Page 55 of Small Town Boy

Setting his pole down, Noel twists to face me, bending one leg and propping it on the dock. “The offer from Gus.”

I blink hard. I have no idea what he’s talking about, and as I rack my brain, I can’t figure out if I should or not. I haven’t spent a ton of time focusing on the specifics of agriculture yet, since Anton wanted to get through the rest of nut season first, but I don’t see how that would have anything to do with plants. Unless I’m missing something.

“He made an offer on the nursery? Why?”

“Not the nursery. On…” he trails off, swallowing hard. I can tell this is the first time he’s talked about it out loud to anyone whose last name isn’t Keller, and my heart wants to burst with happiness that he chose me. I reach over, taking his hand and squeezing. “I kinda, half by accident, created this stuff that kills weeds. And kudzu. Does a number on kudzu. It’s all natural, so safe to use pretty much anywhere. Nash and I have been using it around town for the last year or so. Well, come to find out, it’s also pretty decent at keeping bugs away.”

“Which would be very helpful for crops.”

“Crops and killing things like vines and such that might threaten trees.”

“Ag and paper…” I mutter.

Noel nods. “Yup. So, Gus made me an offer to buy the formula, to develop it, and use it for Hayes’s needs. That was the paperwork I was looking over when you showed up for the bonfire.”

“And you thought I was a spy? Sent to Hickory Hills to convince you to take the deal?”

He shrugs. “There are wilder theories.”

I laugh. He’s not wrong.

“This is the first I’m hearing of it. Things like that don’t get shared with marketing. At least not until it’s a done deal and I have to help brand and sell it. Promise I’m not a Yankee spy brought in to swindle you out of your secret recipe.”

He squeezes my hand, a bolt of lightning shooting up my arm, down my torso, and straight to my core. Who knew that sitting on the end of a pier, fishing pole in one hand and a small-town boy’s hand in the other would be a turn-on. But holy shit, is it ever.

“So why did you leave Boston?”

Noel levels me with the question. I knew it was coming—he’s asked a couple of times this week, all in roundabout ways. Each one was carefully deflected though. I should fess up. He’s let me in fully; I should do the same. However, now that we’ve become close, I’m extra afraid that when he finds out what really went down, it will change his opinion of me. Which is the last thing I want.

“Hayes is a branding expert’s dream. I would have been crazy to turn down such a thing.”

“Doesn’t explain the move.”

And, he’s on to me. Damn it.

I suck my lips into my mouth, pressing them together. I need to tell him. I do. Tears prick at the corner of my eyes as I try to figure out where to begin.

“So, there is a story,” he coaxes.

“Oh yes, there’s a story. Hard to know exactly where to begin though.”

Noel is patient though, nodding, letting me have the moment I need. No smart-ass remark of starting at the beginning or patronizing comment about taking my time. Which only makes me fall a little harder.

But, it’s time.

Sucking in a breath, I let it out as slowly as I can, trying to buy time.

“When I first started at Coffman Witte, I was overwhelmed. It was such a big company and everything moved so fast. A totally different world than college had been. I was wicked excited about the job, but in a company like that, it can be hard to find your footing right away. Well, there was this other newbie, Marie, and we were in the same department, although different teams, and we happened to share a table at lunch one day and immediately hit it off. We had so much in common, and it felt really good to have a friend. I’d been pretty lonely, so our instant connection seemed extra special.”

“This was right after losing your parents?”

“Yeah, about six months after the accident. Anyway, Marie and I were fast friends. We helped each other learn, we talked about how we wanted to grow and where we saw our futures, plus then all our personal life stuff too—boyfriends, etc. It was great. Until it wasn’t.”

Closing my eyes, I try to hold back the tears I know are coming. They’re trying their damnedest to push through, but I can’t let them. Not yet. I need to hold out until the end of the story.

“You know how sometimes people say things, and you dismiss it because it’s just an expression? Or so you think?” Noel nods. “Well, one night, we’re out at this little sushi place that did two for one rolls for happy hour, and Marie said to me, ‘I’ll do anything to be successful.’ Just an expression, right? Like when Willa says she’s going to kill Nash?”

I smile wryly, my bitterness rising to the surface, fighting those tears for main billing.