A text message came through just before I finished up. I didn’t intentionally invade her privacy, but the notification practically highlighted the message at the top of the screen, directly over where I needed to finish typing my details. Plus, it didn’t help that the text from Danny was in all caps.
Danny: WHY THE HELL AREN’T YOU BACK YET?
I glanced up to see Bonnie’s attention still focused on ordering. I waited for the notification to disappear and then I finished up what I was doing and turned the screen off.
Bonnie’s rude husband was none of my business. I didn’t know her very well yet, but I still felt annoyed on her behalf. Maybe Danny was just in a bad mood. Maybe he wasn’t always a douchebag. Hopefully, he didn’t make a habit out of treating his wife that way.
I swallowed down my uneasy feeling and met Bonnie’s gaze when she turned back to me. Smiling, I told her, “I texted myself from your phone so that I’ll have your number too. I’ll message you this week about grabbing a drink.”
“Sounds good!”
While we waited for her eight snow cones, we chatted some more about her job at our former elementary school. I asked about the teachers who were still around, and we laughed about the old PE teacher, who’d apparently scarred us both as children with his short shorts.
Eventually, she got her to-go trays and I helped her get settled in her SUV, thanking her again for bailing me out at Bev’s.
We said our goodbyes, and I made my way back to my borrowed car feeling lighter than I had when I left the orchard.
That first bite of bubble gum snow cone flooded my body with sugar and memories. The sweetness of both had me smiling out the windshield of Mom’s Passat. My sister’s dismissal from earlier in the day was buried beneath pink shaved ice and potential.
four
MARK
I hadn’t bothered checking the schedule this weekend to see who I’d be working alongside in the farmers’ market booth. I figured it would be either Joan or Brady, so it didn’t really matter.
Nick and Amy usually picked two weekends a month and worked together while Joan, Brady, and I rotated in and out.
I hadn’t expected Candace to put herself on the schedule or participate in that side of things when it came to orchard responsibilities. And I definitely hadn’t expected it her first weekend in town. In truth, I thought she’d be pretty hands-off with the crops and produce.
So, I was doubly surprised to see her boxing up apples alongside her brother when I got to Judd’s early Saturday morning.
“Good morning,” she said when she noticed my slow approach up the steps of the Apple House. She wasn’t quite as put together as she had been earlier in the week, right off the plane. But she looked relaxed and comfortable in a white orchard tee shirt, flowy skirt, and her brown hair long and wavy. There was a softness to her now. Still beautiful, just in a way that was approachable rather than intimidating. Despite the years away, Candace looked like she belonged here, and it was a shock to the system.
I’d never seen her in the context of Judd’s employee, only its long-lost daughter.
But I supposed she had grown up on this farm, and she’d probably worked her share of Saturdays, as a teen and adolescent who was part of a family business.
“Good morning,” I finally replied once I stopped gawking at her like a preteen with a crush.
Brady sat nearby on the surface of the worn worktable, booted feet swinging, while he scrolled on his phone. “Hey, Mercer.”
“You’re up early,” I told Candace once I’d returned her brother’s greeting.
She grinned and tossed a thumb over her shoulder. “You thought I’d be hiding out in the office.”
My gaze followed the direction she indicated, and I saw the door behind the counter open for the first time in my three years of employment. “I didn’t even know there was an office back there.”
“I cleaned it out this week. And while I do plan on using it while I’m here, I also intend to help where I can.” Her eyes slid away from me as she closed the sides of the box before scooting it aside. “Earn my keep.”
Speaking of earning one’s keep, I should probably be helping prep the produce to load up and bring downtown for the farmers’ market this morning. I reached for the flattened cardboard and folded it back into a box shape before joining Candace behind the worktable.
“I don’t think you need to worry about that. You’re from here. Your parents are thrilled to have you home.”
Her hands stilled for a moment. “I know. I still want to help though. And taking a shift at the farmers’ market lightens the load, right? You okay being stuck with me today?”
Oh, so she was working the farmers’ market. Not just loading produce or helping out at the orchard today.
“Yeah, of course,” I hurried to say after a moment of hesitation.
