Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Hours later, Irene and the others returned to the shop, pies in hand. TJ helped while they were gone. Lila didn’t realize they were leaving her shorthanded and was glad he’d offered to stay. He even ran an errand for her. Yet, he’d been quiet, and Lila wasn’t sure how to take his silence.
Irene sniffed one of the pies she’d brought. She held it up like a trophy while Polly fanned her with a dish towel to cool it faster. They were still warm! Paddy was already arranging Mrs. Jones’s pies on the counter beside Irene’s other pies as though preparing them for a state fair judging.
Lila stood at the end of the counter, half-laughing, half-praying the health inspector wasn’t lurking outside. “If anyone asks,” she muttered. “This never happened.”
“Oh, it happened,” Paddy said cheerfully. “Cyrus got the photos to prove it.”
“You took pictures?” Lila gasped.
Paddy winked. “At the inn, for posterity, dear. Or blackmail. Depending on how this goes. Grandma, did ye bring the camera?”
Grandma pulled an old polaroid camera out of a bag and held it up. “Got it right here!”
TJ chuckled. “So this is going to be like, the Clear Creek Pie Championships?”
“That’s about the size of it,” Polly said, slicing into Mrs. Jones’s berry pie. “Now, let’s see what we’re up against.”
Grandma happily took pictures as Irene gasped. “Hold it!” She darted forward, blocking the knife with an oven mitt. “He tastes mine first. The man needs a proper baseline.”
“Oh, for pity’s sake,” Lila muttered, rubbing her forehead.
“Ladies,” TJ said smoothly. “How about a compromise? I’ll taste both and declare them equally delicious.”
“Ha!” Irene scoffed. “You can’t declare a tie in pie, young man. It’s un-American. Even Melvale would agree with me.”
Lila smothered a laugh behind her hand as Paddy and Polly nodded solemnly in agreement. She had no idea who their friend Melvale was. All she cared about was the fact TJ looked like he was enjoying himself.
“Well,” TJ said, picking up a fork, “I suppose I’d better get started, then.”
The shop went silent except for the hum of the refrigerator as he took a bite of Irene’s berry pie. He chewed, swallowed, and blinked. “That’s…” He paused dramatically. “Dangerously good.”
Irene preened like a peacock. “Naturally.”
Then he tried his mother’s pie. The flavor hit his senses and, to his surprise, he actually groaned. Her pie tasted like home. “Oh. That’s unfair. They’re both…”
“Go on, tell us,” Paddy ordered.
“Equal,” TJ finished, trying not to grin.
“Traitor,” Irene said, pointing her oven mitt at him.
Paddy burst out laughing. “He’s diplomatic! Must get that from his mother.”
Lila exhaled a laugh of her own, her tension easing. “See? Everyone wins.”
“Hmmph,” Irene huffed. “I’ll allow it this time.” She turned toward Polly. “Come on, let’s take some of these back to the inn to serve as dessert tonight.”
Paddy caught the glint in Irene’s eyes and smiled. “Ye just want to brag to Cyrus and Wilfred that ye almost won.”
“Almost?” Irene sniffed. “I did win. The boy just didn’t want to hurt his mother’s feelings.” She gathered their things and headed out the door, Polly and Paddy right behind her.
Suddenly, the shop grew quiet.
Lila wiped her hands on her apron and turned toward TJ. He was still leaning against the counter, fork in hand, looking entirely too comfortable for someone who’d just survived a bake-off.
“Sorry about that,” she said. “They can get… spirited.”
He laughed under his breath. “I noticed. I think I’ve seen calmer rugby matches.”
Lila rolled her eyes, but the corner of her mouth twitched. “It’s always like this. I keep hoping one day they’ll act their age, but…”
“Wouldn’t trade them for anything,” he finished softly.
She hesitated, her heart giving an odd little twist. “Nor would I.”
For a moment, neither of them spoke. The only sound was the sound of a car passing in the street outside, and the tick of the wall clock.
TJ glanced at the leftover slice in front of him. “You didn’t try any,” he said.
“Oh, I… no, I probably…”
“Health code?” he teased.
Her cheeks warmed. “You remembered.”
“Hard not to,” he said. “You’ve mentioned it about six times since I got here.”
Lila laughed and gave in, taking a fork. “Fine, just a bite.” She tasted Mrs. Jones’s pie, then Irene’s, and groaned softly. “Okay, I admit it. They’re both incredible.”
“Told you,” he said with a grin. “I notice they made off with Irene’s apple pie.”
They stood close now, shoulder to shoulder, both pretending to focus on the pies. Lila realized for the first time they were alone, or was Grandma in the storeroom?
“You know,” TJ said after a long moment, “I think your shop has officially ruined me. I’m never going to be able to drink bad coffee again.”
Lila looked up at him, caught off guard by the quiet sincerity in his voice. “That’s not a bad thing, is it?”
“No,” he said, his gaze holding hers. “Not bad at all.”
The air between them shifted. Soft, uncertain, but full of something that made her heart stumble. Then, mercifully the bell over the door jingled again.
“Ah, there you are!” Grandma’s cheerful voice carried through the shop.
Lila jumped back a step, nearly dropping her fork. She looked down the hall, then at the door. “Grandma! Where did you run off to?”
“I was outside taking a picture of this place, then gave the camera to Paddy so he can take more pictures of Irene’s pies.” Grandma beamed at them, eyes twinkling as she looked from one to the other. “Well, now, isn’t this cozy?”
Lila groaned. “Not you too.”
“Oh, I haven’t said a word,” Grandma said sweetly. “Yet.”
TJ laughed, shaking his head. “I think I’ll take that as my cue to leave before I end up volunteered for more food testing.” He slid on his jacket, gave Lila one last smile, and stepped out into the autumn sunshine.
Grandma watched him go, humming. “Mm-hmm,” she said at last. “He walks like a man who doesn’t know whether he’s coming or going.”
Lila stared after him, her pulse still unsteady. “You’re not helping,” she murmured.
Grandma’s grin widened. “Oh, child, I don’t think he needs help. He’ll find his way.”
Lila wasn’t so sure. But as she caught herself smiling, she thought maybe Grandma wasn’t wrong.
TJ was conflicted, and part of her hoped she was the reason.
But he’d only been in town a couple of weeks.
Still, she’d heard of people falling in love quick like and having that love last a lifetime. She could only hope.
“Grandma?”
“Yes, child?”
“How long did it take you to fall in love with Doc?”
Grandma smiled. “Well, let me tell you…”
The next morning, mist once again clung to the hills and settled on low fields in a silver fog.
TJ brushed a horse, preparing to saddle it. He needed the air and some quiet space to think. Ethan, Luke, and Caleb were already there when he arrived, talking low and laughing about something their father said at breakfast. He wasn’t sure how much quiet he’d get.
TJ’s boots padded across the straw-strewn aisle to the tack room, and three heads turned.
“Morning, sunshine,” Luke said with a grin. “We figured you’d show up eventually. Mom said you’re too restless to sit still.”
“Coffee?” Ethan offered, holding up a thermos.
TJ waved it off. “No thanks.” He entered the tack room, brought out a saddle, blanket, and bridle, and began tacking up the horse. “You guys going for a ride?”
Caleb raised an eyebrow. “Yes, I would think our saddled horses would be an indicator, brother.”
TJ gave him a playful smirk and continued to saddle his horse.
It didn’t take long before the four were in the chill air, hooves thudding against the damp ground.
They followed the familiar trail that wound around the vast property.
They followed it to some stands of pine atop the ridge that overlooked the famous Jones Ranch and Clear Creek Valley.
Up here, the mist was burning off, revealing streaks of sunlight breaking through the clouds. For a while, no one spoke. They just stared at the sprawling horse ranch below.
Ethan broke the silence. “All right, TJ, out with it. You’ve been wound up tighter than a bungee cord since the festival. What’s going on? Still having girl trouble?”
TJ exhaled hard through his nose and tightened his hold on the reins. “I don’t know,” he said at last. “I thought coming home for a time would give me some clarity about what I want to do next. Instead, I feel like I’m straddling two worlds that don’t fit together.”
“You mean England and Oregon?” Luke asked, stating the obvious. “Don’t tell me you’re thinking of going to Paris or someplace like Norway, next.”
TJ rolled his eyes. “I know I’ve been traveling a lot the last eight years, and Cornwall’s been the latest stop. I thought I could settle there, It’s a great place. But after a year, it still doesn’t feel right.”
He stared ahead at the hills, his throat thick. “I thought I knew what I wanted and what I was chasing. Research, discovery…” He hesitated, then added quietly, “But now there’s Lila. She’s sweet, kind, and just plain good. But I’m the opposite. Not that I’m bad, before any of you makes a remark.”
His brothers laughed at that. TJ smiled and kept going. “Think about it, you guys. I travel for work, live out of a suitcase half the time. I mean, what kind of future is that for anyone?”
Caleb rode up alongside him. “So, what are you saying? You care about her, but you don’t think you should?”
“I’m saying that…” TJ struggled to find the words. “Maybe it’s this place. Clear Creek does something to a person. You breathe the air, and it tricks you into thinking you could stay forever. But I’ve been gone too long. I don’t know if I’m seeing clearly anymore.”
Luke whistled long and low. “And you think leaving will help?”
“It’s the only way I’ll know,” TJ admitted. “If I go and I can’t stop thinking about her, then maybe that’s my answer.”
His brothers fell silent. Even the horses seemed to slow their breathing.
“Remember the story Mom likes to tell about how Dad left for college?” Ethan asked.
“He thought he was just stretching his wings. Until he came back six months later and realized what home really was.” Ethan shrugged.
“Maybe you forgot what home is supposed to feel like. It’s about people, TJ. Not places.”
TJ smiled. “Maybe.”
Caleb shook his head. “Just don’t wait too long to figure it out, TJ. Sometimes when you leave, the world doesn’t wait for you to come back. Remember that.”
His words settled heavily in TJ’s chest. He knew Caleb wasn’t trying to lecture him. Just give him a warning.
By the time they rode back to the barn, the mist had burned away and the sun shone bright against the pastures. TJ and his brothers unsaddled their horses in silence, brushed them down, and started to put the tack away.
Ethan came up behind him and clapped him on the shoulder. “Whatever you decide, just don’t run from it. Love is scary.”
“I won’t,” TJ said, voice low.
When his brothers headed for the house, TJ stayed behind. He looked toward the hills, then in the direction of the town that had somehow gotten under his skin. Sure, he’d been born and raised here, but it had never affected him like this.
He left the barn and looked at the road that led away from the ranch. If he was ever going to understand what Clear Creek and Lila really meant to him, he’d have to leave both behind. He needed to know if his wanderlust was truly gone.
But were his brothers right? In doing so, would he lose the one thing causing this internal struggle in the first place? TJ had no idea. He’d built a life away from Clear Creek. Could he let that go? He looked toward the town again, shook his head, then headed for the house.
Was he being reckless, making the decision to go home to Cornwall? But he didn’t want to just toss everything away because he thought he was in love. He’d always been in love with his research and job, but Lila had done something to him he couldn’t describe.
The world was brighter with her in it. She made him laugh, and he liked it when she got riled up. She was adorable in a frantic sort of way.
He smiled at the thought and reached the house. Thankfully his brothers would stay quiet about their recent discussion. The last thing he needed was for his mother to try and convince him he was in love.
Besides, he’d have to return to Cornwall anyway to take care of things, even if he’d already decided to stay.
At least once he was back, and his feelings for Lila and home faded, then he hadn’t wasted any time.