Page 36 of Keep My Heart (The Haydon Falls #1)
He walks over to the workbench that’s behind me and takes off his shirt. It’s a nice shirt and I’m guessing he doesn’t want to get it dirty. But seeing him shirtless is making my thoughts turn dirty, something I don’t need when he’s only letting us be friends.
My thoughts get even dirtier as I watch Nick work on the engine, bending over it, shirtless, his jeans hanging low. His dad catches me staring and I quickly look away and pretend to swat at a fly.
‘He used to love this stuff as a kid,’ Carl says, walking over to me. ‘Helping me with the repairs.’
‘I didn’t know that. I always thought he was more into school work than working with his hands.’
‘He likes learning how things work. Doesn’t matter what it is.
He was always that way. He’d follow me around the orchard, asking me about the trees and what makes them grow.
He’d be four, five years old, wanting to know this stuff.
’ Carl laughs. ‘Damn kid about drove me crazy with all his questions, but he just wanted to learn.’ He lowers his voice.
‘Between you and me, he’s better at fixing this stuff than I am.
If I can’t figure out what’s wrong, I have to do some research or call someone in to fix it.
But Nick just figures it out himself. He’s a smart kid. ’
‘Hey!’ Nick says, noticing his dad talking to me. ‘What are you doing over there?’
‘Just talking to your girl—’ He stops himself. ‘Lyndsay.’
He almost called me Nick’s girlfriend. Is that what he thinks I am? Nick had to have told him we’re only friends. He wouldn’t tell his parents I’m his girlfriend when I’m not.
‘When you’re done,’ Nick says, ‘come over and try starting it. I think I might know what’s wrong.’
As Carl goes back over there, Martha appears.
‘How’s it coming?’ she asks.
‘We’re getting there,’ Carl replies.
‘Hi, Mrs. Kanfield,’ I say, getting up.
‘Lyndsay,’ she says, smiling. ‘I didn’t see you there. What are you doing in the barn?’
‘My plans for today got cancelled so Nick invited me to come over.’
‘And watch him fix the tractor?’ She shakes her head. ‘Come with me to the house. We’ll have some iced tea and sit out on the porch and talk.’
‘Just don’t talk about me,’ Nick says, smiling at me as I follow Martha out of the barn.
‘Nick loves that kind of thing,’ she says as we walk back to the house. ‘Figuring out what’s wrong and fixing it. His dad and I used to think he’d be a mechanic, but then he surprised us and went into law.’ She goes in the house, to the kitchen. ‘He’s done well for himself. I’m proud of him.’
‘I am too. That’s great news about his promotion.’
‘It is.’ She takes some glasses from the cupboard. ‘I just hope he’s happy.’ She takes the tea from the fridge.
‘You don’t think he’s happy?’
‘It’s hard to tell with Nick,’ she says, filling our glasses with ice.
‘He’s not real open about his feelings. He’s like his dad that way.
Even when he’s upset about something, it’s hard to tell.
And Nick doesn’t like us worrying about him.
If he was unhappy, he’d tell us everything was fine.
’ She pours the tea in the glasses and hands me one. ‘Would you like something to eat?’
‘No, thanks. I just had breakfast.’
I follow her to the large wraparound porch that looks out at the orchard and we sit on the white rocking chairs.
‘Such a beautiful day,’ she says, sipping her tea. ‘Supposed to be around 72, cool for this time of year.’
‘Yeah, it’s nice to be outside.’
‘Did Nick tell you we bought the Carson’s land?’ she asks.
‘No. When was that?’
‘It’s been in the works for awhile now, but last month it was official.’
Dick Carson and his wife lived on the land just west of the Kanfield property. They moved into a retirement home a couple months ago, but I didn’t know they sold their house and the land that went with it. I assumed they’d give it to one of their kids.
‘Their children didn’t want it?’ I ask.
‘No.’ She shakes her head. ‘They’ve all left Wisconsin and don’t care to come back. We offered to just buy the land and let them sell the house separately, but they wanted it all to go at once.’
‘What are you going to do with the house? ’
‘Probably tear it down. We thought of renting it out, but it’s in rough shape. We’d have to spend a lot of time and money on repairs.’
‘It’s such a cute little farmhouse. It’s a shame it has to be torn down.’ I sip my tea. ‘Maybe one of your nephews could fix it up. Isn’t that what they do? Fix up old houses?’
Her brows rise. ‘You know, I hadn’t even thought about that.
But they’d have to live here while they fix it up and I don’t think they’d want to do that, except maybe Nash.
He loves being out in the country. But Callie, his fiancé, is in Chicago.
He wouldn’t want to be away from her for as long as it would take to fix that place up. ’
‘Yeah, I could see that. How long did it take for them to renovate Sawyer’s bar?’
‘A few months, but they took turns coming up here. They all stayed with us. It was nice having them here. They’re a lot like my boys, hard working, good manners.’
She forgot the part about how good-looking they are, another trait they have in common with her sons. The Wheeler and Kanfield brothers could do one of those hot guy calendars and make a fortune.
‘So you’re going to use the land to expand the orchard?’ I ask.
‘Most of it, yes, but we might reserve the pond for weddings or other events.’
‘That’s right. I forgot about the pond.’
There’s a small pond on the property that Mr. Carson would stock with fish. He planted rose bushes around it for his wife and a bench where she could sit while he fished.
‘I was thinking it might be nice to add a gazebo there,’ Martha says.
‘We could clear some space for chairs where guests could sit. We’ve had several requests to host weddings here, but we really don’t have the space for it, other than the barn, but if it were me, I’d rather be married outside with some scenery around me. ’
‘I think it’s a good idea. And if you fixed up the house, maybe the couple could stay there for the night, like a bed-and-breakfast type of thing.’
Martha laughs. ‘I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Carl’s trying to keep things simple and just stick to growing apples. He says at our age, we should be slowing down, not making more work for ourselves.’
Martha and I continue to dream up more ideas for the orchard.
Even if they never happen, it’s still fun to think about.
Her comment about slowing down makes me wonder why they bought more land.
What will they do with it all when they retire?
I think it’d be hard to sell an orchard in a small town, but maybe not.
I really don’t know how farm real estate works. I’ve never even owned a house.
At noon, Nick comes out on the porch, his chest glistening with sweat. I try to keep my eyes on his face, but they keep lowering to his body.
‘We got it fixed,’ Nick says, wiping the sweat from his brow.
‘Thank you for helping him with that,’ Martha says. ‘He’s struggled with it all week. He didn’t want to ask you to look at it. I had to convince him.’
Nick sighs. ‘Why does he get like that? He knows I’d never tell him no.’
‘Yes, but he knows how hard you work and he wants you to have some down time when you come home.’
‘This isn’t work. I like doing that kind of stuff.’ Nick looks at me and smiles. ‘How’s it going? Is my mom telling you all my secrets?’
‘None, actually. We didn’t really talk about you. ’
‘I’m gonna go shower, and then I could take you to lunch if you want.’
‘Why don’t you eat here?’ Martha says, getting up. ‘I could make you two some sandwiches and you could take them down to the pond, have a little picnic.’
‘Thanks, Mom, but I think Lyndsay would rather go out.’
‘I’d be up for a picnic,’ I say, thinking this will give Nick and me a chance to talk. We’ll be alone, with no one bothering us.
‘Great!’ Martha says. ‘I’ll go get it ready.’
‘I’ll help,’ I say, getting up. I smile at Nick as I pass him. ‘Go clean up! I’m starving.’
He smiles back, but looks confused. ‘Um, yeah, I’ll be down in a few minutes.’
This is it, my chance to finally get an answer about what’s going on between us. If it turns out he has no interest in a relationship with me, then I’ll force myself to stop dreaming about what could’ve been and move on with my life.