Chapter 5
SHELBY
Another happy customer had just walked away with two cartons of eggs from the table I had set up at the Halston farmers’ market. I was feeling pretty good about coming out there, even though it had been a bit of a drive.
Halston was down the road a ways from Ferris, and when my best friend, Lila, had recommended setting up a booth there, I had rejected the idea outright. It was too far, it was a lot of extra work, and I doubted I would sell enough to justify all the time and money.
I turned to look at Lila, who sat beside me at my table beneath the canopy tent. “Thank you for making me try this market. It’s not even noon and we’re almost sold out.”
She nodded. “See? Good things happen when you listen to your best friend.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said with a smile. “I still remember that perm you talked me into back in eighth grade. So not all your ideas are good.”
“Hey, you rocked that look.” Lila shrugged. “The world just wasn’t ready for you.”
I laughed at that and shook my head. “No one was ready for it, myself included.”
“The next thing you need is a sign for this tent,” Lila said, glancing up. “People need to know what you’re selling. I bet you’d already be finished for the day if you just had a sign.”
“Lila, I can barely afford groceries. I can’t afford to get Granny’s Acre Farm printed on there.” I paused and frowned. “I don’t even know where to get something like that done.”
“We can do it ourselves,” she said like it was no big deal. “We just need some paint, some brushes, and a steady hand.”
“Hmm, I don’t know. My sign needs to look professional to inspire confidence. I can’t have it looking like a hand-painted sign outside of a child’s treehouse.”
Lila scoffed. “Just call it artisanal signage. All these folks will eat it up.”
“Maybe,” I said hesitantly. “The sign is definitely a good idea. Hand-painting it? That might fall more into the perm category of bad ideas.”
Lila sighed dramatically. “Once again, my genius goes unappreciated.”
“But your friendship is very much appreciated,” I said. “Honestly, thank you for pushing me to do this and thank you for coming out here with me.”
“Of course.”
“No, I mean it.” I looked her in the eye “The whole reason we had to come to the farmers’ market out here is because half the people in Ferris treat me like I have an infectious disease. But you’ve always had my back.”
Lila smiled and waved my comments away, embarrassed.
“Yeah, well, you’ve never done anything to have people dislike you.
Your parents sold the farm that you were planning on taking over someday.
And then Allory was the one who pulled the plug on the farm.
None of that had anything to do with you.
But people are dumb and they have no patience for details or nuance. ”
“I know,” I replied with a sigh. “But don’t be so hard on the folks in Ferris. They’ve been through a lot and I’m sure they’re all trying their best.”
“Well, some people need to try harder,” she said with a huff. “And you’re way too forgiving. One ugly comment to me, and I would get into a fistfight.”
I laughed. “It’s tempting, but I’ve never gotten into a fight like that and I’m not starting now at twenty-seven.”
“Hey, that’s not too old to throw down,” she said. “Believe in yourself.”
“The sales we made today are for sure making me feel better about my farm’s chances.” We still had cartons on the table to sell, but the stack was a lot smaller than when we’d started this morning. “I know eggs always sell better around Easter, but this no longer feels like a leap of faith.”
“Damn right,” Lila said. “You’re going to do great. Now we have another problem.”
I frowned. “What?”
“We need snacks,” she said. “Do you mind if I go look around and grab us something?”
“Sure.” I glanced around at the nearby booths, seeing what options were available, but what I saw was a different kind of snack.
Carter Allory was one aisle over, browsing at a table covered with hand-knitted beanies. The old woman was happily showing off her creations to him, and he smiled and nodded along. She seemed to find him much more charming than I did.
“What the hell?” I muttered.
Lila noticed and followed my gaze. She let out a low whistle. “Well, well, well. It looks like I know what you’re hungry for. Now there’s a man I wouldn’t mind taking home from the market. Dear lord.”
“Stop, Lila.”
“Why, are you calling dibs? I know you saw him first, but you can’t lay claim to the hottest man to ever be in Kentucky.” She shook her head.
“Lila, you’re married,” I said. “And Jake is a good guy.”
She nodded. “He’s the best and I would never do anything to jeopardize our marriage. Having said that, tall, dark, and handsome over there is nice to look at.”
I didn’t tell her who he was. My heart was pounding and I didn’t trust my voice to stay steady when saying Carter’s name. “He shouldn’t be here.”
I meant in Halston. Carter was staying in Ferris at Honeyrose, which was miles away. That was the entire reason we had come out to this farmers’ market, to avoid anyone from Ferris. Seeing him here bugged me. I didn’t like it one bit.
Lila misunderstood. “I agree he shouldn’t be here. It looks like heaven is missing an angel.”
“Or hell’s missing a devil,” I said.
“Then he’s a handsome devil. It might be worth selling your soul for a night with him.”
I wouldn’t go that far, but at the same time, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him. Carter wore dark jeans and a white button-up, which I supposed was his casual weekend look. Casual for him still seemed fancy. I suspected those clothes cost more than a mortgage payment.
But he looked damn good. His shirt clung to his thick arms, and his muscles flexed with every movement, making him radiate power even when he was chatting with an old woman selling hats. I felt a sudden urge to touch his chest.
Carter looked sideways and his gaze landed directly on me. I stopped breathing. The bastard smiled at me.
“Oh shit,” Lila said, giggling. “Busted. He’s looking right at you.”
“Shut up,” I muttered, hoping my face wasn’t as red as it felt.
Carter turned back toward the old woman, passed her some money, and picked up a cute yellow beanie from her table. Then he walked straight in my direction.
“Is he coming over here?” Lila looked around like she was looking for a place to hide.
“Don’t you dare leave me alone with him,” I whispered to her.
“Sorry, Shelby.” She was already backing away. “I’m gonna go find us those snacks now. Good luck!”
Some best friend she turned out to be.
Carter’s green eyes stayed locked on me as he approached, like nothing else in the world existed. With his gaze on me like that, everything around me faded as well. My senses focused into a narrow tunnel, with him at one end and me at the other.
We were on a collision course from which there was no escape.
My instinct was to yell at him to walk on by, but I didn’t want to cause a scene out here. The Halston farmers’ market had been profitable. I wanted to be welcomed back. If I messed up my reputation here too, I would start running out of towns to peddle my eggs.
Once he was close enough that I wouldn’t draw attention, I pointed at him and said, “You need to leave me alone.”
“I wanted to give you this.” Carter held out the yellow knit cap. “I’ve still got your rain hat, but you can use this until I get it back to you.”
“I don’t want anything from you, Carter Allory.”
He shrugged and tossed the beanie on my table. “Well, in that case, how about I buy some eggs?”
“You’re out of luck,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “We’re all sold out.”
He looked down at the eggs on the table right in front of him. “Are you sure?”
I nodded. “Yup. But there’s a palm reader at the end of the next aisle who can tell your fortune.”
Carter narrowed his eyes in confusion and chuckled. “Palm reader, huh? I’ve never tried that before. Maybe she can tell me if the hot-headed farmgirl who saved me on the side of the road will ever give me a chance to clear my name when I’ve done nothing wrong.”
I blew out an annoyed breath. “I should have left you on the side of the road. If I had known who you are, I would have.”
“Somehow I don’t believe that.” He braced his hands on the table and leaned over it. “And I keep trying to tell you, your anger is misplaced. I wasn’t the CEO when your family’s business was purchased. I wasn’t involved in that deal at all. That was my father.”
I examined his face for any sign of deception, but Carter seemed to be telling the truth. His green eyes held genuine regret, as if he truly felt sorry for the sins of his father. That didn’t mean I had to be nice to him, though.
“Fine,” I said. “Then I just hate your father, the company you still work for, and everything you represent. Thanks for clearing that up. Now have a nice day.”
Carter growled in frustration. “Look, I’m the CEO now, and I have a job to do. This time, I promise it’s not to take your business away.”
“What do you want from me?” I finally asked. “I don’t see how any of this is my problem.”
“I just want to know what happened from your point of view.” His eyes softened and met mine again. “If I’m going to avoid the mistakes of the past, I want to know what happened here.”
“There’s nothing left to say, and even if there was, I don’t owe you any information on my family’s greatest shame. Even if you weren’t directly responsible for what happened, I don’t like you and your kind. Filthy, greedy CEOs who don’t care who gets hurt.”
“I’m not my father,” he said, eyes blazing.
“I don’t care.”
“How about this?” he asked, his calm CEO mask back on. “Let me buy the rest of your eggs. Then you’ll have some time to talk to me.”
“I’d rather smash them on the ground.” I paused and shook my head. “Actually, I have a better idea.” I stepped out from behind the table, cupped my hands around my mouth, and shouted, “Free eggs, while supplies last!”
No one needed a second invitation. A swarm of shoppers descended on my table, all civility gone. In a blink, the remaining cartons disappeared.
I shot Carter a smug grin and he shook his head in disbelief. Then he gave me an amused, irritated smirk that made my stomach squirm rebelliously.
Why was he looking at me like that? Like he was impressed? What was wrong with this guy?
“Are we done here?” I asked.
Lila returned at that moment with two open bags of chips piled high with taco meat. The woman could never pass up a walking taco. She looked back and forth between Carter and me, confused at the obvious tension.
Carter smiled at her, then at me. “I’m a patient man, Shelby. I’ll get you to change your mind.”
“Don’t hold your breath,” I said, glaring at him.
He walked away with a chuckle, and Lila put the food down and grabbed my arm to shake me. “What was that all about?”
“I’ll tell you as we pack up.” I sighed.
“You didn’t have to be mean to the poor man,” my friend said.
I did feel slightly bad, even though Carter was still the enemy.
He had no idea I had been trashing his company online, and I had no plans to stop soon.
One of my posts had even gone viral, calling them bad bunny bastards for shutting down the egg farm on Easter.
I figured a bad bunny bastard was basically the opposite of the Easter Bunny, and I rolled with it, not putting a ton of thought into it.
I never expected anyone to pay attention to my post. Whatever, Allory deserved it.
It would take a lot more than strong arms and a sexy smile to earn my forgiveness.
“Lila,” I said, looking at her. “There is nothing poor about that man. Believe me. He doesn’t deserve our sympathy. He’s the new CEO of Allory Enterprises, and I want nothing to do with him.”
I picked up the yellow beanie on the table, wondering if I should throw it away.