Chapter 31
HOLDING OUT
“Are you ready, Gracie?”
“Do I get to pick apples?”
“I don’t think so,” Arden said. “It’s a little early in the season for it, but Blaze said that next month we can go back and you can get some. But we can pick blueberries and they’ve got some peach, pear, and plum trees.”
“I like peaches and blueberries,” Gracie said.
“I know you do. I thought maybe we could pick some pears and plums too and you can try them. If you want, we can make some muffins or a pie? Something to do together this week.”
Yesterday with Blaze had been wonderful... all things considered with her ex giving her a hard time.
Had she been thrilled that Billy was questioning Gracie about Blaze? Not one damn bit, but she had Julie in her corner reporting it back to her.
She couldn’t imagine what Billy was thinking to do that knowing he had an audience.
But in the end, it wasn’t anything horrible. Nothing more than Gracie saying the truth. A trip to the park, a few dinners at the house, and some walks while she rode her bike.
Boring things in Billy’s mind. Things he most likely made snide comments about as well.
Not her problem. She liked where her life was going and how it was playing out.
“Can you make cookies?” Gracie asked.
She didn’t know what cookies she could do with those fruits. “I’ll see if I can find a recipe for them. And I could do a batch of blueberry pancakes.”
Gracie was jumping up and down and clapping her hands. “My favorite. Can we have chocolate chips in them instead?”
She laughed. “Next time. Blueberries this time.”
Gracie scrunched her nose. “Okay.” Gracie moved to the back of the kitchen and looked out the glass doors. “When is Blaze coming?”
She glanced at the clock on the microwave. “Soon. He had a few things to do this morning.”
She was already nervous, as it was meeting so many of his family. Everyone but Ash would be there today.
Dinner was at four, when the cafe closed and Reenie and Meredith, who were working there, came over.
That gave her time to feed Gracie lunch, which she’d just done, then drive the twenty-five minutes there and spend a few hours on the land that Blaze grew up on.
She wanted to know so much more about him now that her heart was involved.
Glancing down at her daughter and the excitement to see her boyfriend again told her that holding out for the right things were important.
She wasn’t ready yet to let Gracie know the status change with Blaze, but soon.
She just hoped today didn’t give it away. She hadn’t even told Gracie of all the people who would be there. For now, it was best to let her have fun and meet everyone slowly before they all gathered at the table.
“There is Blaze!”
Gracie had her face to the glass doors, her hands around her eyes, peering through as if it would magically make him appear.
Seemed it worked. Maybe she should do something like that more often.
Blaze’s smile filled his face. He squatted and pointed at Gracie, then slapped his hands to his chest as if in surprise that she’d scared him.
Her daughter was giggling up a storm, then reached for the door to open it.
“Oh no,” she said. “You know the rules. You don’t open the door.”
“But it’s Blaze,” Gracie argued.
Yeah, it was. But that wasn’t the point.
“I still have to get it.”
She flipped the latch, pulled the door open and resisted the urge to yank Blaze into her arms for a kiss.
The look in his eyes said he was thinking the same.
Not yet. They’d get there.
“Hey, Gracie. Have you been waiting for me?”
“I want to pick fruit.”
“I heard,” he said. “Are you going to eat any of it?”
“Mom is going to put it in pancakes and cookies.”
“Muffins,” she said. “Not sure about cookies yet.”
“Sounds yummy. Are you going to share them?”
“I can,” she said.
“We can go if you’re ready. Looks like someone is.”
Gracie was putting her sneakers on, then stood by the door waiting for them to leave out the back and walk around to Blaze’s.
“I’ll go to the garage and come around back,” she said. “So I can lock this door.”
Blaze and Gracie slipped out the back. Arden snapped the latch down, then went through the garage, opened the door, shut and set the code from the pad on the outside.
Then she realized she had to go to Blaze’s out front since she couldn’t get around back unless she went to the neighbor’s two down on the other end. Silly in her mind when there was no hiding where she was going.
The minute she was climbing the front stairs, the door opened. “Mom, you beat us!”
She laughed. “Looks like I did.”
Blaze locked the door behind him, and she followed him to his SUV. “We need her booster seat. Not sure why I didn’t think of this and just drive down to get you.”
“Not a big deal.”
She climbed in, they drove to her driveway, she put the code in to get the door to open, got the seat out and handed it over to him, then they were on their way.
When they were pulling through the gates of Ridgeway farm, Gracie was all but squealing in the backseat. “Look at all the trees!”
“Lots of apple trees here. More than there were ten years ago. Clay keeps adding to them.”
“He can’t possibly only use his apples for the cider, right?”
“No. On the off-season he has them shipped in. The other fruit trees are closer to the cafe since my mother used them more for that. Plus the blueberry patch.”
“I love blueberries. Do you have strawberries here too?” Gracie asked.
“We do. Pretty much any fruit or vegetable we could grow we did. Funny though because my mother was busier in the summer so it’s not like it was the best time of the year for her to be tending to those things also.”
“That’s what having five kids off for the summer is for,” Arden said.
“You’re right. We did a lot of work in the garden. Did a lot of canning too.”
“What’s canning?” Gracie asked.
“It’s putting fruit in jars to make them last longer,” she said.
“Then why isn’t it called jarring?”
Arden looked at Blaze hoping he’d help. He shrugged. “No clue.”
“Is that where all the weddings and events take place now?” she asked, looking at the first building they passed.
“Yes. We can check it out. No event going on today, but I can get in.”
She looked at Gracie. “Maybe another time. I don’t think she’s as interested as I am.”
He laughed. “Got it. We’ll park at the cafe in the back. Before we start picking, I thought we could stop in and let someone get a you know what?”
“She’d like that a lot.”
He parked and they got out, then walked around to the front. The cafe was pretty full being almost one on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
He pulled the door open and held it for her and Gracie, her daughter going right toward the cases with all the cookies, pastries and donuts.
Oh lord, she wasn’t going to be able to decide any more than her daughter could.
“Can I get a donut and a cookie, Mom?”
“Sure. We’ll get a few things and put them away for another day. But you can eat one thing now.”
They moved to the counter after two other people had left with their orders.
“Meredith,” Blaze said. “This is Arden and her daughter, Gracie.” He put his hand on Gracie’s shoulder and squatted down. “Meredith is married to my brother Clay. She’s a kindergarten teacher.”
“At my new school?”
“No,” Meredith said. “I’m in Lake George.”
Gracie didn’t ask how Meredith knew that. “It’s nice to meet you. Gracie, can you tell her what you want?”
“Can I get a donut and a brownie with frosting?”
“Why don’t we get six donuts, Gracie’s brownie, and I’ll take that big lemon bar. Do you want anything, Blaze?”
“How about one of those black and white cookies? Just hand it over. I’m eating it now.”
“You can just put the donuts in the bag,” Arden said. “We’re going to eat these while we walk around.”
Meredith handed over their treats wrapped in napkins, then put the donuts in the bag. “Do you want to say hi to Reenie?”
“She looks to be busy. We’ll pop around back so I can get something to put the fruit in we are picking, then we’ll chat more later,” he said.
Arden pulled her card out, Blaze stopped her, but Meredith was already shaking her head. “I’ve got orders not to take it.”
There was no reason to fight about it, so she put it back in her purse, then walked out the door, around to his SUV to put the donuts in, then into the back door.
“Reenie,” he said. “This is Gracie and her mother, Arden. My other brother’s wife, Reenie Ridgeway. I’m going to steal a bowl and a bin for the fruit.”
“Help yourself,” Reenie said, her hands moving fast as she cooked the lunch orders and plated sandwiches.
Gracie was making her way through her brownie, chocolate smeared all over her face. She’d let it go. Her daughter was relaxed and having fun. That was what she needed right now more than anything.
Fifteen minutes later, they were in the patches in the back, slowly picking blueberries, when Blaze’s mother walked out.
“Hi, Mom,” he said. “I thought for sure you’d be here sooner.”
“Your father said I had to give you some time.”
“Arden, my mother, Brooke. Mom, this is Arden and her daughter, Gracie.”
“It’s so nice to finally meet you,” his mother said quietly. Gracie was a few feet away looking for the perfect blueberries to put in the bowl. The bigger fruit would go in the bin.
“You too,” she said.
“I know my mother is itching to have a chat,” he said.
“Nonsense. I wouldn’t make her leave her daughter.”
“I’m right here,” he said. “And it’s not as if you’re going off the land.”
“I wouldn’t mind looking at this garden I’ve heard so much about. That’s it over there, right?” she asked.
It was massive. She couldn’t imagine having all this land and caring for it with the food they’d had. Even the chickens they were going to visit soon.
“Then let’s take a walk,” Brooke said. “My daughter will be here soon. She’s looking forward to meeting you also. Hope it’s not an overload with Gracie.”
“It might be. Doing it slowly like this is helping. She didn’t even realize she had met Meredith and Reenie in another way. So when they come to dinner, she’ll be fine. Honestly, it’s more about Blaze’s brothers. Gracie is still a little skittish around men. Big men.”
“I’ll make sure they each come out individually. Clay is actually outside doing some work so he can come over that way.”
“I appreciate everyone being so good about this.”
Brooke reached for her hand and gently grasped it. “You’re the first woman Blaze has brought around our family in years. I mean years. The last one, she wasn’t well liked.”
“Kristin?”
“He told you about her?”
“He did. He knows so much about my life and my ex. It’s complicated.”
“I don’t know much other than you’re divorced. Blaze isn’t one to get too in depth with things unless he feels the need for it.”
That was good to know. “There is some drama with it, but then a lot of people have that with kids in a divorce. Blaze has been wonderful. Very patient with me and Gracie.”
“He’s good that way. Of all my kids, I’d say he’s got the most patience and the greatest amount of empathy. It’s what makes him a wonderful doctor.”
“I’ve seen him in action. He’s in control at all times, firm when he needs to be, but most times... empathic. He’s got the touch.”
And one that had slipped into her life so easily it felt as if it just naturally belonged there all along.