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“You can eat donuts in other places in town. You don’t have to come here!” I think if she was anywhere else, she would have stomped her foot. “You know what he did to me just last week. You’re both fraternizing with the enemy.”
“The enemy?” I chuckle, and at that moment, I swear if Goldie’s eyes were laser beams, she would have flayed me on the spot when she pins them on me.
Her two friends look at each other, they look at Goldie, and then back at me.
Avery sets down her donut, and before me, her posture changes as she swipes her hands together to brush away any remaining crumbs.
“What did you do?” she asks very accusingly.
“Yeah, what did you do?” Jane asks. I’d forgotten she was standing next to me, and as I glance at her, I immediately see she’s taken sides with them. Her arms are crossed over her chest, and her face is curious and displeased. Jane was a friend of my mother’s, and ever since Mom passed, she’s watched over me. Of course I don’t need her to, but I allow it because I know it would make my mother happy.
“Nothing that Goldie here didn’t do to me,” I tell them all innocently.
“Ha! You can’t compare two little rubber snakes to eighteen deer!” She flings her hand back toward her property.
“Is that how many eventually showed up?” I rub my chin and nod my head like I’m impressed with myself, when even I know that’s a lot.
“Why would you attract deer to her yard?” Jane asks, and then she looks at Goldie. “By the way, I’m Jane, dear. If you ever need anything, you just stop on by. I’m here Wednesday through Sunday, ten to three.”
“Oh.” Goldie’s taken aback by her kindness. “Thank you. I’m Cora, the new neighbor across the road. It’s nice to know that not everyone here is a Neanderthal.” She shoots me another death glare, and Jane snorts.
“Explain yourself.” Jane waves her hand at me like I’m to proceed, and I stand straight. My gaze finds Goldie’s, and her cheeks splotch red.
“I was just returning the hospitality.”
Her friend Juliet snorts while Avery silently picks up her donut and takes another bite.
Dismissing me, Goldie turns toward her friends. “I thought we were meeting at the nursery?”
“Well, Avery got a craving, so here we are. We figured you could meet us for a snack, and then we’d just all go together.”
“And this is the snack you needed?” she asks Avery.
Avery just nods, her blonde curls moving with her head. “They’re so good,” she whispers as if we can’t all hear her.
“Darn right, they are. Best in the county,” Jane says. “I make them fresh to order. They’re always warm and full of delicious flavors. You’ll have to come back”—she glances at me and then over to Goldie—“another day when this one is working up the mountain, and we’ll visit together.”
“Okay,” Goldie says to pacify her, but what she really means is when hell freezes over. I may not know her well, but I do know after the refusal of her plant and the deer, I doubt she’ll ever come over here for a visit.
Surprisingly, an unknown, somber emotion flickers in my chest at that thought. This has me scowling, and Goldie misinterprets the expression, assuming I don’t want her coming over to see Jane. She scowls right back.
“Are you two ready yet?”
They nod and pack up their donuts. Goldie storms out the door, not even giving me a second glance. Avery places a twenty dollar bill on the counter and waves off Jane as she attempts to get her change. She shoves a large bottle of water and her donuts into her bag, and the two shoot me one more glare as they leave.
Silence engulfs us, and next to me, Jane turns and pops up one brow.
I let out a deep sigh and lift my hat to run my hand through my hair before putting it back on.
“She had it coming,” I tell her, defending myself.
“Did she?” She tilts her head, eyes narrowing.
Ignoring her, I grab the water I came in for, spin around, and storm out the back door. The last thing I need is another woman giving me a hard time.
I first met Will and Clay almost five years ago, not long after I bought the orchard. I had gone to Smokey’s, the bar locals frequent at night, when they were just starting to become known. I’d watched them play a set, and when they wandered over to the bar to talk to the owner, Rich, he introduced us. Since then, I’ve run into them a few times, but that’s it. They’ve made a big name for themselves and work hard to keep their lives private. I respect that one hundred percent.
I also know that Ash’s wife, Avery, is in the music industry. While I don’t listen to pop music very often, even I have heard of Avery, Emma, and Cora. My stomach tightens and then dips at the connection.
