back. She held on to the sides, but it didn’t help her moving across the round, slippery edges of the pumpkins.
    As they were looking at the pump, she managed to reach the back where all she had to do was move one leg across one of the big pumpkins and she’d be home free. Unfortunately, her leg refused to move from under her, where it had become trapped between two other pumpkins. As she attempted that last drop out of the wagon, she fell forward and was trapped half off the back of it.
    “Looks like you could use a hand.” Jack’s voice was edged with humor as he stood over her.
    She could only see his boots which had seen better days a dozen or so years before. “I can get it. Go fix the pump.”
    “It’s fixed. Let me help you.”
    “I’m fine. Just go away.”
    “You’re very stubborn.”
    Before she could reply, he put his hands at her waist and lifted her off the back of the wagon.
    “Thanks. But I was okay.”
    “You’re welcome. You didn’t look like it.”
    Mrs. Pope and one of the couple’s grandsons came out to help get the pumpkins off the wagon. They made a huge pile near the tables that had been set up for the food that would be laid out for the barn-raising.
    “That’s a lot of pumpkins.” Twelve-year-old David Pope admired them. “Can I have one?”
    “Sure,” Sarah said. “Or you’re welcome to come pick your own before Monday.”
    David looked at his grandparents. “Can we do that?”
    “We can.” Mary Pope introduced herself to Sarah. “You two stay for supper. I’ve got some cornbread in the oven and some pinto beans on the stove. You can get washed up in the house.”
    Sarah thought Jack might say he couldn’t stay. She didn’t want to put the Popes out if