Page 9

The trees Eileen had written about stood only a short distance from the packing shed. The branches were heavy with apples, some already deep red while others were still streaked with green.

Wes stopped beneath one of the trees and looked up through the branches. “This is where the note starts. Eileen marked this section later because it gets less morning sun than the rows farther down.”

Alan unfolded the paper again. “That much makes sense.”

“It will make more sense once you’ve been through a whole season.” Wes reached up and turned one of the apples gently without pulling it free. “You’ll start remembering which sections run early and which ones make you wait. But even then, you check. A warm week can change things faster than you expect.”

Kate moved closer, studying the fruit. “What are you looking for?”

Wes took the apple lightly in his hand again. “Color helps, but that depends on the variety. You look at how easily it comes away, whether the seeds are changing color, how it tastes. Eventually you stop thinking about most of it.”

He lifted the apple slightly and gave it a small turn. It stayed firmly attached.

“Not ready?”

“Not quite.”

“That looked suspiciously like instinct,” Kate said.

“Years of practice pretending to be instinct.”

That made her laugh.

Alan was already comparing the tree to Eileen’s note. “So if I checked this every morning, I’d start seeing the change?”

“You would.” Wes moved to the next branch. “And you don’t need to inspect every apple. Once you know what the tree is doing, you know what needs a closer look.”

Kate watched her father listen. Running the orchard took dozens of small decisions, and none of them looked especially difficult when Wes explained them one at a time. Together, though, they represented years of experience Alan and Janice did not have yet.

But that no longer seemed quite as frightening as it had from a distance. Her father did not need to know everything today.

Kate looked at Wes again. He had one hand resting against the rough bark while he talked to Alan, completely at ease among the trees.

Alan studied the note. “I think I’m getting it. Which probably means I should stop before I convince myself I’m an expert.”

Wes laughed. “That would be dangerous. I’ve been doing this for years and I still learn something every season.”

“That is the best advice I’ve heard so far,” Kate said.

Her father moved a few trees farther along, checking the fruit as Wes had shown him. Kate stayed where she was.

Wes turned to her. “You really were worried about them, weren’t you?”

He asked it quietly, without amusement this time.

“A little.” Kate glanced toward her father. “Maybe more than a little. When they talked about retiring, I pictured them going off on a cruise, not buying an orchard. They’ve always been good at making things work, but an orchard seemed like quite a leap.”

“It is.”

She looked back at him, surprised by the easy agreement.

Wes smiled. “You were expecting me to tell you there was nothing to worry about.”

“I thought you might.”

“There’s plenty that can go wrong. Weather, pests, equipment, getting the timing wrong.” He looked toward Alan, who was now examining another apple without touching it. “But your parents didn’t arrive thinking buying the place made them experts. That helps.”

Kate looked toward her father again. “They do seem happy.”