45
They walked back toward the banquet hand-in-hand. John’s family waited for him there and Connie couldn’t hold him back, though she desperately wanted to.
It was easier in her uniform. She knew who she was in her camo. She’d face the crowd, both the welcoming and the jealous. She’d be strong for John and Noreen’s sake.
They came upon the old tractor. Grumps was sitting on the old Unistyler’s left side. There was a natural seat there where you could sit on a frame member and lean back against the driveshaft housing.
He looked comfortable there, sleeping quietly. A bottle of beer held loosely in one hand rested on his thigh. How many times over the decades had he rested in that spot?
John slipped the bottle free before it could spill. “Come on, old man. You’ll freeze if you stay here.
