Chapter 14 Evangeline
EVANGELINE
Evangeline bit her lip as she wondered what to do.
She was having a hard day herself, trying her best to focus on the present instead of letting herself be preoccupied over Rory.
But right now, she was worried about what was going on with her boss.
The car ride seemed to have put him in a dark mood, and she wasn’t really sure what she was supposed to do when that happened.
Her instinct was to help, but she didn’t know enough about him to understand why he sometimes retreated into himself.
She thought maybe it had something to do with those scars, since he tended to unconsciously touch them whenever he got quiet like this.
But she didn’t know the story behind them, and it wasn’t her place to ask.
She also thought it had something to do with her, and she really wasn’t sure what. Ever since her conversation with Rory, she’d been second-guessing her every move around Grayson.
As he moved to get Leo out of his car seat, Evangeline decided it was probably best to just focus on the practical things for a while. She was probably overthinking everything anyway. She had a habit of doing that.
“Um, should I get his stroller?” she asked. “Or is it okay if I just hold him in the carrier?”
“You can hold him, if you want,” Grayson said, lifting the baby out. “But I’ll bring his stroller too, in case he needs it later.”
“Okay,” she said a little too brightly. “Great idea.”
She hurried to slide the carrier on and when he turned back to her, she was ready to take Leo.
“Hello, sweet boy,” she told him as she strapped him carefully against her chest, facing out. “We’re going to have such a fun day.”
She patted his little belly and he grabbed one of her index fingers in each of his chubby fists and began waving them around.
Instantly, she felt a whole lot better.
“Here we go,” Grayson said, closing the back of the SUV and pushing the stroller around to join them. It held the diaper bag and a reusable shopping bag with something in it that she hadn’t packed. “Are you ready to explore?”
He already seemed a lot more like his usual self. It was funny what a few breaths of cold, sweet air would do.
“Definitely,” she told him.
“We’ll get a tree,” he said. “But we should do that last. First we’ll look around. They have holiday decorations, and fresh baked goods, and animals you can feed.”
“Animals?” she echoed. “And you can feed them?”
“Yeah,” he said, chuckling. “Do you want to do that first?”
“Um, yes,” she said, then remembered to add, “If that’s okay with you and Leo?”
“I’ve been here a million times,” he told her with an indulgent half -smile that made her feel warm all over. “And Leo’s too little to notice most of it. He’ll be happy if you’re happy.”
“Amazing,” she said. “Thank you.”
“Just about everything is down this way,” he explained, heading down the gravel drive under the big trees, toward the buildings.
There were plenty of other cars parked down at the bottom of the lot, and she could already see people in their colorful winter coats waving to each other and carrying their purchases.
“They have cut-your-own trees,” Grayson said after a moment. “But that’s probably too much since we’ve got the baby with us. The pre-cut trees are up in the lot by the plant nursery. You’ll be able to see it better when we get down a little more.”
He gestured ahead to where huge Christmas decorations adorned the hillside, along with rows and rows of cut trees. People walked among them as little kids chased each other through the rows.
“This place is amazing,” she said softly.
“My mom loves the nursery here,” Grayson said. “Before she and Dad went to Florida, she had a sunroom in the house here with a ton of plants. Alice Cassidy used to help her get certain ones on order from time to time.”
“Alice Cassidy, like Cassidy Farm?” Evangeline asked.
“Yes,” Grayson said. “She and her husband opened this place to the public and made it what it is today. They live on the property themselves along with some of the Cassidy kids and grandkids.”
“That sounds like a nice way to live,” Evangeline said, picturing herself on a big farm with a house for herself and another for Rory. Maybe one day they would both be married with kids and they could all see each other every day.
“I think so too,” Grayson said thoughtfully.
That was an interesting perspective, coming from a man who lived alone on a massive piece of property with a house he probably got lost in on a regular basis.
He’s got room to start a compound out there, she thought to herself. He’s probably just waiting for the right woman.
For some reason, the idea of Grayson with a woman made her feel hot and angry inside.
Get your crush under control, she told herself firmly.
Maybe he’d been attracted to her last night, but it was clearly just a passing moment. He hadn’t said a word about it since, and he certainly hadn’t given her any of those vibes today.
And that was probably for the best. She had to admit that Rory’s words had scared her a little. Grayson didn’t seem like the kind of man who would expect anything from her. But it was probably better not to risk sending the wrong signals.
“Here we go,” he said as they reached the bottom of the drive. “The barn has a store where they sell farm produce, and the bakery is in the back. The Christmas-All-Year-Round Shop is upstairs.”
Evangeline smiled at the thought of all those good things as she admired the barn. It was a massive octagon, the wood painted a deep, dark red, with a foundation made of stone. In front of the barn were big wooden crates full of pine wreaths along with bins that held pinecones and boughs of holly.
As they walked around the barn, she spotted picnic tables next to little booths selling hot apple cider and homemade doughnuts among other things. Bundled-up people were chatting and enjoying treats with the view of the farm all around them.
“Oh wow,” she said, closing her eyes and inhaling. “It smells so good.”
“Should we stop for a snack?” Grayson offered.
She was seriously torn for a moment. But ultimately decided that if Leo started fussing and they had to leave early, she would be sorrier to miss the animals than a snack.
“Animals first,” she told him.
“Animals it is,” he said. “There’s the paddock for pony rides, but I think that’s just for kids.”
She looked over to see a woman in a cowboy hat leading a little spotted gray pony around the paddock with a tiny girl who was practically a toddler in the saddle.
“Fine,” she said. “I guess I can skip the pony ride.”
Grayson glanced over at her with some alarm on his face, until she winked at him and he realized she was only teasing.
“Honestly, I’d be terrified anyway,” she told him. “But I wouldn’t mind feeding it.”
He chuckled, and she guessed that for someone raised out here, the idea of being frightened by a pony probably seemed pretty silly.
“Well, I brought some apples, so you can feed the other pony and the goats,” he told her, pointing to the bag in the stroller.
She smiled at the idea that he’d known to bring apples even before they left the house.
As they followed the path past the paddock, there were pens of chickens and other birds just ahead.
“Oh, let’s go see the chickens,” she said. “If they’re on the way?”
“Sure,” Grayson said.
As they got closer, the scolding and clucking got louder. Leo began wiggling like he wanted to find out what was going on.
“They’re just saying good morning to each other,” Evangeline told him.
“Ahh-ah-oh,” Leo said.
“You want to say good morning, too,” she laughed. “That’s very nice. Look how happy the chickens are.”
She was pretty sure that the chickens were mostly arguing about the corn a little girl had just thrown into the pen.
And she was very sure that Leo couldn’t really interact with them anyway.
But it felt right to talk with him and encourage him to be interested in his environment, even if the noises were the only part he could really take in.
“He likes it,” Grayson said, sounding surprised.
“He’s a happy baby,” she replied. “I think he likes most things.”
“I got lucky,” Grayson said fondly.
“No,” she told him. “It’s not luck. I think he feels safe, even in new situations. And that’s because he expects to like new things, because you give him a happy life.”
Grayson remained silent for a moment, and there were only the sounds of the chickens and the little kids scampering around the pens, throwing in handfuls of corn.
She glanced up at him and was stunned to see naked emotion instead of his normally locked-down expression.
“That’s really nice, Evangeline,” he said, clearing his throat.
“I meant it,” she told him softly. “You’re a wonderful father. Anyone could see that.”
His jaw tightened and he looked away, as if he were searching the hill of Christmas trees for answers to a question no one had asked.
“Can we feed the pony now?” she asked him, not wanting to make him linger too long in feelings that were clearly uncomfortable for him.
“Yeah, of course,” he said, turning back to her. “Let’s get those apples out.”
“Okay,” she said.
“Grayson Ward,” someone called out in a friendly way before he could even retrieve the bag.
He straightened and Evangeline turned to see a family heading their way.
The woman had long, auburn hair and she was holding hands with a cute little girl. The man was tall and handsome, with what looked like a hearing aid of some sort in one ear. An enormous German shepherd walked beside him, keeping pace like it was her job.
“Chris, Grace, Izzy,” Grayson said. “This is Evangeline.”
“Hello,” Evangeline said. “It’s nice to meet you all.”
“I didn’t even know you got married, man,” Chris said, turning to Grayson with a smile. “About time.”
“Congratulations,” Grace said warmly to Evangeline, her eyes going right to Leo, who was still strapped to her chest. “Wow, he looks just like you.”
“Oh,” Grayson said.