CHAPTER 14
Walker
“She meant well.”
My sister’s words play on repeat in my head as I drive back to the big house.
After dinner, I dropped Gail at the farm and then took my sister and Quinn home.
The extra alone time in the car was needed.
Even now I’m not sure I’m ready to have a rational conversation with Tally.
Hopefully, she’ll be hiding out in her room and we can avoid talking for a few days—or ideally for the rest of the spring.
Banging my fist against the steering wheel, I groan. That’s not what I really want at all. If I had my way, Tally would not be someone I’d be avoiding. Then again, if I had my way, Tally would have never taken the tarps off the damn tulips.
“Fuck.” I smack the wheel again. This is so fucking bad.
My sister had all sorts of ideas that will help us for next summer—seeds we can plant and other attractions we can tout to brides—but none of them fix our immediate problem.
We have a bunch of weddings scheduled for the end of May, and I highly doubt any of the tulips will make it that long.
Even if they do, they won’t be the beautiful blooms that the brides expect.
They’ll be wilted. Maybe even grazed over by the deer.
I’ll need to invest in a better system to keep the flowers we do have safe.
Plus, for the next two weeks, I’ll have to devote my attention to the tulips, which weren’t in my planned rotation. Basically, I just have a lot more fucking work to handle and no idea what we’ll do about the potential loss of income.
“She meant well.” Billie’s words taunt me again as I pull down the long driveway and the big white Victorian comes into view. I still can’t forget them as I park and hop out of my old truck, my boots kicking up dirt as I stomp up to the house.
“She meant well.” I pause at the door, staring toward the meadows. I love this land, I love this farm, and I know she meant well, but fuck, she’s making it really hard for us to keep it.
Things are worse than Gail and Peter let on when they brought me onboard. Every bill I uncover makes that clear. Frank is right. They would have only a season left if they kept going the way they were. We’ve got a season left if I don’t figure this shit out.
I’m about to head inside when I hear a whimpering cry.
“No.” It’s a moan. A female moan.
“Hello?” I call into the wind, walking across the porch and peering out into the dark night.
The evening sky is filled with stars, but there’s no light coming from the farm in any direction.
The closest source is Gail’s cottage, which has a faint glow behind her curtain, and then the brewery in the distance.
“Shit, shit, shit. Why did I do this?” The voice gets louder as I rush off the porch and head toward the fields.
This freaking girl. Can she not listen to a word I say? What could she possibly be doing now? I half expect to find her pulling the tulips from their bed since I told her to stay away from the flowers and she tends to always do the exact opposite of what I ask.
“Tally!” I call louder as I continue my search.
“Go away!” she yells back, and as my eyes adjust to the light, I can just make out her slow limp.
“Dammit, what did I tell you?” I growl as I start to run.
As if she can sense my speed and urgency, Tally starts to rush forward. Though she only takes two faster steps before she drops to the ground with a loud thud.
“Gah!” she yells. It’s hard to tell if she’s hurt or just angry.
“What the hell are you doing?” I hiss as I reach her. She’s on her back with a sandbag flopped on top of her.
A hundred-pound sandbag.
What. The. Fuck?
Tally lets out a heavy sigh before pushing it off. I watch as she drops her head to the ground and stares up at the sky. “Go away.”
Hands on my waist, I glare up at the glowing moon, which taunts me as it lights up the field.
I know when I look down I’ll be able to make out every one of Tally’s features.
Tally sounding broken and angry in the dark is hard enough to resist, but seeing her desperate sadness when I’m trying to focus on my anger instead of her whimpers?
Not so easy. But of course, I’m a glutton for punishment, so I barely brace myself before glancing down at her.
When I see the wet marks trailing down her cheeks, I know I’ve lost the battle.
“Are you okay?” I rasp.
Tally closes her eyes. “Just pretend you didn’t see me. I’ll get everything put back where it was by morning. Promise.”
Obviously, that’s not going to happen. I rough a hand over my face and blow out another breath. “Come on Tal, let’s go inside.”
“No.”
This woman.
“Tally.”
“I’m serious, Walker, this isn’t your problem. I’m not your problem. Let me fix this.”
She’s right. She’s not my problem. But dammit if that makes a bit of a difference. Not sure what else to do, I drop to my ass beside her. “You can’t fix it. It’s a day’s worth of work at least when there’s a full crew to help. It would take you a week to do on your own.”
She huffs. “You don’t know me. I’m a very hard worker, and I’m stubborn.”
I cough out a laugh. “That sounds about right.”
She nudges me with her knee, and I smile as I drop my head back beside hers. The ground is cold, but something about it also feels good. I relax for a second and stare up at the moon again, giving her a second to breathe and get used to my presence.
Yes, I’m angry that Tally didn’t listen to me. But she was right earlier, I never told her my plan.
“Can I be honest?” Tally’s soft voice breaks through the quiet night.
I turn my head toward hers and smirk. “Since when have you not been?”
She laughs, but I can tell she’s still sad. From this position, I can see the glittering swirls of gold in her eyes from her tears. My smile dies as I stare into them. A man could get lost in those eyes. Hell, I probably will if I look at her any longer.
“I didn’t want it to be true,” she whispers as she rolls her teeth over her bottom lip and my mouth goes dry.
“I didn’t want you to be trying to steal my farm.
To destroy my family’s business. I’m glad Penny and I were wrong.
I’m sorry I screwed everything up. I just don’t know how to be here now that he’s not.
I think Penny and I are struggling with how everything keeps moving forward when we’re still stuck.
And you’re doing things so differently …
” Her voice shakes and her head lolls to the sky again.
“I miss him so much, and I don’t know how to do this. I’m sorry.”
Without thinking, I reach for her and pull her body against my chest, hugging her to me. I shiver at how right she feels in my arms. “I was probably an ass and haven’t made any of it easier.”
She laughs against my chest, though it’s mixed with a sob. “Yeah, you are definitely an ass.”
I chuckle and run my hands through her soft hair.
“Did you guys figure out what to do about the weddings at the end of the season?”
I continue stroking her head. I can’t stop touching her. “No. But we’ll figure it out. We may just have to contact the brides and let them know the situation.”
“I can do it.” She looks up at me, those golden eyes pleading with me.
“I’ll follow whatever script you want. I know I screwed up.
Like I said, I thought you were messing with my daddy’s farm.
Thought you were keeping a secret, trying to steal our business.
” My chest clangs because she’s not wrong.
I am keeping secrets, and one of those is that Darling Daffodils Farm is not her daddy’s anymore.
“But I was wrong,” she says earnestly. She licks her lips, and my gaze follows the track of her tongue.
“I’m sorry. I know you’re only trying to help my mother. She trusts you. I should have, too.”
Guilt claws at me. My sister’s warning to just tell her the truth beats a steady rhythm, but it’s not my secret to tell.
“Do you forgive me?” she asks softly.
I look down at her, and my eyes roam over her lips, which taunt me with false promises. That she’ll ease this ache. That touching her isn’t wrong. That all of this would be so much damn easier if we worked together.
“You were just trying to help.” I repeat my sister’s words and trace a finger down Tally’s jawline.
Her eyes light up. “I swear I was.”
Her skin is so smooth beneath my fingers. Just one breath closer and I’d be able to taste it. To feel the warmth of it on my lips. I’d devour her, and maybe it’d all feel better—just for a little bit.
A car door slams in the distance, probably at the brewery, and I pull my hand away. I have no business touching this woman. “Come on, it’s getting late.”
Tally blinks like maybe she was in the same daze as I was and sits up quickly. The second she tries to stand, however, a pained sound flies from her throat.
“You hurt?”
She bites her bottom lip. “I think I might have twisted my ankle when I went down.”
Of course she did. I stand up and scoop her into my arms.
Tally squeals. “What are you doing?!”
“Carrying you.”
“Okay, Captain Obvious. I mean you don’t have to carry me. Just give me a hand.”
I grunt, ignoring her. Like I’m going to allow her to limp back to the house.
Besides, for the moment I have an excuse to hold her, even though I’m not going to think too long on why I like having her in my arms so much.
Instead, I quietly lumber back toward the house and enjoy the feeling of her against my chest. Her heart pounding an unsteady rhythm as mine gallops.
As soon as we reach the porch and the lighting is better, I can see the dirt that coats both of our clothes from lying on the ground. “You should probably shower before bed,” I say as I pull open the door and then kick it shut behind us.
“Is that your lame excuse to get me naked?” she taunts.
Her words don’t annoy me, though. Tally sounds more like herself now, and I’d rather be the butt of her jokes than hear her sad or lost again.
Ignoring her, I carry her up the stairs and don’t let go until we’ve reached the bathroom. “Okay, I was just joking. You don’t really have to bring me in the shower,” she huffs.
I roll my eyes as I head toward the door. “I’m not. Just don’t fall. Wouldn’t want to have to come save you again.”
“God. I was just about to say thank you. But then you had to go and be an ass again.”
I smile as I head down the steps, happy she’s back to her stubborn self. This I can handle.
Even though I know that, after she opened up to me tonight, things have changed. I can’t keep lying to Tally. As soon as I reach the kitchen, I grab a beer from the fridge before pulling out my phone and shooting off a text to Gail.
ME: You need to tell your daughters about Frank.