Chapter 11
While it was early for most people, it was late for me. I had to make a stop at the farm stand before heading into the bakery. Sherry was hosting an event at the winery for Vine Valley’s Historical Society and asked me to provide a cake. Since blueberries were in season, and Albert’s were the best, I figured I’d make a three-layer lemon blueberry cake with lemon cream cheese frosting.
It was Odette’s favorite. I figured I owed her since she tried to control the rumor mill after Nero kissed me in the tasting room. The parking lot was empty except for Albert’s tractor. He didn’t open for at least another hour, but he was on the property every day by six-thirty am. He could grunt and moan all he liked, but everyone knew Albert loved his farm and would never leave if he didn’t have to go home to shower and sleep.
I pulled beside his tractor, grabbed the reusable shopping bag Sherry bought me at a local fair that had a picture of two cupcakes and said ‘Singles Night at the Bakery’ with the cupcakes saying ‘Hey Stud Muffin’ and ‘Hey Cupcake’ and got out of the car. The farm stand was a basic wood structure, with rows of fruits and vegetables piled high in baskets or just stacked beneath. According to my dad, the land had once housed a small farm cart, and when Albert bought the land, he spent two years building the current structure by himself. The cart still sat on the land, but now was part of the pumpkin patch and used as a platform for his famous scarecrow displays that would be going up in the next couple of weeks.
An American flag fluttered in the light breeze, and the scent of freshly picked apples hit me, reminding me that apple and pumpkin season were about to be in full swing.
“Good morning, Albert,” I said as I spotted the old grump placing a basket of tomatoes by the register. His gray hair was covered by a Vietnam Veterans hat he had pulled down to his bushy eyebrows. He had on a red and black flannel shirt under a pair of overalls.
He swatted his hand at the air. “Ah! What’s good about it?”
“You woke up and can live another day.”
“Or I didn’t wake up, and the nightmare continues.”
“One of these days, you’ll greet me with a big ol’ smile and an exuberant ‘Good morning, Lainey!’”
“Are you drunk?”
I stifled a laugh. “It’s a little too early for that.”
“It’s a little too early for you to be talking, but that doesn’t seem to stop you.”
“What’d you say?” Nero came around the bend, carrying a box. The easy smile that had been on his too perfect face slipped. His lips parted, and our eyes met.
“Oh,” I said before I could snap my mouth shut.
Nero stood, box in hand, staring at me. “Lainey. What are you doing here?”
The anger that had sizzled through me a few days ago at the winery had subsided. How could I be mad at him for something he always did? I knew what I was doing. I knew he didn’t do more than a single night, yet I openly agreed to let things happen.
I could have stopped us. I could have been stronger, but I wasn’t. But he told me I wasn’t just a fuck. I believed him, but that was only because Nero rarely lied to me.
“Picking up some blueberries,” I said, letting that chipper morning tone flow through my words. “What about you?”
He stood there, not saying a word.
“You going to answer her or stand there looking like an idiot?” Albert said.
Nero hoisted the box. “Helping Albert move some boxes.”
“I didn’t know you two were close like that.” Then I remembered how Nero defended Albert that day in the car. What else was there about Nero that I didn’t know?
He didn’t say anything. His eyes stayed locked on mine, though. I expected to see pity in that blue gaze, but all I saw was regret. The regret hurt worse than the pity. A tight rope knotted in my stomach, and I swallowed to try to keep my composure.
“Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you, boy?” Albert barked as he placed four cartons of blueberries by the register. “You two sleep together or something?”
“What? You told him?” The words came out between clenched teeth. I thought I whispered it, but apparently, I didn’t.
Albert’s eyes widened, head swinging away from the numbers on the register. A loud laugh erupted from his throat that sounded horse as if it had been stuck for years.
“I didn’t, but you just did,” Nero muttered.
Fuck my life. I closed my eyes, trying to ground myself. The last thing I needed was the town to find out. They were practically planning our wedding after that stupid kiss that started this whole mess.
“Calm down. Albert won’t say anything.”
“How the hell can you possibly know that?”
“Albert?” Nero said. “You’re not going to tell anyone, right?”
“I couldn’t give two shits about who you fuck. It’s none of my business, and it’s no one else's.”
“Your word.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Albert grumbled and swatted the air again.
“There. He won’t say anything.”
“How do you know?”
“He gave me his word.”
“What does that even mean?”
“It means he’s not going to say anything. Albert doesn’t give his word unless he means it.” He glanced at the boxes in his hand. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I still have some things to move before I can get out of here.”
“Yeah sure,” I said.
He turned to leave, then hesitated. I waited for him to say something, anything, even if I blew him off the last time he tried. I just hated how we left things. In all the years we had known each other, we never walked away from each other angry. It wasn’t who we were. At least not to each other.
But after that kiss, everything changed.
Everything.
I waited, hoping and praying he’d try again, or that my mouth would remember how to move, and I’d say something. But the longer we stood there, staring at each other in silence, a million things left unsaid, I only felt more and more defeated.
With a sigh, Nero walked away.
Pain shot through my heart, and I allowed myself to settle into it for a moment. Nero walking away from me again hurt, and I didn’t want to ignore that pain. It hurt like hell whatever weird limbo we were in now, but the pain was there because he saw beyond the fact that I was his little sister’s best friend. He saw me for the first time in our lives, and he not only saw me, he wanted me. The pain was my reminder.
I didn’t let it fester and make me bitter. Bitter was the last thing I wanted. No, I relished the ache, reminding myself it was worth every sharp prick to the heart. Then I headed over to Albert and placed the four cartons of blueberries in my shopping bag. “Thanks, Albert, and sorry to have brought you into that.”
“Brought me into what?” he asked, and I titled my head only to realize he was keeping his word and pretending like he didn’t know anything.
“Thanks,” I said again. I held up the bag and made to leave.
“Hey, blondie,” he said, and I turned to him. “He’s an asshole, but he has a good heart.”
I nodded. “I know.” I was surprised that Albert, of all people, could see what I thought only I could. “How long has he been helping you?”
“Oh no. We’re not doing this,” he said and shuffled away, mumbling. “Try to be nice, and they want to talk your ear off. This is why I don’t talk to people.”
“Have a good day, Albert!” I called after him.
With another swat of his hand this time behind him, he made his way toward Nero, and I headed to my car. I had no idea how this partnership between Albert and Nero formed, and I shouldn’t be curious. Not after I gave myself to Nero completely, and he gave me the best orgasms of my life before the bastard abandoned me.
But I was.