A New Leaf (Hemlock #1)

Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Finn

My feet are firmly planted in front of the counter of A New Leaf while I’m looking at two very surprised women. My eyes bounce back and forth between them as they both look at me like I’ve grown a second head.

“What?” I ask. “I thought this was a good thing?”

“Do you even know what you’re supposed to be doing at the festival, or are you just winging it?” There’s a hint of suspicion in Charlie’s voice. Her narrowed eyes are burning a hole right through me.

“Nope. Which is why I thought we could all figure this out together.” I shrug.

Marnie nods. “I love this. The Harvest Festival virgins pourin’ brews and sellin’—” She pauses, biting her lip while she thinks for a second. “I actually can’t find anything plant related to rhyme with ‘brews.’ Sorry.” She winces. “Either way, let’s make this festival our bitch.”

Charlie and I lock eyes. She shakes her head and rolls her eyes at Marnie’s antics. Honestly, these two couldn’t be more opposite if they tried. It’s like watching a sketch comedy show whenever they interact. Charlie’s endearing grouchiness complements Marnie’s exuberance perfectly.

I enthusiastically clap and rub my hands together. “Are we ready to roast some beans and sell some greens?”

Marnie scoffs, shaking her head. “Of course you had a pun lined up.”

Charlie tilts her head and laughs. “Honestly, that was pretty good. Give credit where credit is due.”

I feel myself grinning like I’ve won an award for impressing Charlie. Deep down, I’m hoping that this is a sign of good things to come.

We’re slammed. The festival has been going on for hours and our tent is a hit. Marnie’s lively personality draws in the customers, while Charlie stays in the background and ensures that the operation runs smoothly.

I glance over at Charlie. She’s deep in thought, reorganizing the plants so that the display doesn’t get too chaotic. You can tell she puts all of her heart and soul into her store, even if the workload drags her down. I’m sure she’s feeling a lot of emotions today, considering her parents used to do this every year. Knowing the girl behind the mask, she just wants to make her parents proud.

There’s a deep ache in my chest when I look over at her, but it’s not sorrow or sympathy. I just wish I could take her pain and worries away, even if only for a moment.

Her concentration breaks and she looks up at me, flashing me a small smile. One dimple makes an appearance before a customer pulls her away.

How that woman knows so much about plants, I’ll never know.

“Oh fuck,” I hear Marnie say.

I look in the direction of Marnie’s glare, and Aunt Donna comes waltzing in like she owns the place. She doesn’t look happy. At all.

I exhale, my body slumping as I let out a long, heavy sigh. “Christ. Okay, let me handle this,” I say to the girls.

They both nod and go about their business. I tap my barista on the shoulder and tell him I’ll be right back. Rounding the corner of the tent, I block Aunt Donna from going any further.

“Hey, Aunt D. How’s it going?” I ask, pretending to be cheerful.

“Griffin, you’re taking business away from everyone else! All the patrons are flocking to this tent only.” Her face is going red. Oh boy. “This is not how the Harvest Festival is handled. Each business should get equal attention.”

I actually cannot stand this woman sometimes. The statements she makes are silly and make no sense. This is her trying to pull rank, and I’m not in the mood for it today.

“Aunt D, you know I love you, but you should be happy that our area of the festival is bringing in so many people. I’ve already heard from other customers that they’ll return next year. We’re not taking anything away. If anything, we’re bringing more attention to Hemlock,” I say a silent prayer, hoping that the single undergraduate business class I took is enough to convince her to go away.

She nods, eyeing me suspiciously. “Fine,” she huffs, walking away.

Thanksgiving is going to be fun this year. I can feel it.

I spin on my heel and head back to my station when I notice Charlie is gone. Marnie and my barista seem to be fine without me, so I decide to go and search for her. Dodging festivalgoers, my feet carry me back onto Main Street and into A New Leaf, but still Charlie is nowhere to be found. Maybe she’s in the back office? Making my way towards the back, I hear an unmistakable sniffle. Behind the counter, Charlie’s on the ground with Frank and Vera—tears streaming down her face as she pets both dogs. Vera’s head is settled in her lap while Frank is snuggled so tight against her side that it looks like Charlie and my dog are now one being.

She doesn’t notice me until I calmly crouch down in front of her. The dogs don’t move from her side, knowing instinctively that their comfort is needed. Charlie looks up at me, giving me a sad smile that pierces right through my heart. Her big brown eyes are rimmed with red, tears pouring out of them. Reaching into my pocket, I pull out a tissue and offer it to her.

Grief won. Today got to be too much for her.

She eyes me suspiciously, and I tilt my head. “It’s clean, you little weirdo,” I say.

She hiccups at my words—well, it’s a cross between a hiccup and a laugh. Either way, it’s adorably her . Our fingers brush when she takes the tissue out of my hand. The tips of her fingers are cold, and I’m sure sitting on this cement floor isn’t helping. I take off my jacket and wrap it around her shoulders as she dries her tears.

“It hits you out of nowhere, you know?” She sniffles, wiping at the corners of her eyes. “One moment I’m fine, the next I’m thrown back into that nightmare of a day.” Her chin dips, her shoulders shake as she cries.

I know she needs to let it out and feel everything, so I stay quiet, allowing her to process every emotion.

“And all these fucking ‘firsts’ . . . I hate it.” She shakes her head, her nose twitching as she sniffles again. “First, this Harvest Festival. Then, my stupid birthday. My first birthday without them. God, knowing I’ll never get another cake from my mom or never hear my dad sing his horrific rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ just guts me. It’s stupid.” More heavy sobs escape from her. “I hate that I can’t call them. After they died, it took three months for me to stop pulling out my phone to give them a call.” Vera snuggles deeper into Charlie’s lap like she’s trying to hug the grief right out of her. “I want them to be proud of me, you know?”

Despite intending to wait patiently for Charlie to finish her thoughts, I have to intervene before the darkness pulls her fully under. I scoot closer to Charlie and grab both of her hands in mine.

My voice is firm but gentle. “It’s not stupid. Not at all. Nothing about grief is stupid. Everything that you’re feeling is completely valid. Grief comes in waves, and all you have to do is stay afloat until the wave recedes. From an outsider’s perspective? You’re doing a kickass job treading water.”

I wish I could sit next to her, but both of these damn dogs are looking at me like one wrong step buddy and you’re dead .

“Thanks.” Her voice is sad and soft. “I’m sure this is not what you signed up for.”

With confusion, my eyebrows pull together. “Huh? What do you mean?”

She inhales sharply, trying to keep herself from falling apart. “A grieving girl, sobbing on the floor of her dead parents’ store while you’re acting as a substitute therapist.” Her shoulders sag, and she rests her chin in her hand. Charlie looks utterly spent with exhaustion. “I totally understand if you want to end things here and now.”

I can’t help but laugh. “Sorry, I know it’s not funny. I shouldn’t laugh, but—” I nudge Frank out of the way. He groans, clearly annoyed with me, but I’m sitting next to her now, and Frank can go steal someone’s wallet for all I care. “You think this will make me want to leave you alone? Sweetheart, I think you’re underestimating how much I like you.”

She looks up and hopefulness fills her eyes. I wrap my arm around her, pulling her close to me. Sighing from emotional exhaustion, she places her head on my shoulder. I kiss the top of her head, burying my nose in her hair. She smells of oranges and freshly fallen rain—a scent as warm and comforting as staying indoors on a stormy evening.

“So that’s why you don’t leave me alone?” Her voice is soft.

A playful laugh escapes from my chest. “Yes, Charlie. That’s why I don’t leave you alone. It’s because I like you. All of you . . . plus, I’ve never met someone who pulls off overalls as well as you do. You’re a babe. Especially when you wear those green ones.” I pause and do a dramatic full-body shiver before I continue. “They make me feel some type of way, you know? I can’t explain it,” I express, hoping to make her smile for a brief moment.

Charlie lifts her head and playfully slaps my shoulder. “What am I going to do with you?”

I casually shrug. “Hopefully, a lot.” I wink.

“You’re taking advantage of me when I’m all teary and snotty—trying to flirt with me when I’m at my weakest.” She wipes her eyes again, this time smiling at me. It’s not a sad smile; it’s a smile of relief.

Relief that someone was here when she needed them, but was too proud to ask for help.

Relief that someone was able to help carry the weight of some of her emotions, if only for a quick moment in time.

“Is the flirting working?” I question.

She rolls her eyes, looking away from me. “Obviously.”

I can’t tell whether there’s an undertone of sarcasm or not. For the sake of my own ego, I choose to believe she was being serious. We’ve been here for a while, and I’m positive Marnie will perform some kind of witch magic if we’re not back at the tent soon.

Plus, sitting on this floor is absolutely killing my back. Sometimes I forget that I’m not in my twenties anymore, and this is one of those moments. Charlie gets up with ease, dusting off the back of her pants with her hands.

I can’t help but take a quick peek.

“Stop looking at my ass, Griffin.”

Does this woman have eyes on the back of her head?

Charlie turns around and offers a hand to help me get up off the ground.

“Okay, I’m old, but not that old,” I tell her, not needing any help to get up.

“I heard you groan when you moved over to me, grandpa. Take my hand.” Her voice is stern and confident. It’s kind of a turn on. My hand reaches out to her, and her soft fingers wrap around mine, trying to pull me up. While Charlie may think she’s helping me up, my ulterior motive was to simply find another reason to touch her.

When I stand up fully, I give Frank a passing glance.

Wait. What the hell does he have in his mouth?

“Frank! Drop it!” I yell, horrified by what I see.

“What does he . . . OH MY GOD, FRANK, DROP IT!” Charlie is now yelling. Which is shocking because I’ve never heard her voice go any higher than her typical speaking voice. My treacherous brain thinks about her screaming my name?—

Her shriek breaks me from my ill-timed, inappropriate thoughts.

“Finn! Grab Frank! He’s got a kitten in his mouth!”

This is a new record for Frank. Shockingly, he’s never kidnapped someone else’s pet before.

Charlie’s able to quickly grab Frank by his hips, who’s parading around the store like a proud new parent showing off his newborn.

This dog is going to put me into an early grave. I can just feel it.

Slowly, I walk up to Frank, his little nub of tail wagging in a frenzy. Crouching down, I carefully remove the kitten from his mouth.

“Huh.” I’m examining this small, black cat with huge green eyes staring directly into my soul. “Like father, like son. Seems like we both like pussy.”

Charlie’s mouth pops open, her eyebrows raising slowly. “Your dog stole a living, breathing animal that someone is probably looking for. And your very first thought is to make a vagina joke?”

“Seemed like the right thing to do,” I say, standing up. “Do we know who this belongs to?” The little kitten is small enough to fit in the palm of my hand. He meows softly, and Frank’s head tilts at the sound. “You’re a menace to society, Franklin.”

Frank lays down and whimpers, knowing that he fucked up.

Charlie rubs her hands down her face and then back up, placing her fingers on her temple. “I’m getting a migraine from all of this,” she mutters under her breath.

“Come on, let’s go see if we can find his owner. If not, we just became parents.” A huge grin springs across my face. I glance over at Charlie, and her expression immediately makes me burst into uncontrollable laughter. Her head tilts to the side, her eyes fill with confusion, and her mouth twists like she ate something sour.

“Did you pass biology in high school? Because that’s not how reproduction works,” she states.

I make my way to the front of the store with the kitten nestled against my chest. Noticing Charlie isn’t following me, I look at her over my shoulder.

“Come on, sweetheart, I need you to be a hands-on parent with me. Our child needs you during this difficult and confusing time in his life.” I give her a wink.

For all I know, this cat could have an owner. But seeing her squirm about us adopting this cat together is giving me immense joy. She rolls her eyes again and groans. I can’t help but chuckle as I hear her reluctant feet scuff against the floor.

“Fine,” she replies. “But I won’t like it.”

She walks up next to me and stops. She and the kitten are now at eye level, and the kitten gives her a quiet meow. Charlie defrosts ever so slightly when she hears his tiny voice.

Bending down, I give her another quick kiss on the top of her head. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”