Page 8 of Cozy Girl Fall

Penny was grateful for a break from working on the orchard on Wednesday; her muscles ached after two days of manual labor and her head was a little fuzzy from exhaustion.

The town was only a short drive away, so she decided coffee would be a good way to get out of the house without being too exercise-intensive.

Plus, she enjoyed driving. Her little green bug had been a trooper on the long drive from the city and she knew she’d be bummed when the time came to replace it.

Pulling out of her parents’ drive, tiredness sweeping through her limbs, she was reminded all too clearly of the day she’d left Magnolia Springs.

She’d been exhausted that day too, but her excitement for her dream job in the city, working under the head chef of one of the most highly rated restaurants in San Francisco, had kept her going.

It had been a conscious decision not to say goodbye, one she’d thought made sense at the time but that she could now see had been a mistake.

She’d loved Ethan, and Tasha, and her parents too—but she hadn’t thought they would understand wanting to get out of this little town, to find something bigger.

None of them had ever wanted to leave, making her the outsider, and whenever she’d tried to talk to them about it before she’d gone, she’d been unsuccessful.

And then she’d realized that if she was going to leave, she needed to just go, otherwise she’d do the comfortable, easy thing and stay with her friends instead of following her dreams. Still, she could have handled the whole thing a lot better.

But she’d been young and stupid, brash in her overconfidence.

Qualities she hoped she’d grown out of ten years later.

Penny parked the bug by the church and enjoyed the cool breeze as she walked into town.

She’d layered a thick, cozy pink sweater over the top of some denim overalls and was glad she’d opted to wear her sturdy black boots given the deceptively deep puddles along the sidewalk.

Her sneakers were more comfortable to drive in but had a tendency to let in water and with the way the gray clouds had been looming, she hadn’t wanted to take any chances.

There was nothing she hated more than wet socks.

Coffee Affair was busy, with a long line of customers winding its way past the register and along the cake counter.

But they did serve the best coffee in town, so Penny joined the back of the line and breathed in the coffee-scented air, her mouth already watering at the thought of her pumpkin spice latte.

“Good to know some things don’t change,” a quiet voice murmured behind her and Penny jumped, glancing over her shoulder and then whipping around to face straight ahead again with wide eyes once she saw who was behind her.

The warmth at her back should have been the first giveaway really. Ethan always had run hot.

“You know me,” she said, injecting false cheer into her voice and wincing when it cracked. “Need my fix.”

He didn’t reply and the silence made her all too aware of her pulse pounding in her ears and the lack of space between their bodies.

It had always been this way with him, ever since they were kids.

There was some draw between them, pulling them closer even when they hadn’t known what it meant.

More than that, they had thrived in each other’s company—Ethan Blake wasn’t only her first love, he’d been her best friend.

Now he was nearly a stranger.

The line shuffled forward and for a second Penny could only blink blankly at the barista, trying to remember her order, and before she could stutter the words out, Ethan leant round her, saying something her brain couldn’t process to the barista.

She jolted at the proximity, finding herself frozen to the spot as an arm reached out from beside her to pay for her drink before she’d even reached for her purse.

“Oh,” she mumbled, looking up and up until she could see the underside of Ethan’s jaw above her. “You didn’t—I can pay—”

Ethan glanced down like he’d already forgotten she was there and nodded slightly. “Old habits.”

The air filled with everything she wanted and feared to say, her surprise at the lack of reproachment on his face, the nostalgia of being there with him again, all while the pain of how much everything had changed between them hovered invisibly too.

Then the barista handed over their drinks and the moment was gone.

His eyes flicked from hers to her mouth and she watched his throat bob, frozen in place. “Bye, Pen.”

She raised her hand, but he was already gone, marching out of the coffee shop and through the painted door before she could open her mouth.

“Thank you,” she whispered to the air and then cursed when she sipped her drink and burned her mouth. But before the sting, she recognized the flavor—pumpkin spice. He’d remembered.

It had rained all of Thursday morning, the grass slipperier than usual and the smell of sweet apples thick in the air, making Penny feel surprisingly thirsty every time she plucked a droplet-covered fruit from a branch. Like she was in a damn shampoo advert or something.

The trees were doing their best to cocoon her from the chill in the weather, watching over her as she plucked the ripened fruits from the boughs and sprinkling her with water as the branches bounced.

But now, the sun had finally stopped sulking and was warm on her face, so Penny decided it was time for a break to try and dry her gloves a little.

Her fingers looked pale and a little pruney when she yanked the gloves off and positioned them on one of the stepping stool’s stairs in direct sunlight.

She’d opted for layers again that day to keep warm. She was relieved by her choice to wear thick, dark tights and a light, long-sleeved white tee under her denim dungarees that morning, but now that the sun was out she’d had to roll her sleeves up to her elbows to try to cool off.

She’d already eaten the sandwich she’d packed for lunch as a snack at around eleven, so Penny decided to just enjoy the temporary sunshine and slipped her headphones on.

She stretched out her arms and legs before peeking down the rows of trees nearest her and finding them deserted, not a single person lurking amongst the green-orange leaves.

Perfect.

Music poured through the headset and she moved in time, throwing her hands in the air and spinning, rushing from one row of trees to another and skipping with extra flourish as Natasha Bedingfield begged to be taken away to a secret place.

By the time the song ended, Penny was breathing hard but she was smiling, her muscles feeling looser, her mood lifted.

As she paused to gulp some water, trying to catch her breath, she glanced round the orchard, stopping mid-chug at the sight of Ethan Blake in a tank top, picking apples on a ladder much bigger than her own.

There hadn’t ever been a time in her life when she’d seen a man in a tank top and thought yes —until now. Who knew apple picking could be such an intense, erotic activity?

No! Not intense! Not erotic! Off-limits!

Despite her better instincts, Penny couldn’t look away.

Instead, she ignored the whiny voice in her head and let her eyes trace the minute movements of Ethan’s biceps as he reached and pulled, water droplets landing on his skin from the branches and the strong flex of his muscles making her swallow hard as his fingers closed around the fruit and dropped it into the bag he’d slung across his chest.

His usual flannel shirt was thrown over a rung on the other side of his ladder, no doubt drying in the sun like Penny’s gloves.

He reached up to grab an apple a little higher than his head and she nearly whimpered when his top lifted to reveal the lower half of his taut stomach, abs bunching and rippling in a way that made her stomach swoop and bottom out somewhere around her heels.

And— God have mercy on her —were those tattoos winding darkly around the bottom of his ribs ?

She wasn’t sure at what point she’d turned off her music to better admire Ethan, but her headphones were quiet and so she slipped them off to hang around her neck as she debated whether to run or hide before she was spotted ogling him.

“Nice moves,” he called and she froze, knowing that if he’d seen her prancing around, he’d definitely also seen her staring at him for much longer than could be considered polite. “Sorry, I hope I didn’t interrupt your drool-fest. Can I get you anything? A hose-down maybe?”

Taken aback by the jokey edge to Ethan’s words, Penny’s mind went totally blank as she struggled to think of something, anything to say in response.

After a few moments, she somehow found her voice and managed to force out a few words.

“Yeah, right,” she snorted, trying to come across as nonchalant rather than flustered.

“I was just watching your … technique.” OK, good, Penny. Now walk away.

His answering laugh was warm and she realized she’d missed the sound of it in the time they’d spent apart.

In all honesty, she’d never expected to hear it again, even upon her return.

And yet, Ethan had seemed indifferent to her the last two times she’d seen him.

She wasn’t sure if she would have preferred anger to apparent ambivalence.

“Hello again, Penny. If you’re not going to hide in plain sight this time, then maybe we could catch up a little? ”

Her inhalation might as well have been a gasp for how taken aback she was, and then her breath caught in her throat and she began choking, coughing and spluttering like an idiot. Because of course she would.

Ethan rushed over, rubbing a soothing circle on the middle of her back and then tilted up her chin when her coughing subsided.

“You OK?” he murmured and he was so close she could count the individual lashes surrounding his deep-brown eyes.

How many times had he soothed her like this when they were younger? Too many to count, she was sure.

“Fine,” she rasped and then stared dumbly when he smiled. “You look different.”

The edges of his mouth curled, a familiar cocky look that had only grown hotter with age. “Ten years will do that to a person.”

“No, sorry, I just mean that you—you look good. Nice,” she corrected, flustered into adding, “healthy.”

He didn’t hold back his laugh as he took a step away, allowing some distance to flow between them. Not that it mattered. She could taste his sandalwood scent on her tongue and those big biceps were now close enough to touch— No touching! Off-limits!

“I am healthy, yes. And how are you? How long are you back for?”

She opened her mouth but again her voice seemed to have deserted her as only a squeak came out.

Clearing her throat, she tried again. “I’m fine.

Good. Nice weather now isn’t it. Great, even.

Warm. Strange after all the rain, right?

” Her laugh sounded odd, a little too fast and breathless, and she was rambling.

“Maybe let’s just … put this back on,” she muttered, hurrying over to his shirt and tossing it to him.

He caught it easily and slipped his arms in the sleeves and honestly? It didn’t help. At all.

Penny squeezed her hands together tightly as she tried to focus on what he’d asked her.

“I don’t know how long I’ll be back for yet, probably until Christmas at least.” She found herself strangely unable to mention that she definitely wasn’t staying in Magnolia Springs past the holidays, but she couldn’t dwell on that right now.

Ethan smiled and brushed his hair out of his face. “I bet your parents are thrilled.”

“And yours?”

“Well, I don’t think they know you’re back but …” His smile widened as he took in her blush. “They’re well, thanks,” he said finally.

“I saw Tasha the other day,” Penny blurted and he nodded, waiting for her to continue on and blinking when he realized that she was done speaking.

“Yeah, she mentioned it to me.”

“We’re going out again on Friday. Tomorrow,” she corrected and he nodded again, awkwardness rising up between them and she had the sudden, awful feeling that she was bugging him uninvited. “Well, I guess I should—”

“It’s nice that you and Tash are hanging out,” he said and her smile of agreement faltered when he hooked his thumb in his jeans’ pocket and met her eyes with an intensity that made her catch her breath. “Is this special treatment reserved for Tasha? Or can I get in on it too?”

She blinked at him. “In … on it?” Why was he being so friendly toward her? Shouldn’t he have been mad? Had she meant that little to him? Great, now she was the one who was mad.

The thud of his booted foot hitting the ground as he moved closer mimicked the jump in her heart. “Well, you saw Tasha and chatted, made plans … You saw me and tried to hide under your car.”

Penny frowned. “I was not trying to get under my car. I was just crouched down very close to it.”

His laugh sent skitters of heat across her skin as he stopped in the shadow of her body. “Just think about it, Pen.”

She bit back her grimace. The problem was that she couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Him. Ethan had always known her better than she knew herself, and it seemed like that hadn’t changed.

Sure, history lurked between them, but more than that was heat .

Some spark that hadn’t faded away reigniting the embers at just the sound of his laugh.

“I thought you’d be mad at me,” she said, and it was true.

“Why?” He seemed genuinely confused and Penny wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. “Is this about me buying you the coffee?”

“The coffee? No. I mean, yes, I wanted to thank you for it. But I mean about the way I left things before. When I left.” She tugged on her sleeve and fidgeted her boot in the grass near her foot.

“We were dumb kids,” he said, dismissively, surprising her.

“How were you dumb?”

Ethan’s smile dropped and when he leveled her with a surprisingly serious look, Pen wasn’t sure she was breathing. “Because I let you go.”

The sky darkened above them, but she barely noticed as the heat of Ethan’s eyes swallowed her whole. A raindrop hit the ground next to her and she jolted at the sound.

More rain hit the grass, the scent of damp earth rising up around her, and Ethan smiled as he backed away, like he hadn’t just broken her heart and mended it all in one sentence.

“Have a good time with Tasha tomorrow,” he said and she was fairly certain she nodded as he walked away, leaving her standing alone in the rain.