Page 42 of Apple of My Eye

Chapter Thirty-Two

Nick

WEEK NINE

The earth is damp this morning, soil packed tightly underneath my boots.

Not like yesterday when everything felt dusty.

It was the perfect rain before U-Pick, Joe told me this morning—enough to bind the soil together, to stop everything from being coated in silt, but not too much that it turned everything to mud.

We officially open our doors to folks this weekend, who will come in from across the state to pick apples with their families, their friends, and their partners.

I’m exhausted, it’s the first night I’ve spent without Eloise all week and I didn’t sleep well.

I tell myself it’s because I like her mattress better than Betsy’s, trying to pretend that I don’t already know insomnia will plague me again when I return to San Francisco.

I tried to bring up visiting the last time we were together, asking if she would go see Linden if he didn’t end up making the trip during the summer, knowing the answer was probably no.

‘I don’t know,’ was all she said before she quickly changed the topic.

I took it as a no. Not that I expected anything else.

Eloise makes her disdain of San Francisco clear.

Although I can’t help but wonder if that’s because her dream is there waiting for her.

Or in Seattle. Or anywhere but a farm, anywhere with a lab, with research and young people and so much potential.

I take a deep breath of the crisp morning air to clear my thoughts.

I can’t afford any distractions today. There’s a buzz of nervous energy about the place, we’ve had a handful of additional workers arrive to help with the anticipated swell of guests, and it feels like there’s a lot of responsibility on my shoulders.

Whatever happens here will determine what Joe and Betsy decide to do, I can feel it.

If they have a great weekend they might think twice about Scott’s.

If they have a great weekend and Scott’s knows then they might give the Parkers something more to think about.

And if they have a bad weekend .?.?. Well, I try not to think about that.

I head to check on the pigs. Maisy squeals as soon as she sees me, trotting over to nuzzle at my palm, undoubtedly looking for treats.

‘Hey, sweet girl.’ I greet each one. ‘My princess,’ I say to Peach. I give Buttercup a belly rub. ‘You’ll be the stars of our show today,’ I tell them.

Walking away from their pen, I’m overwhelmed by a wave of nostalgia.

I’ll miss them. I love their distinct personalities and their noises.

I love the way their snouts are wet with dew in the morning.

I love the way the air feels in my lungs, so pure.

I love how little I have to check my phone or my email.

I think about how hard I’ve worked to set myself up for success. It’s not like I’m going to abandon it now, I just wish it looked a little different. But struggling to make ends meet my whole adult life will not be success. I know that much.

I glance down towards the Anderson’s farm as I walk back towards the kitchen. We open in a little under two hours. Julian and Isaac should arrive about that time too.

Seeing them will be nice. A good reminder of what I’m missing out on in San Francisco—the reasons I need to go back.

I spot Julian’s unmistakable head of curly black hair towering over the other customers, weaving closer and closer to me.

We’re only an hour into U-Pick and it’s crazier than I thought.

Vans are rolling up by the dozen, muddying up the fields around the house we designated for parking.

Families are piling out in color-coordinated flannels, matching red beanies, and plaid scarves.

We hired a couple teenagers from the local high school to man the ticket stand and the pig pen and their mops of unruly hair are unmistakable.

My lips are already splitting into a grin, I’m picking up my pace. I’ve been waiting all morning for them to arrive, and based on the relief I feel was more worried about them getting here in one piece than I let on. Those country roads are no joke.

‘If I had known you’d be so happy to see me I would have come earlier.’

I turn to my right, where the voice came from, to find myself face to face with Harvey, one of the executives from Scott’s Orchards. I almost don’t recognize him. He’s in jeans and a button-down, infinitely more casual than the last time we met when he was wearing dark slacks and a suit jacket.

‘Millie, can you say hello?’ he asks a little girl at his feet, her strawberry-blonde head barely reaching past his knees. She nods and looks up at me with huge eyes. ‘Hi,’ she says quietly.

I kneel down so we’re at the same height before pretending to pull an apple out of thin air from behind her head. She’s delighted.

Harvey gives me a quizzical but amused look. ‘Magic camp one summer.’ I shrug.

‘Between you and me—’ Harvey looks around ‘—everyone else wanted to give up on this place.’

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. I don’t know who I’m more annoyed at—Harvey, for showing up out of nowhere playing the hero or Joe and Betsy, for dragging their feet so much to respond to the offer in the first place.

‘I don’t mean to be a bother,’ he says, ‘I just came to check things out, see how you’re getting along.’

‘Don’t be silly,’ I say, ignoring the sinking feeling in my chest that it will be even longer before I can spend time with my friends.

That little sacrifice is worth it if I can give the Parkers a little bit more time to make one of the biggest decisions of their life. ‘I’ll take you on the grand tour.’

I straighten up in time to see Julian materialize from the crowd.

He starts jumping up and down with excitement.

I point at Harvey and his daughter Millie, who thankfully needed her shoe retied so both of them are looking down and make a slashing motion across my neck.

If it was only Julian who’d arrived, I would have taken him on the tour with us.

But Isaac is a wild card, and I can’t have him blowing up the Parkers’ chances with a stupid comment that would fly in the city but not here.

Isaac slams into Julian from behind and Julian turns to whisper something to him that seems to be along the lines of play it cool, because Isaac’s expression neutralizes and he stands still, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, grinning at me all the same.

‘This place is sick!’ Isaac mouths to me.

‘Business,’ I mouth, pointing at Harvey. ‘Sorry. See you later.’

Julian flashes me an OK sign. One thing I can count on with my friends is that they can have fun doing anything. With or without me, when I catch up with them later, they’ll have had a grand old time.

I lead Harvey and Millie into the fields, promising Millie the best apple she’s ever had. I turn around to glance at Julian and Isaac, hoping they’ll make their way inside or Mrs. Parker will notice the strays when I see Eloise appear next to them with a smile on her face.

Stunned, I watch as she beckons them towards the trail that goes to the Andersons’ farm. They haven’t even bought tickets to our U-Pick yet! Eloise is going to take them on their first apple farm visit? Our eyes meet and she waves happily. ‘We’ll miss you,’ she mouths to me.

I can’t help but smile. As much as I wanted to be the one to do it, if there’s anyone else I want to take Isaac and Julian on their first farm tour, it’s Eloise.

I just hope Isaac and Julian don’t do anything stupid.