“I don’t know what I’m doing out there,” he admitted.
I remained silent.
“I know the fields are in trouble. I can see that much. But I don’t understand how bad things are or what to fix first.”
He swallowed.
“Would you come take a look?”
All the speeches I’d prepared disappeared.
“When?”
“Whenever you can.”
I glanced toward the barn.
“Saturday. I work until noon.”
He exhaled.
“Thank you.”
“I’ll inspect the fields. That’s all I’m promising.”
“Fair enough.”
Then I asked something I’d been wondering for weeks.
“Why did you hire a crew from Kansas?”
Phil turned his cap slowly.
“Because they didn’t know me.”
I frowned.
He continued.
“If I’d hired someone local, everybody would’ve asked why I hadn’t called my own brother. And I was too ashamed to admit I didn’t know how to run Dad’s farm.”
