By Susan Hayhurst

It all began with those sparkling blue eyes and that signature grin.

My husband, Terry, stepped foot in the kitchen one morning and immediately began telling me about a restored 4020 John Deere tractor that was for sale at the upcoming Sullivan County FFA auction. He told his sister, Becky, and his mom, Betty Jo. He told our daughters, Lillian and Hayley. He talked about it to our farm helper, Ervin, over and over.

The auction was slated for Saturday, April 7, the same day as Hayley’s senior collection fashion show at Purdue University. Terry knew he had to be a dutiful dad and go with the rest of the family to the show. He was also a proud dad. He asked his friend Brad Cooprider, who was going to the auction, to bid on the tractor for him.

Terry directed Brad to bid a certain top price, and I quietly directed Brad to go higher.

As the family ate dinner at the Outback Steakhouse in Lafayette, Ind., that evening, Brad texted me to say we got the tractor for a good price. Terry wasn’t told about the call, though.

The next afternoon I asked Brad to hide the tractor in Terry’s cousin Larry Gormong’s machinery shed. While Terry headed over to the home farm to feed the cattle, I called Lillian to meet us at the shed. I drove the long way around to pick up Betty Jo and then stopped to kidnap Terry.

Terry plied me with questions. I just kept going. We drove to Larry’s shed, where the big door was already open. Tears welled up in Terry’s eyes, and his signature grin broadened.

The tractor is back home. It had originally been purchased in 1972 by Terry’s late paternal grandfather and his father.

Hayhurst writes from Terre Haute, Ind.