Page 9 of Break My Heart (The Haydon Falls #2)

‘Who let you come out here?’ I yell as I stare at her tight little ass in those jeans, her hips swaying as she walks through the rows of trees.

‘Your mom!’ she yells back. She trips, but catches herself, and keeps going.

It’s easy to trip out here. The orchard is on a hill, forcing you to walk on a slope, and the ground is covered in straw to keep the weeds under control.

I’m used to it, but people who aren’t sometimes trip or get their feet caught up in the straw.

Gina’s back to picking apples now, ignoring me.

I grab my basket and go to a different row.

Since my family owns the place and I grew up here, I know how to spot the best trees and best apples, and I know all the varieties and how they taste.

For the cider, I want an apple that’s tart and firm and will produce the best juice.

I walk down a row to a tree that has the exact kind of apple I want. It’s a good, healthy tree with lots of apples that are just now turning ripe. They’re at their peak so their flavor will be perfect, just what I need for the cider.

‘Ow!’ I hear Gina say. ‘Dammit!’

‘What happened?’ I yell up the hill.

‘Nothing,’ she yells back. I hear her voice again, but it’s softer. ‘Shit. Damn, that hurts.’

‘Gina?’ I set my basket down. ‘You okay?’

‘I’m fine! I just .?.?. fell.’

She fell? While she was standing there?

I make my way back to her and see her sitting on the ground, rubbing her ankle.

‘What happened?’ I ask, kneeling down to her.

‘Go away. I’m fine.’

‘Then why are you sitting on the ground?’

She glares at me. ‘I was resting.’

I smile. ‘In the middle of an apple orchard? Don’t you need to be getting back to work?’

‘I’m the boss. I can get back whenever I want.’ She looks down at her ankle. ‘But yeah, I should probably get going.’ She tries to stand up and cringes.

‘Need some help?’ I take her arm and lift her to standing.

‘Thanks,’ she mutters.

‘What happened? Did you trip on the straw?’

‘No, I um .?.?.’ She clears her throat. ‘I was in the tree, trying to reach an apple.’

I stifle a laugh. ‘You were climbing the tree? Aren’t you a little old for that? ’

She sighs. ‘I couldn’t reach the apple I wanted to get. I didn’t have a choice.’

‘You could’ve asked me to get it for you.’

‘After the fight we just had?’ She rolls her eyes.

‘It wasn’t a fight. It was .?.?.’ I try to think of how to describe it. ‘Okay, yeah, it was a fight, but I still would’ve helped you out.’ I look up at the tree. ‘Which one did you want?’

‘Forget it. I’ll just pick something lower.’

‘No, get the one you want. Which one is it? Show me.’

She points to it. ‘That one with the green on it.’

‘The green means it’s not ripe. This variety is a deep red when it’s ripe.’

‘I don’t want it ripe. I want it to be kind of tart.’

‘Then you should pick a different variety. I could show you which ones are tart.’

‘Would you just pick the apple I want?’ she says, sounding frustrated.

I reach up and twist the apple off, then hand it to her. ‘Want any other ones?’

‘The one right next to it.’

It’s another one with green on it. I don’t know why she wants an unripened sweet apple when she could just pick a variety that’s naturally tart, but I’m not going to argue about it. We’ve argued enough already.

She has me pick a few more until her basket is almost full.

‘That should be enough,’ she says, reaching down to get the basket.

‘Can you walk on it?’ I ask, pointing to her ankle.

‘Yeah. I think I just twisted it. I don’t think it’s sprained. I’ll be fine. You can go back to what you were doing.’

‘You sure? This straw isn’t easy to walk on, especially in shoes like that.’ I point to her black ankle boots that have a heel to them. ‘I can help you up the hill if you want.’

‘I said I’m fine,’ she says, standing up straighter.

‘Okay. Good luck!’ I head back to where I was and hear Gina again.

‘Sawyer?’

‘What?’

‘Could you come over here?’ She doesn’t sound hurt, but more like frustrated or annoyed.

I walk up the hill and see her holding onto a tree, the basket of apples tipped over with the apples scattered down the hill.

‘What do you need?’ I ask, pretending it’s not obvious.

‘My foot’s stuck. And I dropped the basket.’

‘So you’re asking for my help?’

She sighs. ‘Yes.’

‘Okay.’ I chuckle. ‘Just wanted to make sure since a minute ago you told me to leave you alone.’

She looks away, clearly embarrassed that she needs my help. Leaning down, I see the heel of her boot is tangled in the straw. I pull the straw away and stand up.

‘Try it now.’

She lifts her foot up. ‘That’s better. Thanks.’

‘No problem. Want me to get the apples?’

‘If you could.’

I quickly gather them up from the ground and put them in the basket. ‘Why don’t I take this the rest of the way?’

She nods and starts limping back to the barn. I’m about to offer her my arm for support but decide not to, knowing she’ll tell me she doesn’t need it.

‘Sawyer?’ She stops. ‘Could I .?.?.’ She reaches for my arm.

I step closer to her and put my arm out. She holds onto it and we continue up the hill .

‘You could’ve just asked,’ I say.

‘I did,’ she insists.

‘You know you’re not allowed to climb the trees. There’s even a sign.’ I point to it.

‘Yeah, well, I’ve never been great at following rules.’

I smile, because I’m not good at that either. I see a rule, I break it. It always drove my parents crazy, especially when it cost them money. As a kid, I was the reason stores had signs saying not to touch stuff, and that if you do and break it, you pay for it.

When we get in the barn, my mom sees us and races up to Gina. ‘You’re limping. What happened?’

‘She fell out of a tree,’ I say. ‘Hurt her ankle.’

Gina glares at me. Guess she didn’t want me sharing that.

‘Are you okay?’ Mom asks.

Gina smiles. ‘I’m fine, Mrs. Kanfield, but thank you for asking.’

‘You want some ice for it?’ Nick asks, walking up to us.

‘Really, I’m fine,’ Gina says, her cheeks blushing from all the attention.

‘I’m Nick,’ he says, smiling at her. ‘Sawyer’s older brother.’

‘Nice to meet you.’ She glances at the basket I’m holding. ‘I should probably pay for those and get going.’

‘Go ahead and take them,’ Mom says. ‘Consider it a welcome to town gift.’

‘You’re new here?’ Nick asks Gina.

‘Yeah. I moved here from Green Bay.’

‘She opened the new brewery,’ Dad says, coming over to us. He was doing something with the cash register when we came in. He smiles at Gina. ‘You find some good ones?’

‘They all look good, but I think I found what I need.’

‘For what?’ I hold up the basket. ‘I thought you got these to eat. ’

‘No, they’re for the hard cider. I’m making a new batch today.’

‘For the competition?’ Nick asks, glancing at me.

‘Yes.’ Gina takes the basket from me. ‘I really should pay for these. Where do I check out?’

I stare at her. ‘You seriously came here, to my family’s orchard, to buy apples for the cider competition?’

‘What’s wrong with that?’ Dad asks.

I look at him. ‘Are you kidding me?’

‘Sawyer, there is nothing wrong with her using our apples for the competition,’ Mom says in her scolding tone. ‘Now go get a bag for the apples and help her take them to her car.’

‘She can do it herself,’ I scoff. ‘I have my own apples to pick.’ I storm out the door and back to the orchard.

I can’t believe Gina had the nerve to show up here, at Kanfield Orchard, to get the apples she needs to make the hard cider she’ll be using to compete against me. And I helped her do it!