Page 35 of Break My Heart (The Haydon Falls #2)

Sawyer

‘Who’s Nikki and Dave?’ Lyndsay asks my mom. ‘Are they getting married at the orchard?’

‘They haven’t decided,’ Mom says, with the half-smile she uses when she’s uncomfortable. She hates lying, but she had to in order to keep Nick’s secret. ‘I don’t believe you know them.’ She picks up the tray of bacon. ‘Would anyone like some more?’

‘I’ll have some,’ Nick says, taking the tray even though he already has bacon on his plate. He’s trying to distract Lyndsay so she doesn’t keep asking questions. He really wants her to be surprised tonight.

My big brother is getting engaged. Jake’s already engaged and Nash is getting married in a few weeks.

I hate to admit this, but I’m a little jealous.

A few months ago I wouldn’t have cared, but Gina changed all that.

She made me start imagining a life that was more than just myself and my business.

I started thinking about marriage and kids, something I haven’t thought about since I was with Kendall.

I was in my early twenties then, and although I was engaged, I don’t think I was ready for marriage and kids.

Now I am, but the girl I was hoping would be part of that dream is gone.

‘Sawyer will be next,’ Brody says, shoveling food in his mouth.

‘Next for what?’ I ask.

‘Getting married,’ he says.

‘I didn’t know you and Gina were that serious,’ Jen says. She’s Bryce’s girlfriend. They’ve dated for awhile now. Bryce will probably be next to propose.

‘We’re not,’ I tell Jen. ‘Brody’s just joking with me.’

‘The way you two were looking at each other on the dance floor last night, it looked pretty serious to me,’ Nash says.

‘It’s not.’ I point to the butter dish. ‘Can someone pass that to me?’

I don’t want the butter. Asking for it is just a desperate attempt to get Nash and everyone else to stop talking about Gina.

‘Why isn’t she here?’ Callie asks, handing me the butter. ‘I thought she was coming.’

‘She couldn’t make it,’ I say, setting the butter down.

‘Did something happen?’ Mom asks, sounding concerned. ‘You two aren’t fighting, are you?’

‘Can we not talk about this right now?’ I say, giving her a look to stop questioning me.

‘They’re fighting,’ Brody says, like he’s sure of it.

I glare at him. ‘Shut up or I’ll tell everyone about the parade of girls you keep showing up with at the brewery.’

‘Parade of girls?’ Mom looks at Brody. ‘What does that mean?’

‘Nothing, Mom.’ He gulps down his orange juice. ‘Sawyer’s just jealous that I get more girls than him.’

‘He doesn’t need more girls,’ she says. ‘He has Gina.’ Her eyes dart back to me. ‘You’re still seeing her, right? ’

I shrug. ‘We’re taking a break. It’s not a big deal. We both have a lot going on right now with the cider competition next week and we don’t have time to see each other.’

I’m hoping that’ll be enough to keep everyone quiet, but knowing my family, it won’t be.

‘Will she be at the festival today?’ Mom asks.

‘Probably not. She didn’t say.’

‘Call her and find out,’ Dad says.

‘Dad, just let it go, okay?’

He gives me a stern look, like he’s going to give me a talk later.

‘Nash,’ Uncle Mitch says. ‘Why don’t you tell everyone your news?’

Thanks, Uncle Mitch. You just saved me from more questions about Gina and more angry looks from my parents. They need to stop butting into my personal life. I know they loved Gina—we all did—but she isn’t the girl we thought she was, and I’m not going to keep dating a girl who lies to me.

Nash leans back and puts his arm around Callie. ‘Callie and I are moving up here for a few months.’

‘Why?’ Brody asks. ‘You sick of Chicago?’

‘It’s not about that, although it will be nice to get away,’ Nash says.

‘It’s about the baby,’ Callie says, rubbing her stomach. ‘This pregnancy has been kind of hard on me, not just because I’ve been sick all the time, but because I don’t have my mom anymore. It’s been really nice to have Martha around, helping me get through this.’

‘So we asked if she’d be okay with us spending more time here,’ Nash says.

‘And of course I said yes.’ Mom smiles at Callie and Nash.

‘With the bad weather coming soon,’ Nash says, ‘it’ll be harder to get here so we just decided to move here for a few months.’

‘Where are you going to live?’ Jason asks.

‘Here,’ Mom answers. She’s beaming as she looks at Nash and Callie. ‘Your father and I invited them to stay with us. Nash is going to work on renovating the old Carson house and Callie’s going to help me make the baked goods for the orchard.’

‘I thought you wanted to get rid of the Carson house,’ Jason says.

‘We decided to fix it up,’ Dad says, ‘in case one of you boys wants it someday.’

‘I’m not living there,’ I tell him. ‘I love you guys, but that’s a little too close.’

‘I might live there,’ Jason says. ‘But yeah, it’s a little close. I’d have to think about it.’

‘I’ve already got my eye on a place,’ Brody says. ‘It’s a few blocks from downtown with a big yard. Nash, you think you could teach me how to do construction? The place needs some work done.’

‘Sure. You can help me with the Carson place. The best way to learn is to just do it.’

‘You’re buying a house?’ Nick asks Brody, like he’s crazy for even considering it. As the oldest, Nick worries about all of us. He’s always questioning our decisions. It’s annoying, but we all know it’s just a big brother thing. He can’t help it.

‘I’m thinking about it,’ Brody says. ‘Matt’s got the listing. I told him to let me know when the price drops.’

‘Matt didn’t tell me that,’ Nick says.

‘Because he knew you’d try to talk me out of it.’

‘You’re okay with this?’ Nick asks Dad.

‘It’s his money,’ Dad says. ‘And when he’s done fixing it up, he’s planning to sell it or rent it out. It’ll be another source of income for him.’

‘Why don’t you and Lyndsay take the Carson house?’ Jason asks Nick. ‘It’s right next to the orchard. You could walk to work.’

‘It might be a little small for us,’ Lyndsay says, smiling at Nick. ‘We’re hoping to have a family someday.’

‘We don’t need to figure it out now,’ Dad says. ‘If you boys don’t want it, we’ll rent it out. Either way, it’s worth fixing up.’

‘How long do you think you’ll be here?’ I ask Nash.

He looks at Callie. ‘We haven’t decided.’

‘Probably until the baby arrives,’ she says.

‘I think Martha would like you here even longer than that,’ Uncle Mitch says, smiling at her.

‘I would love to help with the baby,’ she says to Callie and Nash. ‘But you two need to decide what’s best for you.’

‘I hate to run off,’ Nick says, ‘but I have a lot to do before the orchard opens.’ He gets up from the table and leaves.

Mom checks her watch. ‘I suppose we all need to be getting ready.’

‘Martha, I can start on the apple tarts,’ Callie offers.

‘That would be wonderful. Thank you. And while you’re doing that, I’ll get the tables set up.’

‘I can do that,’ I say to Mom, knowing the tables are heavy.

‘You sure?’ Jason says, smiling. ‘You might ruin your sweater.’

I get up and take off the sweater, leaving me in a t-shirt. ‘Happy now?’

He laughs. ‘I bet that t-shirt cost almost as much as the sweater.’

‘Just put on a brewery shirt,’ Nash says to me. ‘You should be wearing that anyway to promote your place. ’

‘Yeah, you’re right.’

Nick returns, standing near the end of the table. ‘If you all wouldn’t mind staying a minute, I have something I need to ask.’

We all look at him. He seems nervous, or excited. It’s hard to tell with Nick. He’s good at hiding his emotions.

‘Well hurry up and ask,’ Dad says, getting impatient.

‘Could everyone sit down?’ Nick says. ‘Everyone except Lyndsay.’

We all sit back in our seats as Lyndsay remains standing.

‘Nick, what’s going on?’ she asks.

‘Could you come over here?’

He smiles at her as she walks to the end of the table.

‘Nick, we need to get ready,’ she says in a hushed tone. ‘The festival starts soon.’

‘Yeah, I know. But first I need to ask you something.’

‘What is it?’

He takes her hands and looks at her. I suddenly realize what’s going on. He said he was going to wait until tonight, but I guess he changed his mind.

‘I fell in love with you back in high school,’ he says.

‘I didn’t know that’s what it was back then.

I just knew I’d never felt that way about a girl and wasn’t sure I ever would again.

Turns out I never did, until you walked back into my life.

’ He pauses as Lyndsay tears up, her lip quivering.

‘I was too shy and stupid back then to tell you how I felt. I let you go without giving us a chance. And it’s the biggest mistake I’ve ever made. Well, that and becoming a lawyer.’

Lyndsay laughs a little.

‘But I’ll never make that mistake again.’ He gets down on one knee and pulls a small box from his pocket. ‘I love you, Lyndsay, and I would be honored if you’d spend the rest of your life with me.’ He holds out the box and lifts open the top. ‘Will you marry me?’

‘Yes!’ She lunges at him, nearly knocking him over as she hugs him. ‘Of course I’ll marry you!’ She pulls back. ‘But I thought you wanted to wait.’

‘Yeah,’ Brody says. ‘You told us you were asking her tonight.’

Lyndsay looks at us. ‘All of you knew about this?’

‘I wanted to make sure they’d be there,’ Nick says as Lyndsay looks back at him. ‘I was going to ask you at the dance tonight, but then I thought it wouldn’t be as special with all the noise and people around. I decided now would be better, when it’s just us and the family.’

‘Oh, this is wonderful!’ Mom gushes. ‘Congratulations to you both!’

The rest of us join in with more congratulations.

‘Let’s see the ring,’ Brody says.

Nick puts it on Lyndsay’s finger. She turns around and shows us, a huge smile on her face.

‘It’s gorgeous!’ Jen says, getting out of her seat and racing up to Lyndsay. Ivy and Callie do the same thing.

While they look at the ring, the rest of us get up to leave, congratulating Nick and Lyndsay as we go.

The rest of the day, I keep thinking about Nick and how happy he looked asking Lyndsay to marry him.

I honestly didn’t think he’d ever get married.

He never seemed like he wanted to. The longest he’d dated a girl was maybe a year but it wasn’t serious.

He never talked about marrying her. Then he runs into Lyndsay last summer and a few months later, they’re engaged.

*?*?*

‘Ready for this to be over?’ Jason asks as we watch all the couples dancing. I was dreading this part of the festival, knowing it would make me miss Gina. I wasn’t wrong. I miss her like crazy .

‘The dance? Yeah. I don’t even know why I’m here. I think I’ll head home.’

‘I meant the festival. Every year I forget how much work it is.’

‘I thought it was easier this year. Nick had everything running smoothly. This is the best the festival’s ever been. Don’t tell Dad that. I don’t want him to feel bad.’

‘He wouldn’t. He admitted Nick did a better job than he did. Dad’s not good with stuff like this. He’s better at the orchard stuff.’

‘Are you going to be here tomorrow?’

‘Just for a couple hours. Nick said he wouldn’t need much help since it’s a short day.’

‘I think I might skip it then, spend time at the brewery.’

Tomorrow’s the last day of the festival. It’s a short day. We’ll close up around five, when most of the tourists head home.

On Monday, Nick will start getting ready for the cider competition, which is next weekend.

In addition to the competition, we’ll have food trucks here and the grills going.

People who don’t care about the competition, which is most everyone other than the judges and contestants, will come here for the food.

It’ll be another big weekend at the orchard, one I was hoping to spend with Gina.

Now I just want the competition to be over.

I’m hoping to win, but I’m not counting on it.

I’ve spent a long time making my hard cider the best I could, but I still don’t think it’s good enough.

I’m starting to accept that I’m still learning this stuff and need a few more years before I can compete with breweries in bigger cities.

Gina’s the reason for that, for me admitting I need to keep learning and getting better. If she’d never come to town, I’d assume my beers were good because people were buying them. But the truth is, the locals would buy my beer just to support me, because I’m a Kanfield.

I don’t want my name to be the reason people buy my beer.

I want them to buy it because it’s damn good, better than other breweries.

Gina pushed me to do better, and for that reason, I’m glad she came to town.

I just wish I’d never gotten involved with her.

Finding the girl you want to be with, only to lose her, is worse than never having her at all.