Page 24 of As It Was (Strawberry Springs #1)

MOLLIE

Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch

Kerry Winsor

Weird person at the school? Talking to Cain? What the heck happened today?

Comments:

Jackie Anne : That’s between them.

Kerry Winsor : We all know you’re weirdly protective of Cain, but this is NEWS.

Tammy Jane : I know nothing. So I don’t know how much news there really is.

Kerry Winsor : Ugh. I knew I should have tried to talk to him and not Mollie.

When we were on the way back to the farmhouse, I started getting texts. For a while, I tried to ignore them, but when I saw it was my dad, I knew I was in trouble.

“You better go up to your room and sleep,” Cain said as we pulled into the driveway.

“I’m all?—”

He glared. “Don’t even try.”

The arms of exhaustion were still trying to pull me into sleep, but my anxiety over Dad being mad at me was winning.

“I have other things to do.”

“Are you serious?”

I showed him my phone. “Work calls.”

“This is your dad.”

“Yep. And my boss. I’ll rest later.”

That wasn’t the answer Cain wanted, but I darted out of the truck before he could lock me in and force me to sleep. I grabbed my laptop and went up to my room so Cain wouldn’t witness my dad yelling at me.

Then I finally answered my phone.

“I knew I shouldn’t have let you work remotely,” he started before I could even say hello. “You’re not focused, and I can never reach you!”

I winced and covered my cheeks. It took a lot to get Dad this angry.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I had something come up.”

“And so have we. Multiple times, Mollie. You need to be focused on your job. Not prancing around in fields.”

The embarrassment morphed into annoyance. I wasn’t prancing . I was working my ass off to make something. And even though it wasn’t perfect, I was proud of how it was coming along. Sure, some nights I fell into bed and passed out immediately, but it was more than what I’d had in Nashville.

But I did owe my dad eight hours a day too. I should have been reachable.

“I know,” I said. “I’ll do better.”

I wasn’t sure how. I was already working on something every single hour I was awake.

Sometimes, I had to take my dinner to my bedroom to catch up on work emails.

Cain tried to argue with me that I was breaking the number one house rule, but I was too exhausted to even pretend like I cared.

All I could do was survive until the berries were planted.

In the darker months, I’d have less to do, but I wasn’t sure if Dad was going to give me the leeway to make it that far.

“Trevor thinks I should fire you. He said this would happen when you went out there. If it were anyone else, they’d be gone.”

I was sure Trevor wanted Dad to fire me for other reasons too, though I knew my work hadn’t been top-notch.

“Dad, I’m trying. I promise.”

“Are you?”

“Yes,” I said. “You see how late I’m online.”

“But you should be here during the day . Not when no one else is working.”

“I’ll try.”

“You’ve been saying that this whole time. I need to see you actually be better. Or ...” He trailed off.

“Okay,” I said. “I’ll be better.”

He hung up not too long after, and I sighed. I had rows of strawberries to get done, and I’d planned on doing those in the morning, but with Dad’s threat, I needed to be online at that time.

I thought about asking Cain for help, but he had enough on his plate as it was.

Shaking my head, I got to work, firing off emails and making sure everything was organized for the day.

I set up a tentative schedule and planned on bringing my laptop outside so I could hear it when I was contacted. It wasn’t much, but it would have to do .

The sun was low in the sky by the time I had everything done with Dad’s work.

But mine was just beginning.

Standing, I stretched and yawned, trying to find energy that wasn’t there. I ignored the heaviness in my eyes and went outside.

I worked until long after the sun had sunk below the horizon. I didn’t eat dinner, even though I saw Cain and Eric making it.

But I got another row done.

If the sun were out, I would have surveyed my work. I still had more to go, but at least I was getting somewhere.

I stood, ignoring the way I felt unsteady on my own feet, and went inside. My entire body ached, and I’d pay for this tomorrow.

“Are you done ignoring me when I tell you you’re pushing yourself too hard?” Cain asked. He was finishing up dishes, the dinner already put away. My stomach panged, and I knew I needed to eat as soon as possible.

“Are you so mad that you won’t share dinner?”

“And continue your torture? You’re doing enough of that yourself.”

He opened the microwave, which revealed a plate of chicken and vegetables. “This is for you.”

“I don’t care if you let Hennifer attack me. You’re actually the best.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Thank you,” I said.

Cain nodded and walked off. I had no idea what plans he had for the evening, but I had a feeling they didn’t involve me. I wasn’t sure why I was disappointed. Was I hoping for more of our back-and-forth?

I didn’t look great anyway. I’d been in the dirt for hours, and I knew I didn’t smell good. I washed my hands thoroughly and grabbed my food.

Sitting at the dining-room table, I scarfed everything down faster than I ever had before. After that, I drank four glasses of water. My head pounded a little less, though it did nothing for my sore muscles.

Moments later, Cain walked in.

“You done?”

“Yes. I’ll get out of your hair now.”

“No, you’re gonna take a bath.”

My cheeks heated. “Yeah, that was the plan. It may not seem like it, but I do know how to take care of myself.”

He rolled his eyes and gestured for me to follow him. I did, and my jaw dropped when I walked into the bathroom and found a bath had already been run for me.

“What is this?”

“Epsom salt, mainly. It’ll help you not feel like garbage tomorrow. Rinse off in the shower first, then get in the tub.”

“This is for me?”

“I’m not using Jade’s nice stuff on Eric, that’s for sure. He still tries to drink bathwater because he thinks it’s funny. Besides, he hates the sunset scent.”

I took in a deep breath. The air smelled fresh and clean. “That’s what this is?”

“Yep. Enjoy.”

“Why did you do this?”

He paused at the doorway before turning slowly. “You’re doing too much. You know that, right?”

“But if I don’t, then you would be in my boat.”

He crossed his arms but nodded. “I know. And I can’t fault you for putting in the work. But I can fault you for not being able to walk tomorrow.”

“Because then you’d have to work on the fields?”

“Because you’d be miserable.” His eyes were firm on mine. “Enjoy your bath, Mollie.”

My jaw dropped as Cain left without another word. I was torn between being insulted and wanting to let him do whatever he wanted to do to take care of me.

The man that I’d planned on marrying had never done any of this. And I wasn’t sure if I’d been with a complete dick, or if Cain was much more kind than any man I’d known.

Maybe both were true.

The bath didn’t solve all my problems, but it fixed a lot of them. I was somewhat sore, but I felt alive after scrubbing all the dirt off myself in the standing shower and then sinking into hot water.

Life didn’t feel like as big of a mess when I finally went to my room. Or at least I wasn’t as big of a mess.

And I definitely owed Cain a thank you.

I flopped onto the bed, listening to nothing but silence until my phone rang. I groaned and grabbed it, but any frustration I felt vanished when I saw who it was.

“Wren!” I exclaimed. “Oh my God, I’ve missed you.”

“Hey! I finally have a moment alone.” She sounded good. Happy. “Figured we needed to catch up.”

“We do. I’ve reached a new level of busy.”

“Busy? Didn’t you move to a small town to not be busy?”

“I still work for Dad.” I let out a long sigh. “And it’s strawberry-planting season. I’ve never been so tired in my life.”

“Can’t you take a leave of absence or something? Use PTO?”

“I tried. He said he needed me working, which I’m trying to do. I’ve definitely overstayed his two-week limit, though. ”

“Probably because you like it.”

“I love it,” I replied. “And even though I’m more tired than I’ve ever been, I’m having fun in the fields. Now I get how you feel when you’re tearing up old tile.”

“It’s a feeling nothing else can compare to,” she said. “Any reason you’re not doing it full time?”

“I’m keeping doors open,” I said, discomfort growing in my stomach. “I could plant all of this and immediately kill them. Which would be humbling.”

“I somehow doubt that,” she replied. “Do you really see yourself being happy back in Nashville?”

I wasn’t sure. For so long, my life had been there. My future had been there. I had thought I’d go to college, get my degree, and work at Dad’s company until I retired.

What I was doing now wasn’t anything close to that. But it was hard to fully separate myself from what I’d planned on for so long, especially when Trevor seemed to want me fired.

“No idea,” I replied. “I’m taking it one day at a time right now.”

“All right, I won’t push too much. You’ve done a lot of growing over the past few weeks. Literally and figuratively.”

I huffed out a laugh, but then yawned. “Yeah. It’s been a lot .”

“You sound exhausted,” she said. “Which means I’m on borrowed time.”

“Tell me about the show. I watched the first episode with Cain.”

“Wait, you’re watching TV with him?”

“More like I was watching TV alone and he happened to walk in. He liked it, though. He apparently lived in Nashville for a bit.”

“Interesting.”

“What? ”

“I don’t know. You sound ... happy .. . when you talk about him. I’m not used to hearing that about a guy you live with.”

My cheeks heated. “First of all, it’s not like that.”

“I didn’t say it was.”

“And second of all, I’m happy because I’m in a better place. He has nothing to do with it.”

“Even though he lives in the same house as you?”

“Well . . .”

“Right,” she said. “Come on, you’re single. You can do what you want!”

“Wren, he barely tolerates me. I’m not ruining that.”

“Then go find someone else. Haven’t you had a night to yourself at all?”

“I’ll think about it. Once I survive a week of actually focusing on work.”

“Try it now.”

“Wren, I’m serious. My dad is thinking of firing me.”

“He would never.”

“He would if he had Trevor in his ear telling him to.”

“Oh, of course Trevor’s in his ear. He can suck a dick.”

I rubbed my face. “Agreed, but I’ve put off work a lot. And gotten in trouble for it. Dad doesn’t let people work from home. Nor does he give this much patience either. I need to lock in.”

“You need to take care of yourself too.”

“You sound like Cain.”

“Do I now? Maybe he’s not so bad.”

“He’s not, but I can take care of myself later.”

“No, you need to now.” Her voice was firm. “I know I said I won’t push, but you have to see what’s happening here.”

“That I’m doing too much?”

“Yes, but you’re also trying to make everyone happy.

You always have, which is why you were locked in a job you didn’t care about with a man whose only personality trait was how many hours he worked.

And now you’ve finally done something for yourself, but you’re still getting pulled in too many directions. ”

I stared at the ceiling. Leave it to Wren to go right for the kill. “I’m not gonna say you’re wrong, but I also just can’t leave my job like that.”

“Why?” she asked.

I squeezed my eyes shut. “I don’t know. It makes me so nervous.”

“Anything worth doing is hard.”

“What if I mess things up here, Wren?”

“I have a feeling you won’t.”

I had the same feeling, yet the worry nagged at me. “Mom left for a reason.”

“You’re not your mom. Nor are you your dad, or Trevor. What they love is different than what you love. I’m not saying to quit and leave your dad high and dry, but maybe consider what you want from life? And if it’s to stay there, then stay there. Work on the farm. Be happy.”

I let out a sigh. “I’ll think about it when I’m not falling asleep on the phone.”

“Fair enough,” she said. “I’ll let you go so you can get some sleep.”

“But I wanna talk to you,” I whined.

“We’ll text,” she promised. “But you should rest too. Text me when you see the next episode.”

“Text me when you climb your man like a tree.”

“Trust me. I’m working on it.”

“How’s it going?”

“Slowly but surely. I have one hell of an in right now.”

“I hope it happens soon. And you get lots of orgasms.”

“You should do the same. I’m sure you could find some hookup out there.”

“The only man I talk to on a daily basis is Cain, and I think he would explode if I offered that.”

“But would he give you orgasms?”

I closed my eyes, letting myself imagine it. “You know what? I think he would.”