AllFreeNovel
Share Us
With so many people around, Zoe couldn’t exactly seduce Devin. But maybe this was her chance to show him that she was so much more than a kid with a crush now.
And that the spark between them was real.
“Need any help?”
Zoe sighed and cast her gaze skyward but didn’t stop busing dishes. “I thought you were taking the day off.”
Uncle Arthur smiled. “Was just in the neighborhood and thought I’d stop in.” He craned his neck to peer into the dining room. “Decent crowd tonight.”
“Fifty-seven.”
“Impressive.” He pursed his lips. “Terrible, but impressive.”
Nobody wanted to be put out of business more than Uncle Arthur. When his family had landed in this country nearly sixty years ago, they’d relied on soup kitchens. He’d come a long way since then, and he’d had some good luck with investments that had allowed him to found this place. He loved having a way to give back to the community here in Blue Cedar Falls that had taken him in. But if hunger and unemployment just disappeared, he’d be delighted to be out of a job.
Stir crazy and climbing the walls, looking for his next venture, but delighted.
“Late fall is always tough.”
The weather here was warm enough that construction and tourism carried on year-round, but whenever the weather turned chilly, the number of people showing up at Harvest Home climbed.
“True.” Uncle Arthur came over to squeeze her arm. “Knew you could handle it, though.”
Her chest contracted. With no one else in her life trusting her to handle anything more than her TikTok account, that was way too nice to hear. She chuckled to hide the tightness behind her ribs. “Which is why you felt no need to check up on me at all.”
“He’s not checking up on you,” Tania said, coming in from taking a load to the compost pile out back. “He just can’t stay away from me,” she teased.
“You know me,” Uncle Arthur agreed indulgently, dropping his hand.
Sherry was right behind Tania. She shook her head at Arthur. “Held out longer than I thought you would.”
Ignoring her, Uncle Arthur gestured toward the dining room. “I’m just going to quick make the rounds.”
Zoe waved him along. On his way out, Arthur nearly bumped right into Devin, who had a crate filled with dirty dishes in his arms.
Devin’s eyes lit up. “Thought you were taking the night off.”
“Don’t you start in on me, too.” Uncle Arthur waggled a finger at him.
“You’re working yourself to an early grave,” Zoe called after him.
Uncle Arthur’s finger shifted to point at her, but she just shrugged. She wasn’t going to apologize for trying to remind him to take a break once in a while. He continued out to the dining room to do his usual thing, thanking volunteers and checking in on the guests. Sherry and Tania followed him with more milk crates to help with cleanup.
Rolling her sleeves to her elbows, Zoe started running the water.
Devin brought his crate of dishes over to her. “He’s unstoppable, huh?”
“Seems it.” She frowned. Her uncle definitely gave that impression, but he was getting up there, and she did genuinely worry about him.
“He’s fine. There’s a reason he showed up at the last possible second.” Devin tipped his head toward the dining room. “He’s not going to do any work. He just likes talking to everybody.”
His voice was soft and full of affection.
“Right.” Sometimes Zoe forgot that Devin’s road to practically becoming a member of their extended family began right here at Harvest Home. Uncle Arthur didn’t like to talk about it, but Devin had started out as a guest, coming by with his dad every week. Then by himself even more often than that. Sure, he’d become best buddies with Han by then, but it went deeper than that. Devin knew better than anyone how dedicated Uncle Arthur was to making people feel welcome here.
As he started unloading the dirty dishes, Devin’s arm brushed hers, and a shiver of warmth ran through her skin.
Her throat went dry as she glanced up at him. They’d been working in close quarters all night, but any efforts to either seduce him or change his impression of her had taken a back seat to the task of getting dinner on the table for almost sixty people. In the end, this was the closest they’d really gotten, physically.
