Chapter 4 #2
‘Yeah, sounds good,’ I say, pressing buttons on the controller to test them.
‘Is she hot?’ Talia asks.
‘Who?’ I glance up at Kate, who’s looking at the poster I have on the wall.
It’s a Kanfield Orchard poster with a picture of the fields in the fall.
Below it are the dates for the fall festival and a listing of all the activities.
My parents make a new poster every year and hand them out to local businesses to promote the fall festival. ‘Kate.’
She looks back. ‘Yeah?’
‘Could you see if the blade’s moving?’ I point to the front of the truck.
She nods and walks over there.
‘Talia, I need to go,’ I say. ‘I’ll call you later.’
‘You didn’t answer my question. That girl who’s there. Is she hot?’
My eyes go to Kate, who’s now at the front of my truck. Her long brown hair is still wet from the shower and she’s not wearing any makeup. I can’t see her body because it’s drowning in my coat.
‘Why aren’t you answering me?’ Talia asks, sounding angry.
‘Because it doesn’t matter. I don’t even know her.’
‘You didn’t say no, which means she’s hot.’
I sigh. ‘I didn’t say that, and I don’t have time for this. I’ll call you in a few days when things slow down.’
‘Unless I’ve found someone else,’ she huffs, then ends the call.
We’ve only gone out a few times. I really don’t care if she finds someone else. She’s hot and we had fun when we went out, but it wouldn’t last. We’re at different places in our lives. I’m 26 and running my own business and she’s 22, unemployed, and living with her parents.
‘It’s not moving,’ Kate yells.
‘Because I haven’t done anything,’ I yell back. ‘Hold on.’ I press one of the buttons on the controller. ‘What about now? Is it moving? Even a little?’
Kate shakes her head. ‘No.’
‘How about now?’ I say, pressing another button.
‘No. Nothing.’
‘Shit.’ I blow out a breath and lean back in my seat.
‘Still not moving,’ Kate says, her eyes on the blade.
I get out of the truck. ‘You can stop looking. It’s broken.’
She walks up to me. ‘You can’t fix it?’
‘I could if I knew what was wrong. I’ll call Nick. He might be able to figure it out.’
‘Who’s Nick? ’
‘My brother. He works at the orchard. Actually, he runs it now. He took it over from my dad last summer.’
‘Is that really what it looks like?’ Kate points to the poster on the wall.
‘Yeah. Why?’
‘That’s such a beautiful picture I thought it might be a stock photo.’
‘No, that’s the orchard. It always looks like that in the fall.’
‘I’d love to see it. I’ll have to come back next fall.’
‘You should. Come for the fall festival. There’s tons of food. People sell crafts. There’s live music. A dance.’
She smiles. ‘That sounds fun! I’ll definitely come back.’
My gaze goes to her smile. It’s not the nervous smile she gave me when we met.
It’s more relaxed. And her eyes aren’t darting around like they were earlier, which gives me a chance to look at them.
They’re a deep shade of brown that matches her hair.
Just below her eyes and extending across her cheeks are patches of light colored freckles.
I didn’t notice them earlier because she had so much makeup on.
‘What is it?’ She wipes her cheeks. ‘What are you looking at? Is there something on my face?’
‘I like your freckles,’ I say, smiling at her. ‘I didn’t notice them earlier.’
‘Oh,’ she says, her cheeks blushing. ‘Yeah, I usually cover them with makeup.’
‘Why are you embarrassed?’
‘I don’t like people looking at them. I tried to get rid of them, but my dermatologist said all I could do was fade them. So I did, but you can still see them.’
‘Why would you want to get rid of them? ’
‘Because I don’t like them. And Cam hated them. He’s the one who suggested I try to get rid of them. He even paid for the treatments.’
I’m starting to really not like this guy. If he loved her enough to want to marry her, why was he trying to change how she looked?
‘Not that it matters, but I think the freckles look good on you,’ I tell her.
‘So what are you going to do?’ she asks, changing the subject.
‘About the plow? Like I said, I’ll call Nick and see what he thinks.’
‘What about your girlfriend?’ Kate asks. ‘Is she coming over?’
‘Talia’s not my girlfriend.’
‘Are you sure? Because she sounded like a girlfriend.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘She seemed really upset that I was here.’
I shake my head. ‘She’s just pissed that we can’t go out tonight. She lives with her parents and is always trying to find ways to get out of the house.’
‘Do you like her?’
‘She’s okay. But I’m not looking for a relationship right now. I’ve got too much going on.’
‘You mean with your business?’
‘The business. The house.’ I motion to the truck. ‘Shit breaking down. Let’s go inside. We don’t need to be standing out here freezing.’
I follow her to the laundry room and take off my coat, tossing it on the floor while Kate hangs hers on one of the hooks.
‘Why do you have hooks if you don’t use them?’ she asks.
‘They came with the house,’ I joke.
She smiles and picks up my coat.
‘You don’t have to do that,’ I tell her as she hangs my coat on the hook.
‘It drives me crazy seeing it on the floor.’
‘So you’re a neat freak,’ I say as we walk to the living room.
‘No, I just like to have things picked up.’
‘Yeah, you’re a neat freak.’
‘Or maybe you’re a slob,’ she says, sitting on the couch.
‘Maybe. But at least I admit it.’ I sit next to her in the chair, the old recliner my dad had in the basement. My mom never liked it. She was more than happy to give it to me when I moved out.
Kate glances at me. ‘Hanging up a coat does not make me a neat freak.’
‘Agree to disagree.’
She sighs as she looks around for the TV remote.
‘Under the couch,’ I say, seeing it there. ‘Right behind your feet.’
She leans down and searches for it with her hand. She finds it and picks it up. ‘Why was it under the couch?’
‘Because that’s where I left it?’ I shrug. ‘Not sure.’
She holds up the remote. ‘If you had a designated spot for it, you’d always know where it was. And that doesn’t make you a neat freak. It just makes you organized.’
‘It DOES make you a neat freak and I KNEW where it was. I told you it was under the couch.’
She looks at me. ‘Agree to disagree.’
‘Works for me. ’
Our eyes meet and I feel something strange in my chest, like my heart’s jumping around. What the hell? I take a breath and sit back. Maybe I need to drink some water. I always forget to hydrate in the winter.
Kate turns on the TV. ‘What do you want to watch?’
‘Basketball.’
She looks at me. ‘Really?’
‘I don’t care. Watch whatever you want. I need to call Nick and then try to fix the plow again.’
‘Can I help?’ she asks with an eager tone.
‘If you want, but there’s really not much you can do.’
‘I’ll do anything that gets my mind off what happened today.’
‘Why don’t you take a nap? You won’t think about stuff while you’re sleeping.’
‘I’m not tired.’ She focuses back on the TV. ‘I’ll just find something to watch.’
It’s not that I mind her being in the garage with me while I work. I just think it’d be better if she stayed inside where it’s warm. And I think she needs to deal with what happened today instead of trying to ignore it.
I need to do the same about my own situation.
I need to accept that this house is no longer an investment but a money pit that’s putting me in debt.
I need to tell Jason I won’t be able to pay him back the money he loaned me and that we’ll have to take a loss on the house.
And I need to face the reality that my business—something I put my heart and soul into—may not make it.
Thinking about that, now I know why Kate’s avoiding reality. It’s a lot easier than facing the truth.