Chapter 10 #2
‘They’d say it belongs to all of us, the whole family, but yes, it’s technically theirs. My dad started the orchard with just a few trees and now he’s got hundreds of them, along with a pumpkin patch and strawberry fields.’
Mia turns to me. ‘You’re really lucky to have grown up in a place like this. It had to have been a dream to a kid, having all this space to run around.’
‘It was great, but we didn’t know any different.
Now that I’m older and see kids growing up in apartment buildings or in the middle of a big city, I realize how fortunate I was to have all this.
If I ever have kids of my own, I’m going to take them here all the time so they can experience what I did growing up. ’
Mia lets go of my hand and walks away from me.
‘Is something wrong?’ I ask, following behind her.
She shakes her head. ‘I was just thinking about something.’
‘Jason!’ I hear Nick yell. ‘You out here?’
‘Yeah!’ I yell back. ‘We’ll be up in a minute!’
Mia turns back toward the house. ‘We should go. Your mom’s probably waiting for us.’
I take Mia’s hand as we walk up the hill. Having her here feels right, just like so many other things feel right with her. I wish I knew why that was, because if I knew, maybe I could replicate this feeling with someone else, someone who lives here that I could actually date.
‘Welcome,’ Mom says to Mia as we go into the house. She gives her a hug, which makes Mia smile.
‘Thank you for having us,’ she says. ‘Whatever you’re making smells delicious.’
‘It’s my famous apple pastries. They just came out of the oven if you’d like to try one.’
‘I’d love to.’
Mom motions Mia to follow her. ‘The kitchen’s right through here.’
I remain behind as Nick comes up to me. ‘How’d it go last night?’
‘With Mia? Fine. Why?’
‘I was just wondering if anything happened,’ he says, lowering his voice.
‘Nothing happened. I told you, she’s just a friend.’
‘You look at her like she’s more than that.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘Last night. The way you were looking at her? I’ve seen that look. I’ve had it myself. It’s the look I gave Lyndsay. And now we’re getting married.’
I roll my eyes. ‘I know what you’re trying to do and it’s not going to work.’
‘I’m not trying to do anything. I’m just letting you know I’m not buying the she’s-just-a-friend thing.’
‘I don’t care if you believe me.’ I glance down the hall to make sure Mia’s not coming this way. ‘I mean, yeah, I like her, and I could see us dating if things were different, but they’re not. She’s still moving away.’
‘She’s not leaving until the end of summer. You two could date for a few months and maybe by August she’d decide she wants to stay here.’
I shake my head. ‘Her parents are getting older and need her help. She’s moving back to take care of them. And I respect that. I’d do the same thing. We both put our families first. It’s one of the things I like about her. I’m not going to try to change her mind about that.’
‘So what does that mean? That you’re done seeing each other after today?’
‘I guess. I still don’t even know why she’s here. She hasn’t given me an answer other than saying she wanted to see me again.’
‘Maybe that’s all it is. She wanted to see you one last time before she leaves.’
‘Then why is she here now? Why not wait until the end of summer, before she goes back to Boston?’
‘Why don’t you just ask her this stuff?’
‘I don’t know. I guess because this weekend has been going so great, I don’t want to ruin it.’
‘You’re not going to ruin it by talking.’
‘I could if I don’t like her answer.’ I nod toward the kitchen. ‘We should get in there before Mom tries to talk Mia into marrying me.’
Nick laughs. ‘She was coming on pretty strong last night.’
‘Yeah, and you didn’t save me. What the hell?’
He pats me on the back. ‘You’re old enough to save yourself now.’
‘You’re here early,’ Dad says as he comes down the stairs. He used to run down them, but he’s been moving a lot slower since his heart attack. ‘I thought you weren’t coming until eight.’
‘Mia and I were up at six,’ I say, ‘so I told Mom we’d be over early.’
‘You show her the orchard yet?’
‘I did. She loved it.’
Dad walks up to Nick and me. ‘I can remember when you kids were too small to even reach the branches and now look at you. You’re both taller than me.’
‘Are you boys going to join us?’ Mom yells from the kitchen.
‘Yeah, Mom!’ Nick yells back.
‘What’s she got cooking in there?’ Dad asks as we walk down the hall. ‘Smells damn good, whatever it is.’
‘There you are,’ Mom says as we join her in the kitchen. Mia’s seated at the table, eating one of Mom’s pastries, a mug of tea in front of her.
I take a seat next to Mia. ‘What do you think?’
‘These are amazing,’ she moans, reminding me of the sounds she made when we slept together. She needs to stop doing that. I can’t have my mind going back to that night when I’m having breakfast with my family.
‘Jason, would you like one?’ Mom asks.
‘I’ll wait until breakfast. But I’d take some coffee.’ I get up.
‘I’ll get it. You stay there and entertain your guest.’
Dad joins us at the table and talks to Mia. ‘Will you be coming back to visit?’
‘I don’t know,’ she says, glancing at me. ‘I have a summer job that’ll keep me busy.’
‘Maybe Jason could go see you in Madison.’
Great. Now my dad’s trying to set me up.
‘Dad, I’m teaching this summer,’ I tell him. ‘And I have baseball. So Nick, how are the trees looking this year?’ I ask, desperate to end the conversation about Mia and me. I’d love to see her again, but I doubt it’ll happen so I don’t want to talk about it.
Nick had his head in the fridge, but he backs away and closes the door. ‘What was that?’
‘I was wondering how the trees are looking this year.’
‘They’re great.’ He’s looking at me like I’m crazy for asking. ‘You were just out there. You saw for yourself how healthy they looked.’
‘How many trees do you have?’ Mia asks.
Nick chuckles. ‘I should probably know that, but I’ve lost count. We planted so many new ones lately.’ He sits down across from Dad. ‘I’m thinking of taking out that last row this year. The one that isn’t producing much.’
Dad nods. ‘I think it’s a good idea. We should do it soon. No use caring for trees we’re just going to cut down.’
They continue talking about the orchard until it’s time to move to the dining room. I really hope the matchmaking comments don’t start up again during breakfast. My family needs to stop interfering. Pushing me to be with someone isn’t going to make it happen.
‘Mia, this is my younger brother Brody,’ I say as he and Kate join us in the dining room. ‘And his girlfriend, Kate.’
Mia walks over to them. ‘It’s nice to meet you. I hear you’re opening a store,’ she says to Kate.
‘In a couple weeks. It was supposed to open earlier, but some of my products were delayed so I pushed the opening back. You should stop by and see it.’
‘I probably won’t have time. I’m leaving later today.’
‘Stay until tomorrow,’ Sawyer says, coming into the dining room with Gina. ‘You could go check out G’s tonight. Try Gina’s new sour brew.’
‘She’s not drinking,’ I remind him.
‘Yeah, that’s right.’
‘Hi, I’m Mia,’ she says to Gina. ‘I drove past your place on the way into town.’
‘It’s not great from the outside,’ Gina says. ‘The inside looks a lot better. And the beer is the best in town.’ She smiles at Sawyer as she says it.
‘What the hell?’ Sawyer huffs. ‘I thought you were done insulting my beer.’
She laughs. ‘I’m just kidding, although I do think my sour ale is better than yours.’
‘It is,’ Brody says.
‘Hey!’ Sawyer gives him a look to shut up.
Lyndsay walks in and goes up to Mia. ‘Hi, I’m Lyndsay. Nick’s fiancé.’
‘Congratulations!’ Mia gives her a quick hug, like she couldn’t help herself.
‘Thanks!’ Lyndsay sighs. ‘I’ll be glad when it’s over. It’s been a lot of work planning it.’
‘That doesn’t sound good,’ Nick says, putting his arm around Lyndsay. ‘You make marrying me sound like a chore.’
She kisses him. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean it that way. I can’t wait to marry you.’
‘Everyone go ahead and sit down,’ Mom says, scanning the table to make sure she didn’t forget anything.
We take our seats and pass around the food. I try to think of something to say before my family starts questioning Mia.
‘So Brody, how’s the house coming?’ I ask.
‘Good.’ He passes the platter of bacon to Kate. ‘We got all the major stuff done. Now we just need to do the painting and whatever decorative things Kate has planned, like putting up shelves. Hanging pictures.’
‘Why are you decorating it when you’re just going to sell it?’ Sawyer asks.
Kate looks at Brody.
He looks back at her. ‘Sorry, I wasn’t thinking.’
‘It’s okay. You can tell them.’
‘Tell us what?’ I ask.
Brody gets a big grin on his face. ‘We’re keeping the house. Kate and I really like it and now that it’s the way we want it, we decided just to live there ourselves rather than sell it.’
‘Does this mean something?’ Mom asks with a hopeful tone.
‘We’re not engaged, Mom,’ Brody says. ‘Not yet.’
She gets an excited look on her face, knowing it won’t be long until they’re engaged. Sawyer will be next, or maybe he’ll propose before Brody. Either way, all my brothers will soon be engaged or married and I’ll still be single.
I never would’ve guessed this is how it would turn out. I thought for sure I’d be married by now with two or three kids. But instead I’m single and can’t even find a girlfriend.