CHAPTER 108
maverick
Little Lantern Farms sat just outside of Wilde Bay, tucked between rolling fields and a stretch of trees that turned gold in the fall.
The entrance was framed by a weathered wooden arch with the farm’s name painted in bright red lettering.
The gravel drive opened up into a wide, bustling parking lot and an even busier farmyard.
Rows of apple trees stretched out in neat lines off to one side, a massive red barn was the centerpiece of the place, and a petting zoo with a pumpkin patch, fresh donuts, and hot apple cider rounded out the layout of the place.
The hum of laughter and the drone of tractor engines buzzed in the air. Families wandered between activities, loud and happy with a simple kind of joy. It was the only way to have a family date in Wilde Bay in the fall.
“The owner’s kids took over,” I explained to Harley when he asked.
Little Lantern Farm used to be Sweetwater Farms & Co.
The old farm was nothing short of a mess.
They maintained their apple orchards to supply surrounding businesses throughout the season, but that was it.
Their kids had turned it into a seasonal staple venue years ago.
We wandered between rows of trees. Aria sat on my shoulder as she grabbed apples off the high branches to hand to Harley, who pulled a wagon behind him. We had barrels of apples and were on a mission to collect as many as we could for Millie.
“Does this mean we get apple pie?” Aria asked. Her hands landed on my temples as she leaned over to stare at me. Blonde curls tickled my nose, and I made a dramatic display of huffing and puffing to blow them out of my face—only because it made her giggle.
“I’ll make sure you get apple pie,” I promised.
“It’s my daddy’s favorite,” she quipped.
“Oh, really now?” I rotated slightly to glance at Harley, and he smiled. Was just going to catalogue that one away for later.
This was my favorite part of dating him. This time, I was learning so much more about him than just his trauma. Like his favorite color and how he took his coffee. How he loved breakfast and apparently loved apple pie.
And it wasn’t just one way either. He noticed the same kinds of things, and they quietly became a part of his life.
Like my favorite coffee and creamer suddenly becoming a staple in his house whenever I was working, or how he slowly worked out my schedule and used it to keep up with my life.
This part of being together hadn’t been an option in the past. And it was nice. More than nice.
“Speaking of Millie,” I continued as Aria went back to picking apples. “You two are officially invited to unofficial-official Thanksgiving.”
“I don’t know what that means,” Harley replied.
“Yes!” Aria exclaimed over him.
“So, Byron and Waylon are married, and Ezra is engaged,” I said. Those were three of Millie’s sons. “Their partners are all out-of-towners. Byron’s wife, Callie, is from Seattle. Waylon’s wife, Kinsley, is basically from Boston. And Ezra’s fiancé, Georgia, is from a small town in Georgia.”
“They named her after the state?” he asked.
“I know!” I exclaimed. “That was a poor choice, but we don’t say that out loud.”
“You just said it out loud,” Aria interrupted. Damn, she had no problem calling me out, did she?
“And you’re never going to tell them, are you, spooky queen?”
“Nope!” She popped the ‘p’ loudly.
“Good,” I said. “Anyway, that means they leave for the holidays. So, Millie made an agreement with them: she sends them all out into the wild like she’s releasing fish—oh, yeah, I fish now.”
“Really?” he replied. “I don’t fish, but I can swim.”
“You told me that already. And that means, you should come out with me sometime. I can make fishing fun.”
“No one can make fishing fun, but I’ll spend the day on the lake with you.”
“It’s a date.” I grinned. “Anyway, she sends them out into the wild for Thanksgiving as long as they spend Christmas here. She does, however, do an unofficial-official dinner with everyone before Halloween. Thanksgiving is crazy at the diner, so they do it early, and you two are invited.”
“When is it?” Harley asked.
“That’s probably important information to have,” I said. “It’s next weekend.”
“We can do that.” His arm slipped through my elbow and pulled me to a stop. I faced him, a little surprised by the serious expression on his face. “I do need you to tell her that she’s got a peanut allergy.”
Aria let out an angry huff, her weight shifting in a way that had me scrambling to make sure she didn’t fall. I got hit in the face with a snake and took a knee to the ear.
“Aria, be careful, please,” Harley said as he reached up to steady her back.
“I want to get down!” she demanded, her voice laced with frustration.
“All right, all right,” I replied quickly. She held still long enough for me to get her off my shoulders. The moment her feet touched the ground, she stomped a little ways down the aisle, her fingers dragging along the tree trunks, and her snake hugged tight to her chest.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered as his gaze tracked her. “She gets upset. It puts a lot of restrictions on her life, and it’s not fair to her. She wears a bracelet at school, she has food restrictions, and we have an EpiPen everywhere we go.”
Shit. I couldn’t begin to imagine the level of stress that caused him.
“I just need you to make sure that Millie knows,” he repeated.
“I’ll make sure she knows,” I promised. I made a mental note to text Millie later.
“Thank you.”
“Always.”
“Hey, handsome,” he began as he glanced at me. I loved it when he called me that.
“Hmm?”
“How many apples do we need?” he said. “This wagon is heavy?”
I laughed. Admittedly, we’d gone a little overboard with the apples, but she was having so much fun picking them that I didn’t have the heart to stop her. Millie was going to be baking pies for days with the number of barrels I’d be bringing her.
“I’ll trade you,” I offered, holding my hand out to him. “You take her, I’ll take the wagon.”
“Deal,” he replied with a grin. “Hey! Little love! Should we load up the wagon with more apples for Mav?”
“Yes! All the apples!” Aria shrieked as she came running back our way.
Ah, the simplicity of kids. Sometimes, just changing the topic was needed.
Harley let out an overly loud oompf when she collided with him, throwing her arms around his waist. “Can we super fill up the wagon? Get all the apples! Apples for Millie! And us! And apples for Holly!”
“Done deal,” Harley said. I stepped back, giving him the room he needed, and watched as he lifted her up on his shoulders.
Her laughter bubbled out when she set her snake in his hair as if his wayward strands were a nest. One arm rested around her back as she regaled him with a story about how he had eggs in his hair and had to stay that way.
The smile on his face was easy and relaxed. Happy. That’s what he was. He was so genuinely happy that it bled from every bit of him, infectious and beautiful.
“Okay, so we have to be careful,” Harley informed me. “I now have baby snakes in my hair.”
“Oh, that does sound like something we should be careful of,” I agreed. I dragged the wagon along behind me as we started back down the aisle. “Holy shit, this thing is heavy.”
“Well, that’s your own damn fault,” he retorted. Under his breath, he added, “You have to learn how to say no.”
“I know how to say no,” I muttered.
“Hey, Maverick?” Aria asked. I paused, waiting while she leaned over to make sure I heard her. “Can you find me more snakes so my snake can have babies? I want like… three. No five. Five is good.”
“Absolutely,” I said without hesitation. And without fully realizing that meant I had to make her five more. Next to me, Harley laughed as he walked away from me.
Okay, maybe I did need to work on saying no.