3. Harlow
Harlow
The sun was setting by the time I reached the farm last night, so I didn’t see much beyond the long, private dirt road that curved onto the property.
But I did catch a glimpse of the gorgeous brick house—not too dissimilar to the Creek Inn—as I parked next to it and lugged my suitcase across the charming front porch
I found the door that was meant for me. There were two, one in the centre of the house—probably Kasey’s—and another on the far left side. There was a key under a plant pot as promised, and the door locked securely from the inside. Thank god.
The apartment itself wasn’t much more than a room housing a twin bed by the window and a kitchenette, with a door leading into a compact bathroom where I’d scrubbed away my feelings under barely warm water.
It was kind of like an in-law suite. Probably once a guest bedroom or study of some kind, that was now completely shut off from the main house.
The mattress was perfectly firm and covered in a soft, clean blanket. It was basic but comforting. I had a space free from my now ex-boyfriend’s world, and as I put my books and coloured markers on the nightstand, it felt a bit more like my own.
When I woke up early in the morning, I’d almost forgot everything that had happened the day before. Just for a second.
Until memories of heartbreak and tears rushed back.
I reached for my phone with gritted teeth and tapped on Marcus’s contact. The last message was me telling him I’d landed, and it had gone unanswered. There were no lingering feelings of love pulling at me. I wanted nothing to do with that man.
My heart wasn’t even breaking over his betrayal; it was more for the future I had hoped for being ripped away from me.
With a few more taps on my screen, his number was blocked.
It barely even hurt.
If anything, that realization cut deeper than cutting him off did. Soft emotions and partnership between us were gone a long time ago, we had just been going through the motions of what a relationship should look like.
He liked that I was driven and successful, and I thought he would provide me with some stability.
In hindsight, it was probably just easier for him to stay with me—a low-maintenance plus one to his law firm events—than it was to breakup.
He had always mentioned that he liked my “cultured” upbringing with parents who were travelling academics, and that should have been my first red flag.
I think he liked the idea of life with me more than he ever liked me.
I don’t think I had actually loved him for a very long time. That was, if I even knew what love really felt like.
I erased any more traces of Marcus from my phone before throwing the thing to the end of my bed and finally placing my feet on the hardwood floor. My suitcase sat open from where I’d pulled the contents from it last night, and I grabbed what I could off the top of the pile.
Black dress pants, Chelsea boots, and a thin sweater. Maybe it wasn’t what I would have picked if I had the time to lay out my clothes the night before, but luckily my wardrobe was made up of more office wear than not. Basically everything worked for a work outfit.
I made it out onto the porch and paused to take in the farm surrounding me.
It was so different from the high-rise apartment I was supposed to be living in.
No city views or sounds of traffic in the morning.
Instead, the property seemed to go on and on.
A few hundred meters away, there was a one-storey stone building.
I could spot two barns, the farther one a bright red.
There were fields with wooden fences separating them, and rows of leafy trees, too.
Not just the forest which surrounded Autumn Creek, but smaller, greener trees with bright fruit ranging from shades of green to pink and red—apples.
Kasey lives on an apple orchard!
This was already so much better than Marcus’s soulless apartment.
I wanted to go pick some fruit and bite into it, straight from the tree. But I wouldn’t actually dare do that. I didn’t need Kasey’s family hating me for stealing their apples before I’d even met them. Maybe I could ask someone for a tour on the weekend instead.
I wrapped my arms around myself, protecting my body from the morning chill, and wandered down to my car. Small and grey, it now also had a large red and slightly rusted truck dwarfing it.
Country car for a country girl, huh? I thought Kasey might have already left, but I wasn’t an expert on small-town cafe opening hours. I could catch up with her later and ask her all about it, but for now it was time to put my focus on what had brought me to this small town.
“This is your desk,” Nora, a co-worker who was showing me around for the morning, said.
She was about an inch shorter than my five foot seven, but apart from that we looked like opposites, with her slender build and deep brown skin.
I was midsize and could probably be described as pasty.
“For when you need it, on your in-office days.”
The small table was right beside a window overlooking the park, which surrounded the converted church building.
I’d worked in glass offices with views of famous cities—I’d even been able to see the CN Tower from my desk in Toronto during an internship—but this quaint building tugged at my heart, just a bit.
“I hope your drive was okay,” she continued. “It’s a bit of a long one.”
I hesitated. “Oh, the drive from Ottawa.” My teeth landed on my lip for a moment as I debated how much to tell her.
I didn’t mind Kasey knowing the full story of how I had ended up here, but I didn’t want to trauma dump on my first day of work.
Not exactly professional. I wasn’t usually so scattered, like I had felt lately, and I didn’t want to be perceived like that.
So I simply replied, “I actually found a place here. So not much of a commute at all,” and shot her a small smile.
“That’s great!” She clasped her hands together. “You’ll love Autumn Creek.”
“It’s so lovely!” I said with all the enthusiasm of someone who hadn’t just shown up in a frenzy last night.
There were a few more things she needed to show me: logins, onboarding work, file systems. And luckily there wasn’t a gap to ask me about what area of town I was living in—because I didn’t even know—before she pulled me toward a meeting room.
It was spacious and bright, with the sun streaming in through the windows, shining on vintage photographs of the town on the opposite wall.
I smiled and introduced myself as a few people entered the room, and Nora began reading the agenda.
She passed over to Dawn Finnegan, the mayor, and I immediately recognized her from my interviews.
She had this kind of aura that was obvious even over a small computer screen.
Her mostly-grey hair was wavy, and she wore a long cardigan and flowing bohemian skirt that I was surprised to see in an office, but somehow I couldn’t imagine her wearing anything else.
She clapped her hands and the bangles on her wrists chimed. “Introductions then. Harlow, welcome. We’re excited to have to join our team.” She pointed around the table. “You’ve already met Nora, this is Thomas—”
“Thomas Callahan,” the older man said sternly, and I shot him a hesitant smile.
“And where’s Jude?” Dawn asked, looking around.
I spied an empty seat to my right.
“Half day,” Nora replied, and Thomas let out a quiet sound that sounded like a scoff.
“I think he’s at the animal shelter this morning.
” She turned to me and quickly explained.
“He’s always helping out somewhere. But he works part time with us at the Council and also owns a farm here in Autumn Creek. ”
“That boy is endlessly busy. I should have told him to have the afternoon off instead,” Dawn mused. “Oh well. You’ll know it’s him when you see him.”
“I’ll make sure to introduce myself,” I replied.
It was nice that they valued this Jude guy so much as a co-worker. In fact, the conversation hung around him for a few more minutes, as Dawn told me about his volunteering and contributions around town, and others mentioned how his farm sponsored local events. The legacy really preceded the man.
Then the topic turned to different projects, and my pen raced through my notebook with ideas about how to promote them.
Everything from local farm-to-table restaurants to charity fundraisers.
I knew it was only day one, but I felt so inspired and happy.
It was the solace I desperately needed. At least this job turned out to be good.
“And that just leaves the fall marketing project you’ve been alluding to,” Nora said with a wink toward our boss.
Dawn grinned. “We’re planning a seasonal festival for the end of October. Just like we used to have back in the day!”
Excited murmurs sounded around the table, but there was one grumbling sound.
Dawn narrowed her green eyes at the man making it. “Callahan.”
“Finnegan.”
She huffed loudly, turning away from him and back to me.
“We’ll chat more about this later. That’ll be your main project.
You’ll be organizing and co-leading it with your marketing efforts, but don’t worry, you’ll have our help and you’ll be partnered up with an Autumn Creek expert.
We want to create some buzz, and we need to bring some revitalization into the town. ”
I remembered some brief details about event planning from the job description and nodded.
After hearing more, I was buzzing in my seat with excitement to start, my brain overflowing with ideas and inspiration.
I’d put on plenty of events and activations before, I knew how to get people to buy tickets.
We could have a giveaway, or have a musician attend, maybe a mascot, too.
My brows knitted closer together as I thought further. That did sound more like a brand event than a tourism incentive. Shit. What do they even have to do in small towns like this?
My stomach felt like it was tying itself into a knot. Maybe they hadn’t picked the right person for this role after all. But I rolled my shoulders and tried to ease my anxieties. I knew that I was more than qualified for this job, even if my fears were trying to get in the way.
The meeting ended, and I took a deep breath as I returned to my desk.
I can do it. I was going to market the hell out of Autumn Creek. I just had to think of it as a business, I’d worked with plenty of those before. But on the other hand, I’d seen the way Nora and Dawn’s eyes had lit up at the mention of this festival. It was more than just profit to them.
I didn’t want to let them down.
Caught up in my worries, I startled as someone cleared their throat beside me. Then my eyes shot to a tall man standing by my desk with an impatient look painted across his chiseled face.