Chapter 20 Eve
EVE
With two fresh mugs of tea in our hands—lavender for me, fresh from Lavender Springs, and simple lemon for Ryder—we take a seat on my porch swing.
We’re removed from the hustle and bustle here, but we still have a clear view of everyone meandering the farm.
And we should be able to see when Vic and Nora are done, assuming they don’t sneak out the back door.
As much as this burgeoning thing with Ryder scares me and makes me want to run for the sunflowers, I’m not one to stand in the way of a love story. Especially one forty-some years in the making.
“You’re far away,” he comments, pushing the swing lightly now that we’ve both settled.
I roll my eyes, inching closer because I really didn’t intend to sit on the opposite side of the swing. It just kind of happened that way.
He snickers as I pull my feet up next to me. “I meant in your head.” He gives me a quick grin. “But you’re welcome to move closer if you’d like.”
I stay put, opting to shoot him a dirty look. “I was just thinking about how much more I like your grandmother than you.”
He shrugs. “Wouldn’t expect any less. She’s a lot more fun than me.”
I grab my tea and lean against the armrest, using the mug to warm my hands as I pull my feet up onto the chair. Exactly the same way I spend my Saturday mornings during the off season. Wrapped up in a warm blanket with a good book, enjoying the peace and quiet of the empty land.
“Why?”
He raises his eyebrows. “Why what?”
“If you really believe that, why?”
He leans back against the bench, his gaze traveling over the ground laid out in front of us—the edge of the barn barely visible in the distance, the stream that winds its way lazily across the property. He runs a hand through his hair, letting out a long breath as he contemplates.
“Honestly? Sometimes I worry that taking over my father’s business is slowly turning me into him. That with every year that passes, I become more and more of a soulless bastard and Gam is the only thing keeping me in check.”
“Is she?”
He shrugs noncommittally. “It’s not like she does it on purpose.
She just… calls me home every once in a while, you know?
Whether she’s physically dragging me here and reminding me of where I came from or if it’s just a call to see how I’m doing.
Or the catalyst for a project that just seems to get more and more unwieldy with every left turn it takes.
” He gives me a quick smile like this is an inside joke just between us.
“It’s easy to get lost in the day-to-day when I’m just focused on work. ”
I nod, swirling the sunflower diffuser in my mug before shooting him a quick grin. “Do you enjoy being a professional big shot?”
He gives me a flat look. “Stop it with the big shot stuff.”
“Do you?”
He shrugs. “I guess. It’s kind of cool sometimes, seeing a project through from idea to completion. I get to do big things, you know? Impactful things.”
I wait to see if he’s going to continue. “That didn’t answer my question.”
His eyebrows crinkle.
“Do you like it?”
“Sure. What’s not to like?”
I snort. “You hate it so much that you can’t even come up with half a response.”
He rolls his eyes. “I don’t hate it. I’m not a fan of the corporate bullshit, but like I said, I get to do cool stuff.”
“Yet you’re spending all your time hanging out on a farm instead.”
“I am a man of varying interests. I can do a suit and tie and seduce farm girls with my best lumberjack impersonation.”
He gives me a sly grin as I do my best to hide the blush creeping into my cheeks with my mug. “Oh ha, ha. So you look good in a flannel. Like that’s so hard to do.”
“You certainly seemed impressed.”
“Remind me why I agreed to babysit you?”
“My grandmother wants to test drive her new hips with your farmhand.”
I can’t help the laugh that bursts out of me, and he snickers as he takes another small sip of his tea, resting it gently on the armrest when he’s done.
He turns to me, his foot keeping us at a gentle sway. “So what about you, Eve? Do you love being the caretaker for the town’s namesake sunflower farm?”
“Of course I do.”
“Bullshit answer.”
I rear back. “Excuse me?”
“I gave you a full explanation with nuance and family history. Give me more than the canned response you tell tourists.”
“I do love being the caretaker for this farm. It’s what I was born to do. It’s the only thing I was ever meant to do.”
He cocks his head to the side. “It kind of seems like you didn’t have much of a choice.”
His words aren’t haughty or daring, just curious. And with a wistful glance at the gift shop, wondering how Nora and Vic are getting along, I decide to give it to him straight.
“I didn’t, really. I was in college when my grandmother passed and rather than chance the farm going to someone who wouldn’t care for it like she would, I dropped out.
I always thought one day I might go back to school, maybe even learn how to make this place really work, but there’s no time.
So I can’t actually improve it. I just have to work and work and work until one day, I die, surrounded by nothing but sunflowers. ”
He blinks, nodding slowly. “Wow, you really managed to make this whole thing sound incredibly depressing for revolving entirely around sunflowers.”
“I think I’m entering my burnout phase.” I shrug, glancing at him to see just how hard he’s judging me.
“It hits every year around this time, culminating with an existential crisis and likely a good old-fashioned breakdown once the season is over. On the bright side, foot traffic on the farm drops so severely that Abby can basically manage everything on her own so I can eat ice cream in bed and wax poetic about selling the place off and freeing myself.”
He raises his eyebrows, and I realize I let out a little more of the crazy than I intended.
“Joking,” I say.
He ignores me. “What would you do, if not this?”
I shrug. “Isn’t that the big question? I have no degree, no discernible skills beyond running this place.
Even if I actually went through with selling it off, which I never would by the way—that’s just my seasonal burnout talking—there’s nothing I’m qualified to do.
I’d be a poor retired farm girl living on a measly amount of money until I’m back on this doorstep, begging whoever took it over to give me a job, any job.
Because it’s the only thing I know how to do. ”
He nods, pressing his lips together. “Have you ever considered taking it a little easier during this time of year? It sounds like you’re really stressing yourself out.”
I shrug. “It’s temporary. And really, I’m truly honored to be able to take care of this place.
That doesn’t mean it doesn’t catch up with me on occasion, but a place like this doesn’t happen often.
There’s magic here that I get to create and perpetuate and share with the world.
It is most definitely a job sometimes, but that doesn’t mean I take for granted how cool it is. ”
He takes another sip of his tea, looking out over the land as the swing gently sways.
“Well, you’ve done a damn good job, Evie,” he says, turning toward me and giving me the most genuinely breathtaking smile I might have ever seen on a man.
My face heats as I throw my legs out in front of the swing and turn my face away so he can’t see the color spreading in my cheeks. I take a shaky sip of my tea and abandon it quickly when I nearly slosh hot lavender all over myself.
And when I rest my hand on the bench next to me, I feel the warmth of his surrounding it a moment later.
I glance up at him and he only smiles, gently squeezing my fingers in his.
And—I just—
Oh, fuck it.
I twist my body toward his, taking his face in my hands and planting my lips on his.
He lets out a little groan of surprise as his hands fall to my waist, tugging me closer until our torsos press together. He grabs the hip that’s angled toward him and pulls so my thigh falls across his lap.
I’m dangerously close to straddling this man in broad daylight and I’m not sure I care if anyone sees us.
He keeps me close, his fingers digging into the fleshy part of my ass as his other hand comes to my neck.
While I may have started this kiss, he’s controlling it.
His tongue winds into my mouth, breathing heavily as my hands run along his chest, his muscles bunching and releasing in response to every touch. My body melds into his, desperate to be closer as he murmurs against my lips, “Fuck Evie, you’re so goddamn gorgeous.”
His hand slips underneath the hem of my shirt, the warmth of his skin against mine sending a little shiver down my spine that only presses us closer.
I kiss that spot on his chin again—the place I claimed I didn’t kiss, and the low note of approval emanating from his throat tells me he likes that just as much as I do.
His fingers weave up into my hair, tugging just enough that my head tips back. His lips brush along the sensitive skin there, coaxing an involuntary moan out of me.
I want to feel his lips everywhere.
“Do you want to go inside?” I ask him, pulling away only briefly while my hands skirt along his thick arms, his strong chest.
Everything about him scares me, yet there’s an undeniable and totally unmanageable spark that runs through me every time he kisses me.
He raises an eyebrow, his nod subtle but enthusiastic. “Yeah,” he says, already standing and pulling me to my feet.
He pulls me to the door, abandoning our tea on the swing.
But before we can get inside and he can press me up against the wall—touch me, have his way with me—a voice rings out from behind us.
“Thanks for babysitting, sweetie.”
I turn, running straight into the hard wall of his chest, and he lets out a mild oof.
“Nora,” I sputter, taking a desperate step away from him as he hangs onto my hand for dear life.
I try to surreptitiously extract myself from him, but he doesn’t let go, his eyes glued to me.
“Evie, don’t run away from me,” he says under his breath, so only I can hear. “Please.”
With a sharp tug, I free my hand, shooting him a piercing look because your grandmother is right there, for fuck’s sake.
“Eve,” he says.
I run my fingers through my hair in an attempt to fix what surely looks like post-sex hair. Or pre-sex hair, I guess.
And Nora only grins, Vic standing next to her with a similarly delighted expression on his face.
“Perhaps we should have waited a few more minutes,” Nora comments, the mirth in her expression sending a fresh wave of heat across my cheeks.
Ryder rolls his eyes, taking a begrudging step away from me. He runs a hand through his hair as he turns to his grandmother, letting out a long breath. “You ready to head home, Gam?”
Her grin widens. “Are you?”
“Come on,” he says, stepping down to the dirt road and gesturing for them to follow.
“Not going to say goodbye to your girl?” Nora asks.
Ryder continues down the dirt path. “Come on, Gam.”
She shrugs. “It was such a delight to meet you, sweetie,” she says to me, and I want nothing more than to sink down into the floor of my living room and disappear.
“It was a delight to meet you as well,” I say.
Vic gives me a big grin. “I’m just going to make sure Nora gets to the car okay. I’ll be right back.”
I wave him off. “Don’t worry about it, Vic. Take whatever time you need.”
“I can send Ryder back up for you, if you’d like.”
I give him a flat look. “Vic!”
He holds his hands up in surrender. “Just trying to help.”
So help me god, the two of them lean into each other and giggle.
How are they so damn adorable?
I shake my head, but before I can close the door on my embarrassment, Ryder turns around, walking backward while Vic and Nora huddle together, their voices low.
I freeze with his eyes on mine, his gaze simultaneously too much and not nearly enough.
He walks like that for a few paces and it’s like we’re still connected, despite the growing distance.
When he finally turns around to watch where he’s going, I shut the door and lean against the other side, wondering why my brain keeps telling me to kiss the man who wants to destroy everything.