Chapter 10
LUCY
“Okay, I am really liking this new setup. What do you think, Amelia?” I ask, looking at the small shop beside the pumpkin patch where we sell handmade goods from local vendors during the season.
“Yeah, I think it’s good,” she says, without looking up from her phone.
“You didn’t even look, babes,” I tell her, rolling my eyes as she finally puts her phone down.
“I’m sorry, okay? Mitch is blowing up my phone, and I can’t focus on anything.”
“What does he want now?” I ask, preparing myself for her answer. “The last time we talked, he wanted to be friends and was too busy banging Lindsey to have any interest in anything serious.”
Amelia shoots me a dirty look, and I hold my hands up in surrender. “I’m sorry. I promise, you won’t get any more judgment from me tonight. Pinky swear.”
My best friend gives me a skeptical look before admitting, “Apparently, he’s decided he wants to try this whole relationship thing again. He claims he’s ready to be serious, and he wants to do it with me.”
If I bite my tongue any harder, I’m pretty sure it’s gonna bleed, I think, trying to figure out how to proceed.
“Okayyy. Is that what you want, though?” I ask slowly, hoping she’ll tell him where he can shove it, but knowing that probably won’t be the case. Seriously, how can this man change his mind that drastically in a week?
“To be honest, I don’t think I know what I want anymore, Lulu. Every time I think I’ve gotten it figured out, he changes his mind and I’m left reeling.”
Unable to stop myself, I ask her, “Well, has it ever occurred to you that he does it on purpose? The pulling you in as soon as he thinks you might be ready to move on and then pushing you away as soon as he realizes that he might have to give up hooking up with half the town.”
As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I know I went too far. But damn it, I’m so sick of seeing my best friend cry over this man.
Amelia looks at me with hurt in her eyes, and I don’t miss the tears she’s trying to keep from falling.
“Mel, I’m sorry,” I tell her. “I shouldn’t have said that. I’m clearly just stressed with the season coming up, and I’m saying stupid shit. Please forgive me.”
“It’s fine. It’d be different if you weren’t right. But I can’t even argue with you, and I hate you a little bit for that,” she says, and I walk over to wrap her in a hug.
“It’s gonna be okay, babes. And I’m here no matter what you decide to do. I just want what’s best for you because I love ya,” I tell her, rubbing my hand up and down her back as she cries quietly.
“I know. I just need to figure my shit out,” Amelia says between her tears. “But I just hate knowing how much you dislike him. And he’s not your biggest fan either.”
Shocking, I think. Probably because I’m the one who points out how shitty he is to you, but that’s just a guess.
Managing to keep my mouth shut, I just nod as she struggles to regain her composure.
“But I love you too, Lulu. And I promise I’m okay, but I think I need to take today to pull myself together. Do you mind if I go ahead and head out?” Amelia asks, and I nod.
“Mel, you know you don’t need my permission. That’s fine. I’ve gotta train Colton this afternoon anyway.”
My best friend’s eyebrows shoot up her forehead at that, and she perks up quickly.
“So let me get this straight. The man who you had an almost one night stand with, is not only living in your house, but you’re now going to be working with him everyday now as well?”
“Sounds about right,” I tell her with a grimace.
“And your brother made roughly how many comments before he left about treating you like his sister in front of you and your mama?”
“Ugh, don’t remind me,” I groan, remembering how awkward the moment before Hayes left was. “At least five.”
“Sorry, babes. I love you, but something tells me you’re fucked,” she says with a laugh.
“Nope. We've agreed to be friends,” I remind her, moving the hand poured pumpkin candles I made last week around until I’m happy with the arrangement.
“Yeah, and how many times have you thought about that night at The Watering Hole?”
I shoot a guilty look in Amelia’s direction, causing her to laugh.
“See, it’s not as fun when you’re the one getting the tough love, is it?” she teases with a giggle.
I don’t answer her question, but I’m sure my face gives away my guilt. The truth is, no matter how hard I try not to think about the night with Colton, I can’t stop. Every touch, every kiss, every word runs through my mind as I try to sleep at night.
“I thought you were ready to get out of here,” I tease, shooing her away playfully.
“That’s what I thought,” Amelia says with a satisfied smirk on her face. “I’ll see you on Monday.”
“Sounds good. Hey, Mel. It’s gonna be okay,” I remind her, pulling her in for a quick hug. She nods and makes her way out to her car, leaving me in the shop by myself.
Checking my watch, I realize I have twenty minutes before Colton’s supposed to meet me to learn how to run the payment systems and get a general tour of the grounds.
I try to busy myself with things around the shop, but time drags, and it feels like forever before I hear him pull up on the Polaris outside.
“Hey,” he says, coming in the front door and tapping his knuckles against the doorframe. “Here, and ready for training.”
“Hi, great. I promise to make this as quick and painless as possible. To be honest, you’re probably the first person we’ve ever trained out here.
Amelia, Hayes, and I all started working out here when we were in middle school, and other than our parents and my aunt, that’s been pretty much it around here. ”
“Well, I’m here to learn. Take as long as you need to. There’s no hurry,” Colton says, and I nod, trying not to think about the fact that he said something similar when I was all but begging him to fuck me. God, is this not awkward for him?
I push the thought aside and gesture for him to step behind the counter with me.
“We’ll start in here, since this system is the most self-explanatory.
This is the shop, and it has our handmade candles, my aunt’s pumpkin-flavored baked goods, and then some other handmade goods from vendors around town. ”
“Cool,” Colton says, looking around the shop at the embroidered hand towels, the small fall-themed paintings, and the soap from the William’s farm across town. “Who makes the candles?”
“I do,” I tell him with a smile. “But I promise if you’re here long enough, I’ll have you in the kitchen pouring wax.”
“I don’t mind helping. Put me to work wherever. I’m pretty good with my hands.”
I smirk, shooting him a knowing look as I pull up the system and quickly show him how to log in. “This is the most sought after position at the farm. So you probably won’t be in here much unless you’re willing to fight all the women for it.”
“Okay, that’s fine. Why is it the most popular, though?” he asks, confusion clear on his face.
“It’s the only job we have that’s in the air conditioning," I explain, causing us both to laugh.
“Yeah, I have to say, before I moved down here, I didn't think the idea of picking pumpkins in ninety-degree weather sounds like a good time, but y’all clearly make it work, huh?” he jokes.
“We do. We’re really lucky with the support we get from the locals, and people come from several of the towns around us too. Despite the heat, people tend to really start craving all things fall as soon as Labor Day is over. When we open next month, you’ll see what I mean.”
Colton nods before asking, “So, what do y’all do when it’s not pumpkin season?”
“Well, Amelia and I do several markets around the area with my candles. We also host some seasonal events too for big holidays in addition to monthly movie nights during the spring and summer, which helps bring in a profit the rest of the year,” I explain.
“You actually just missed the one for last month, right before you moved in.”
‘Oh, really? That sounds fun. And I’m sure between the animals and the pumpkins, y’all have more than enough to keep you busy.”
“Yeah, that’s for sure, “ I laugh. “Just Denise and Daryl alone are enough to be a full time job.”
“Does it ever freak you out how much they act like dogs?” he asks, looking out across the farm at where Denise and Daryl are chasing a ball across the yard.
“It did at first,” I admit. “But now they just keep Knox entertained when he’s outside. And they’re pretty darn cute if I do say so myself.”
“Yeah, they are,” Colton agrees. We spend what feels like the next few minutes going over how to work the online system, taking payments, and talking about the schedule for the fall. I’m shocked when I look down to see that over an hour has passed since we started.
“Gosh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize how much I was running my mouth, and I’ve kept you way longer than I planned. We haven’t even started the actual tour yet, either. Do you need to go? We can always finish this later.”
Colton just waves my worry aside before adding, “I told you there was no rush, Lulu. You ready to give that tour?”
“Yep, let’s go before it gets dark. And since you brought the Polaris, we’ll take it to keep from having to take the big truck,” I answer, leading Colton out into the August heat.
I slide into the driver’s seat and wait for Colton to wiggle his way in, his large body taking up most of the space in the old ATV.
“Let’s go,” he says, and I laugh at the sight of his knees crammed into the dash.
We ride for a few minutes, heading out to the back of the property where we keep the majority of our farm animals. Each time we hit a bump, our legs bump against each other in the tight space, making me squirm as I try to remind myself that we agreed on being just friends.
“We don’t need a lot of help out here, but I figured it’d be easiest to show you where everything is at once. We keep a few things for the pumpkins in the horse barn that you may need at some point, too,” I explain, smiling at the cows as we pass them.
“Sounds good to me. I don’t think I realized this property was quite this big,” he says, taking everything in.
“Yeah, most people don’t. It’s a lot to keep up with, but we love it.”
“I can tell. Did you always know you wanted to stay in Mills Corner?”
I laugh at that before answering. “Absolutely not. When I was in high school, I couldn’t wait to get out of here. But after a few years away at college, I realized how much I missed it. So I got my degree and moved home. Been here ever since.”
“Do you like living at home with your mom?” he asks, and I can hear the curiosity in his voice.
“Actually, I really do. I planned to move out and live with Amelia when I first came back, but the only apartments that were available were one bedrooms. Mills Corner doesn’t exactly have a ton of options for rent.
After that, I haven’t really thought about it again.
I know most twenty-seven-year-olds wouldn’t exactly be chomping at the bit to live with their mom, but we stay out of each other’s way for the most part.
Plus, I don’t think any of the apartments in town would have been too excited about having two rambunctious piggies running around. ”
Colton laughs as I pull up to the barn. “Yeah, that might have been a little hard to accommodate."
I nod, leading us into the barn where we house the horses and keep all of the spare tools. “Alrighty, I want you to meet Maple, Myrtle, Mack, and Monroe,” I tell him, pointing to each of the four horses.
He walks over to the closest stall and sticks out his hand for Myrtle to sniff before petting her mane. “These are some fine animals. Are they all yours?”
“I guess now they are. Maple was my horse growing up, and we used to spend the weekends as a family riding. But I’m the only one who still has time for it.”
Colton nods, still petting Myrtle, and I can’t stop myself from asking, “I know you’re done riding bulls, but can you ride horses?”
“You know, I don’t know if it’s something my doctor would recommend, but I plan to.
I’m willing to give up bull riding because I can see the danger, and I might not have the reflexes and reaction times I need to still be able to ride, but I refuse to spend the rest of my life living in fear.
I think a slow ride on a trained horse would be fine,” he says, and I hear the determination in his voice.
I walk over to check that each of the stalls have plenty of hay and water, and stop to pat Myrtle’s head as I lean into her stall before saying, “That makes sense. Well, you’re welcome to ride any time.
All of these cuties are pretty well trained, and they love riding. Are you planning to get horses?”
“Yeah, I’ve talked to someone about getting a couple retired rodeo horses, but they’re finishing out the season first,” he explains, and I smile.
“That sounds nice,” I tell him, and for the first time, I realize how close we’ve moved to each other as we talked. We’re both still petting Myrtle, but he’s standing just above me, and if I moved my head just a few inches, our mouths would clash.
We stare at each other for a moment before we both lean in, our mouths hovering centimeters away from each other. We stay that way for a moment, like both of us are afraid to move and ruin the moment between us.
I lean in, deciding to go for it, suddenly desperate to feel his mouth on mine again. Our lips graze, just as Myrtle sneezes beside us, causing each of us to jump away from each other as if we’d been electrocuted.
Blushing, I stammer, “All right, so those are the horses, and right through that door is where we keep all the extra tools I was telling you about. Are you ready to see the pumpkins now?”
Colton stares at me for a long moment, and I can tell he wants to say something about what just almost happened, but after a moment, he just nods.
“Show me your pumpkins, Darlin’.”