Page 33 of The True-Blue Romance

Andy feigns a sigh. “Not you too.”

“It’s the busy season, we gotta be on the ball,” I tease, which earns me a glorious eye roll from Andy and Beau. “The watermelons are about ready. When’s the last time you were out in Field H?”

Andy salutes us to avoid manual labor. “Farm talk means it’s time for me to leave.”

We both watch her run toward the barn. The weddings are a nice moneymaker, but it’s also nice that Beau and I aren’t really involved with them. They’re mostly Andy’s thing, her and other people from the office. We don’t offer an on-site wedding planner, so we’re mostly just a venue, but Andy always likes to be here to ensure everything goes smoothly. And she’s a romantic at heart, so she loves seeing the sickly-sweet vows and first dances.

Weddings are usually sad for me. A reminder that it’s probably not something I’ll ever get to do. I remember Joey’s wedding like it was yesterday. It was just me and Beau as witnesses as he married a pregnant Danica in the courthouse in downtown Orlando. That night I’d about thrown up my guts at the idea of it all. So, no thanks. Weddings aren’t my favorite thing in the world. Never will be.

“Let’s go over some business.” Beau tilts his head toward the office, and I follow him into the warm office that smells like blueberry pancakes. Not because anyone’s cooked them recently, but because we make candles in that scent and the girls in the front are always burning them despite it not being exactly up to code.

“Is Melanie handling the workers’ comp for Hector okay? I want to make sure he’s covered at one hundred percent while he’s out since he broke his leg on company time.”

Beau nods. “Yeah, I checked with her this morning. He’s taken care of. Looks like he’ll be back in a few weeks.”

“We’ll be okay without him for May, but I hope he can be back in June. He’s essential to everything running as smoothly as possible for melon season, even without the u-pick.”

“I know. We always cover our workers.”

“I just want to make sure,” I say, because the workers mean more to me than the farm sometimes. We’re one of the rare farms in the area that likes to keep workers year-round if we can, instead of seasonal.

“We’ll take care of him,” Beau says again when we enter his office. The desk is a little messy, and there’s a new picture frame at the corner. It’s a picture of him and Trevor, twin grins on their faces, with the spring behind them.

I toss myself in the chair across from his desk. “What’s up?”

“How’s it going with your dad?”

I blink slowly. “That’s not work related. But it’s going fine. I guess. He didn’t recognize me today, thinks I’m some military pal of his. Better than him recognizing me, I guess.”

Beau rests his elbows on the table and leans forward, eyebrows furrowed. “You’re sure seeing him is what’s best for you?”

“How the hell would I know?”

Beau makes a sort of pained face, then sighs. “How’s the bunny?”

“Buster’s fine… So are Aragorn and Falcor. You want an animal of your own at the farm?”

“Maybe a barn cat,” Beau says with a crooked grin. “I’m just checking in on you. It’s been a long start to the year.”

I take my baseball cap off and roughly run my hand through my hair. It’s been a long few years for all of us.

“I was thinking of organizing a hangout at the springs on our next off day. Would you join us?”

“I don’t know, Beau… The entire group?”

“Yeah, all the guys.”

His friends are nice, but I’m not sure I’m part of the group. Maybe some of that is my fault for keeping myself so carefully at a distance the past few months. I nod in answer, which seemingly pleases Beau by the width of his relieved smile. That’s all I need to see to know I made the right choice.

It’s been a while since I’ve been to the springs. Probably last summer, when we took Savannah to introduce her to the cold water once she’d mastered swimming at the county YMCA. But there’s no Savannah this time; she’s with her mom this weekend.

The gate that keeps the spring hidden from the public is only loosely latched, the lock probably in Beau’s truck. I open it wide, drive my truck through, then hop out to tie the fence up with the rope. Beau told me what time they’d be here, so I decided to arrive a little later so that I’m not forced to spend as long with everyone. It sounds awful, but sometimes I get grumpy after being around too many people for too long.

The truck rumbles underneath me as I bounce down the dirt road. The trees are thick until suddenly they aren’t, the brush opening up to clay dirt dust and shiny aqua-colored water with sunlight bouncing off it. Laughter greets me when I open the truck door. My heart kicks up a beat at the sight of Joey’s SUV. Beau hadn’t told me Joey was invited; I guess I should’ve assumed. If he invited me along, of course he’d invite Joey as well. I take my shoes off and sling them into the truck bed, grabbing my towel at the same time. I hold my hand over my eyes on my approach to shield myself against the bright sun.

All of the boys are already swimming, except for Joey and Harper, who are sitting on the edge with their legs dangling in the water.

I move to stand behind them. “You gotta jump in, y’all know this by now.”