Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
JASPER
I stood there like an idiot, staring after Natalie as she walked away. Her scent lingered—coconut and vanilla. She clearly still used the same shampoo.
Get a grip, Jas.
Shaking my head, I turned back to the truck and hefted another crate of supplies. My boots crunched over the dirt path as I made my way deeper into the leafy sanctuary of the orchard.
This place had always been my whole world. The rich, loamy scent of the soil, the gnarled trunks and twisted branches, the gentle rustling of leaves in the breeze... it was all seared into my bones, my blood. Part of me in a way nothing—and no one—else could ever be.
I deposited the crates near the equipment shed and straightened, rolling my shoulders to work out the kinks. It had been a long morning already. I was up before dawn to get a head start on the day's chores. Not that I was complaining. Work stopped my mind from wandering down paths it shouldn't.
Like to a certain dark-haired girl with soulful eyes and a smile that still had the power to undo me.
Christ's sake. I'm pathetic.
I snagged my gloves from the truck bed and tugged them on, ready to lose myself in the rhythm of thinning the fruit. It was a bit early to be doing it that year, but there was this one patch of the west grove that seemed like it couldn't wait to start setting. Normally it was a task Elliot would take on. But since he was busy overseeing the new irrigation lines and Dad considered himself a full-time video euchre player, I figured I'd volunteer. God knows Chase wasn't going to.
It was mindless work. My thoughts drifted as my hands moved on autopilot.
So much for work providing a distraction. My thoughts kept circling back to Natalie. I couldn't escape the memory of her standing there in the orchard, all soft curves and tousled hair, looking at me with those big, wounded eyes.
I never meant to hurt you.
I gritted my teeth, plucking apple after apple as I tried to drown out her voice.
She never meant to hurt me. Well, wasn't that fucking nice of her.
I knew I was being unfair. We were just kids when everything fell apart between us. Reckless, impulsive, so goddamn sure we had all the answers.
I thought I knew what love was back then. That all-consuming, can't-eat-can't-sleep kind of infatuation that had you convinced the world began and ended with one person. I truly believed it could solve anything.
God, how na?ve I was.
Because the truth was, love wasn't some magical force that conquered all. It didn't stop people from making shitty choices, from breaking hearts and shattering trust. Love didn't mean a damn thing if you weren't willing to fight for it, to put in the hard work day after day.
And Natalie walked away. Plain and simple.
I paused my plucking, chest heaving. My hands were streaked with dirt, gloves torn in a few places. There was the familiar throb in my lower back that came from a day of physical labor.
This was my life. Sweat and calluses, endless chores, and maintenance. No grand dreams, no lofty ambitions beyond making it to the next harvest with the trees intact.
It wasn't a bad life, all things considered. Satisfying in its own way, pouring energy into something tangible. Something that was here long before me and would remain long after I was gone.
Maybe that was why Natalie left. She couldn't be content with the simple pleasures of a place like Sable Point, with a life tied to the land and the changing seasons.
She'd always had bigger dreams.
I couldn't blame her for that, I guess. For wanting more than I was able to offer her at eighteen.
No, what I blamed her for was the way she went about it. The utter disregard for my feelings or anyone else's. She didn't just leave Sable Point behind—she burned every bridge on her way out, making damn sure there was no going back.
Until now. Until her dad's death forced her to come back and face the fallout.
Memories crowded in, and I shook my head as though trying to dislodge them. Natalie, her dark eyes sparkling with mischief as she pulled me into the tool shed, her soft lips trailing kisses along my jaw. Natalie breathless with laughter as we raced through the moonlit trees, hand in hand. Natalie in tears the night before she left, clinging to me and swearing she'd never love anyone else.
Bullshit. All of it. Pretty lies to soothe her own conscience.
"Yo, Jasper! You deaf or just ignoring me?"
The familiar voice jolted me from my spiraling thoughts. I turned to see Chase ambling up the path, that annoying fucking smirk plastered across his face. It was a face I liked better on Elliot, if I was honest.
"What do you want?" I grumbled, stripping off my gloves.
He held up his hands in surrender. "Easy there, killer. Just thought I'd come see if you needed a hand with anything."
I looked at him askance. Chase had never willingly helped out around here unless Mom guilted him into it.
"I'm good," I said shortly. "But if you're looking to make yourself useful, I think Elliot could use some help with the irrigation lines over in the east grove. "
Chase pulled a face. "Ugh, no thanks. I was just trying to be a good brother, but if you're gonna be a dick about it..."
I rolled my eyes. For twins, he and Elliot couldn't be more different. While Elliot was born ready to take the reins of this place, Chase had always been more interested in chasing the next thrill, the next adventure, the next drink.
There'd been a time when I'd envied his ability to just... walk away. To leave all the responsibilities and expectations behind in search of something more.
Of course, that was before Natalie showed me what an ugly, selfish thing walking away could be.
"Seriously, though," Chase said, his tone sobering. "You okay?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
He shrugged, scuffing the toe of his boot in the dirt. "I don't know, man. Natalie being back and everything that went down with her dad. I know that's gotta be a lot."
My jaw ticked at the mention of her name. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine."
Chase eyed me skeptically. "If you say so. Just don't do that thing you do, okay?"
"What thing ?"
"The one where you bottle everything up until you explode."
I bristled, irritation flaring. "I don't explode."
"Uh, yeah, you kinda do. Maybe not in the screaming, throwing shit kind of way. But you get all twisted up inside until one day, bam"—he snapped his fingers—"you're a walking thundercloud, pissing off everyone in a ten-mile radius."
Shaking my head, I turned away from him and started gathering my tools. "Don't you have better things to do than psychoanalyze me?"
"Nope," he said cheerfully. "Seeing as I'm currently funemployed, you're pretty much my main source of entertainment."
I shot him a withering look over my shoulder. "Get a job, big brother."
"Working on it! Kind of." He flashed me a grin before his expression turned serious again. "But for real, Jas, you know you can talk to me if you need to, right? I mean, I know I'm kind of a fuckup, but I'm still here for you."
The unexpected sincerity in his voice gave me pause. For all his bravado and reckless antics, Chase had a good heart.
"I know," I said gruffly. "And I'm good, Chase. Really. Natalie being back, it doesn't change anything."
Aside from turning my whole world upside down.
But I wasn't about to admit that, not even to my brother.
Chase studied me for a second then nodded slowly. "Alright, man. I'm gonna get out of your hair, let you get back to your tree-hugging or whatever." He winked, some of the familiar teasing back in his voice. "But if you need me, you know where to find me—drinking beer in Mom's basement and feeling sorry for myself."
"You're a real inspiration, Chase. "
"I do my best." He gave me a lazy salute then headed off down the path, hands shoved in his pockets.
I watched him go, that nagging sense of unease still prickling at the back of my neck. No point in dwelling on the past or psyching myself out over hypotheticals. I had work to do. I couldn't neglect my responsibilities just because my ex-girlfriend had rolled back into town looking more gorgeous than ever.
I tossed my gear in the truck bed with a little more force than necessary then paused to wipe the sweat from my brow. It was hot as shit, sticky heat that had me longing for a dip in the lake. I considered stripping off my shirt then decided against it. The last thing I needed was Natalie taking another impromptu walk through the orchard, catching a glimpse of me and getting... ideas.
Christ, I was an arrogant prick sometimes.
I climbed into the truck and fired up the engine. Mom would be expecting me for lunch soon, which meant I had only another hour or so to make a dent in my to-do list.
As I pulled out onto the main road that wound through the orchard, I glanced in the direction of the Choi Accounting building on Main Street. It was an old habit I'd never been able to shake no matter how hard I tried. Even after all those years, some deep-rooted part of me still scanned for any sign of Natalie, that familiar dark hair and bright smile.
But the sidewalks were empty, the building silent and still in the midday heat. Just another ordinary day in Sable Point. No trace of the girl who once lit up my world and then plunged it into darkness just as quickly.
I tore my gaze away, grinding my teeth against the bitter flare of resentment. I didn't have time for that bullshit. Natalie had made her choices, and I'd made mine. We were different people then. If she wanted to stick around and play at being a small-town girl, that was her business. But I wasn't about to get roped into whatever fresh drama she'd cooked up this time. Been there, got the scars to prove it.
No, I was going to stay focused on what mattered—my family, this orchard, preserving the legacy that had been carefully nurtured by Dad, Papa, and every Everton before them. It was what I was born for, what I'd been raised to do.
And if that meant avoiding Natalie Choi like the plague, so be it. I couldn't miss her any more than I had for the last seven years, right?
I shifted into gear and pulled out onto the main road, leaving the ghosts of my past behind in a cloud of dust and exhaust. Sable Point might have been a small town, but there was more than enough space for me to give Natalie a wide berth until she left.
At least, that was what I kept telling myself. But a nagging inner voice told me that the simple fact that she was in Sable Point would be more than enough to get under my skin.