CHAPTER 44
Tally
ROCHELLE: Tally, I wanted to go over the recipes you’ve been testing. Do you have time tonight?
ROCHELLE: Hi Tally, could you give me a call?
ROCHELLE: Are you still interested in joining me this summer?
My boot-covered foot taps wildly against the ground as I wait for Walker, trying like hell to avoid looking at my phone and the many messages that call for a response.
My future boss in Nantucket, Rochelle, has texted me three times since last week, but due to the wedding cake debacle, I’ve been distracted.
And now, well, now I actually don’t know if I can answer her question because last night Walker asked me to be his girlfriend as we danced in the wildflower field.
Can we really have a future if I leave? But can I really stay because of a boy?
Or, in Walker’s case, a beautiful, wonderful, excellent-in-bed, swoony, makes-my-toes-curl man?
I chew on the inside of my cheek as I stare out at the farm.
The Halls and their guests are still here, staying in the cottages until tomorrow.
It’s clear as day that this is the future of the farm.
A mini-resort on the prettiest piece of land, with weddings in the spring, and I’m sure Walker already has a slew of ideas for the other seasons.
Everything will continue to grow, bigger, better, and more beautiful, and I can’t imagine missing it all.
But how do I stay? Walker wants Billie to move here.
The cottage is supposed to be her and Quinn’s new home.
It’s the right thing for them and for Walker.
And for my mother. Having them around all the time lights her up.
I’ve come to realize that they aren’t replacements for us.
But they do bring her joy in their own way, and all I want is to see my mother happy.
And I have to admit that as much as I love this farm, it’s not what makes my heart tick like it does for her and Walker, or like it did for my dad.
So I should go to Nantucket. I should save up the money I make there for school and maybe one day I can come back here.
Maybe take up Rayna on that offer for Mabel’s. But that day is not today.
I’m still having these thoughts half an hour later as I set up my table at the farmers market when Quinn comes bolting down the brewery steps. His head whips back and forth like he’s searching for something. I round my table and head his way.
“Hey, Quinn.”
The moment he spots me, his lips tip up into a grin, exposing a missing front tooth. “Hi, Tally! Have you seen my Uncle Jesse?”
“Did you lose something this morning?” I ask him with a laugh.
His face falls and he looks around confused. “I don’t think so? Why? Did you find something at your house that I left?”
I snort. “No. Your tooth.” I point at my own front tooth.
“Oh yeah!” He reaches into his pocket and produces a five-dollar bill. “And look what the tooth fairy gave me!”
“Wow, five whole dollars. What are you going to do with that?”
He leans in close. “Can you keep a secret?”
I nod earnestly.
“I wanted to see if Uncle Jesse could make me a bouquet for my crush.”
Urgh, my heart. “Oh yeah?”
He nods and I hold out my hand. “Well, let’s go find him and see.”
He sets his tiny, warm hand in mine, and we head toward the line of tables where all the gorgeous men are lined up. It really is genius marketing keeping all of them together.
Walker is helping one of the guys fix the leg on his table, and from his bent-over position, I get quite the eyeful of my favorite denim-covered ass.
He huffs and runs his hands through his hair as he stands, his face lighting up when he spots Quinn.
Or maybe it’s the two of us. Because there’s a look in his eye that makes me think he’s picturing a life years from now.
One where I’m holding another little boy’s hand.
Shit. The man calls me his girlfriend and my brain starts conjuring up babies. I shake my head and force a big smile. “Look who I found!”
“You here to help?” Walker asks and nods toward the farm table where my mom is fixing the bouquets that are lined up in glass jars that say ROSIE’S brEWERY on them.
“I’ll leave you two to it,” I say as I release Quinn’s hand. “Make sure he gives you the prettiest one,” I tell him. Walker looks at Quinn, intrigued, and I spot his cowboy hat on the table. “And make sure he’s wearing that while he prepares it for you.”
Walker’s resounding chuckle has me smiling as I head back to my table, where I see a line forming. “What’s happening?” I mumble to Rosie.
“Oh my God, are you the girl?” a teenager says as I settle behind the table.
I glance at Rosie. “I don’t know, am I?”
Rosie snorts. “What can we get for you?”
“Would you make my cake for my sweet sixteen? Can you do it like this?” She pushes the screen of her phone toward me, and I see a photo of the wedding cake from last night. Wow, word around town spreads fast.
“Did someone put a picture of it in the town chat?” I ask Rosie.
“Oh my God!” I hear Penny scream from my mother’s table. Her chair tips backward and she lands in the dirt, though she barely reacts as she crawls toward us. When she reaches us, Penny jumps up and pushes the phone at me. “Your cake is viral!”
“My cake is viral?” I parrot, not understanding what she’s saying.
“Yes! Hannah Hall tagged the farm in a post of her and Daniel kissing behind your cake! She tagged the farm and it’s gone viral! The photo already has fifty thousand likes!”
“Holy shit.”
The girl in front of me nods. “Yeah, so do you think you could do it? My mom said I have a budget of two hundred dollars.”
My eyes widen. “You want to pay me two hundred dollars to bake you a cake?”
Someone from behind her yells “Can I have one, too? It’s for my mother’s eightieth birthday.”
“What is happening?” I murmur to Rosie.
She smiles at me. “Looks like you, Tally girl, are famous.”
The next few hours are a dream. The line at my table hasn’t stopped, so Billie comes over to help handle money while Penny and Rosie take orders and I answer questions about my recipes.
Are things gluten free? No, but I can work on that next.
Does something contain peanuts or sesame or coconut extract?
By lunch, I have an entire menu in my head that I can make for next week so I can sell even more items for all those with food allergies and other dietary restrictions.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” I mumble as I look at the line that hasn’t let up. Thank God I made so many treats. We’re making a killing on Walker’s favorite honey cupcakes with the salted honey buttercream frosting.
“Grab another bottle of prosecco on your way back!” Rosie calls.
I’ve just made it inside the brewery when I’m pulled back and shoved against the wall. I don’t have time to scream because Walker’s hand goes to my mouth and his brown eyes glow with mischief. “Shhh, Wildflower, it’s just me.”
A thrill runs through me when I realize he’s got me pressed against the wall right out of view of the window to the market. Where all our friends and family are.
Walker is wearing the cowboy hat I love, but it’s going to get in the way of what I really want, which is his mouth on mine. So I reach up and toss it to the floor. Walker licks his lips. “Hi.”
“Hi, yourself,” I whisper.
He dips his head and suddenly he’s kissing the life out of me. My stomach swoops in excitement at the idea of getting caught, and I wrap my arms around his neck to deepen the kiss. Walker’s hands go to my hair and he tugs as he licks into my mouth.
“Fuck, Tal,” he mumbles against me as his hand trails down my back and he cups my ass. “You’re like a damn celebrity out there. It’s turning me on.”
“They really like my cupcakes,” I purr.
“I like your cupcakes,” he says before sucking on my lip again.
I chuckle and push against him. “I have to get back. Someone’s going to come looking for me soon.”
“Good, let ’em look.” His fingers dip beneath the back of my shirt and I suck in a breath at the feel of him against my bare skin.
“Later,” I say, pulling away. If I don’t, I’m liable to start stripping.
I slip out of his arms and toss him his hat. “See you out there, Cowboy.” Then I rush into the bathroom to douse my face with water.
As soon as I get outside, I notice my table has a temporary lull.
“Everyone wants to talk to you, so they’re coming back later,” Penny says in explanation.
Rosie waves a finger in my direction. “You’ve got sex hair.”
My mouth falls open as I stare at her and then glance in Billie’s direction, willing my best friend to shut her mouth.
Rosie grabs her mug and tips it my way, but before she can say anything, I just laugh. “I’m not hiding anything. You can’t threaten me with your bad sex because I’ll happily admit that I’m Walker’s girlfriend and having all the good sex.”
Billie coughs out a laugh, and I hold up my hands. “Sorry!”
She giggles. “Oh, I totally knew you were sleeping with my brother.”
As if she’s summoned him, we turn to see Walker coming down the steps of the brewery and heading toward us. He’s got this mischievous look on his face and a glint in his eye that tells me he’s up to no good. As he passes us, he drops his cowboy hat on top of my head.
“Oh!” Penny squeals. “You know what they say about men and their cowboy hats!”
I smile because I know it means Walker is marking me.
Walker opens his mouth to say something right as Quinn comes running up with a bouquet in his hand. “Can I give them to her now?”
Walker nods, and Quinn steps up and pushes the bursting bushel of tulips, daffodils, and wildflowers in my direction.
“What are these?” I ask.
“These are for you,” Quinn says with a big smile.
“She’s your crush?” Walker grumbles, and the girls all break out in a fit of giggles behind me.
“Aw, Quinn, thank you,” I say before pressing a kiss to his cheek and putting Walker’s cowboy hat on his head. “Now you can be my cowboy.”