Page 12 of Sweater Weather (Sapphire Falls Orchard #1)

TWELVE

Tilly

“ S o, you work at an apple orchard? What’s that like?” the woman across from me asks.

She’s beautiful, with long brown hair and a symmetrical face with minimal makeup.

She just moved to town, and we met at the supermarket, talking about apples of all things.

When she asked me out, I wasn’t surprised, but I shocked myself by saying yes.

It has been months since I’ve been on an actual date.

The last time I even kissed a woman was that fiasco with the busty blonde at the bar.

I’d been too busy at the orchard, trying to get all the new things Bells was implementing ready for the fall season.

“I like it a lot, I’m excited for the upcoming season. There’s a lot of new events going on.” I smile while I poke at the salmon I’m eating.

“Oh? Like what?” She’s genuinely interested in what I have to say.

“We’re going to add a lot of family activities for during the week and early weekends but also new events for adults after we close.

We have our first wedding booked and we’re trying to have a masquerade night as well.

” It probably sounded like I was bragging, which was ironic with the way I first reacted about these ideas.

“Wow, I’ve never heard of so much going on at an orchard.”

“They were my boss’ ideas. She inherited the orchard a few months ago and decided to shake things up. I wasn’t fully on board when she suggested them. But honestly, I’m impressed by how she pulled them off.” Not that I’d say that to her. I don’t want to see the smug look on her face.

“I’ll have to check it out. It sounds like a good time.”

“Yeah, my boss pulled all of it together in less than three months which is like almost unheard of. Apparently, she had a lot of contacts in the city; that’s where she’s originally from, and they helped a lot.

It’s all coming together, and we have the start of the season opening next week. ” I smile.

“What else do you do?” she asks.

“Well, lately all my focus is building things for the opening. Bells has me fixing all the signage, painting and of course taking care of the animals on the farm?—”

“I meant, what else do you do outside of the farm?” she asks politely.

“Oh, well not much these days. Sometimes my friends and Bells go to the local bar in town, but even on those nights we can’t help but talk about work. She’s kind of a hard worker, but she really wants this place to succeed. It’s admirable.” I smile.

My date, Jenna purses her lips and pauses before waving the waiter over. “Can we have the check please?” The waiter nods, and I look at her surprised. We haven’t had dessert, and she is already done?

“Did I say something wrong?”

“It’s obvious you’re in love with this boss of yours. So I’m not quite sure why you’re here tonight. But I don’t wish to be in the middle of some drama I can’t win.” She uses her napkin to wipe the corners of her mouth as I process what she’s saying.

“I’m not in love with my boss,” I say quietly.

“Look, it’s fine. Maybe you haven’t admitted it to yourself yet, but you clearly have feelings for her you need to work out.” She pulls out her credit card and places it on the table for the waiter.

“But I don’t?—”

“If you weren’t in love with her there’s no way you’d go on and on about her. I know more about her after today than I do about you. And that’s fine, it’s just not what I’m looking for. For what it’s worth, I hope you get her. She sounds great.” She smiles and takes off after signing the receipt.

I sit there in silence. Have I just been dumped mid-date?

I push back my plate and head for the door.

I’m not in the mood to finish eating and I need to get out of here.

If no one overheard what just happened, I don’t need the town speculating with me sitting alone.

Heading for my truck, I grip the steering wheel when I get in.

Why was everyone so insistent that there was something going on between Bells and me?

Sure, we don’t hate each other as much as we used to.

I got over that when I realized she was working hard to save this place.

She wants to bring new people in and that means she isn’t going to be selling anytime soon.

Why would she fix it up just to sell it?

But that doesn’t mean I’m in love with her.

I just like her as a boss. Or an acquaintance of sorts.

She isn’t as bad as I originally thought, but it isn’t like that negates everything.

The drive home is quicker than I wish, and I’m pulling into my driveway.

Hattie and Lina are busy tonight—Lina’s trying new recipes, which means she’s either stoned or cooking, and Hattie is having a movie night in with Ollie.

I could probably join them, and they wouldn’t mind, but I don’t want to feel like an intruder.

I head toward my front door when I hear an alarm going off.

It’s a consistent beeping that I can only make out a bit.

I grab the bat I keep in the back of my truck and head toward the sound.

It isn’t coming from my house, so I follow it toward the barn.

Is someone trying to break into the horses?

We have a pretty low-key system considering we live in the middle of nowhere, and it would take a lot to get on this road undetected.

But I wasn’t home, so maybe someone did pass through?

Quietly, I creep toward the barn and confirm my suspicions.

The beeping is louder, and I hear someone muttering under their breath, trying to shut it off.

There’s a variety of beeps from the system as they try to guess the code, and I push the door open quickly, holding up the bat in case they’re bigger than me.

“Holy fuck!” Bells screams and jumps down to the ground.

“What the hell are you doing?” I put the bat down and turn off the alarm with the correct code.

“I’m sorry. I heard a weird noise and wanted to check it out.” She frowns, standing up and dusting the dirt off her pants.

“What noise?” I raise an eyebrow.

“It sounded like a raccoon, and I thought maybe it got stuck in here or something, so I thought I should check it out. I knocked on your door first, but you weren’t home.” She glances over my outfit, probably able to tell that I was on a date.

“Where was the noise coming from?”

“Toward the side.” She points, and I do hear a sound, but it doesn’t sound like a raccoon. They know the food isn’t in here—they usually raid the dumpster behind Lina’s bakery.

“It’s a chipmunk, and it looks like he’s got a hurt paw.” The chipmunk is lying on the floor in the corner, licking one of its legs and making a sound like whimpers. “Can you bring me that blanket?” I point to the small blanket in the front of the barn.

Bells brings it over, and I carefully walk toward the chipmunk. It looks terrified, but I scoop it into the blanket and hold it so it isn’t trapped. I don’t want it to feel like I’m attacking it.

“I’m going to bring you to someone who can help,” I tell the little thing.

“Hattie can fix chipmunks?” Bells looks on in confusion.

“She can help most animals. It’s not the first time we’ve come across hurt wildlife. We try to do what we can,” I explain.

“I see.” Bells follows me out of the barn, locking up behind me. We head toward Hattie’s house, and she knocks on the front door.

“Hey, we found this little one in the barn. Can you help?” I look up at Hattie, who waves us inside.

“Ollie! Go get my medical bag!” she calls out and leads us into her office.

One of the rooms in her house has been made into a makeshift office.

Every once in a while, she gets someone local needing help with their pet, and we try whatever we can.

So she has all these veterinarian supplies and furniture in her office.

I place the blanket and chipmunk on the table and hold my hands cautiously nearby in case it tries to escape—not that I think that’s possible.

Ollie runs in with her bag of supplies, and she takes out a bunch of different things.

“It’s possible there will be some blood—you might want to wait in the other room,” I say, turning toward Bells. I don’t want her becoming the next patient on the table.

She nods and smiles. “Thank you.”

“Ollie, can you go sit with her? I think she could use a friend,” I ask him. He smiles proudly, probably happy to have a grown-up job.

“Will he be okay?” I ask Hattie quietly.

“Yeah. It just looks like a bite from another animal that isn’t healing right. I’m going to clean it out and then wrap it. I’d like to keep him inside for about a week or so, but it’ll really depend on him,” she says, looking at the chipmunk.

“Bells is the one who found him. She set the alarm on the barn off looking for him,” I say.

“She didn’t strike me as an animal lover.” Hattie raises an eyebrow.

“She continues to surprise me.” I glance over to where she’s laughing with Ollie in the living room. He’s showing her one of his animal books, and she’s asking questions about whatever he’s saying.

“How’d your date tonight go?” Hattie asks, breaking my thoughts.

“Oh, not great.” I sigh.

“Care to elaborate?” She’s cleaning the chipmunk’s cut, and I’m making sure he doesn’t try to run away.

“She left early. For some reason she’s under the impression that I’m harboring feelings for Bells,” I say quietly.

“No way. Really?” Hattie’s voice is heavy with sarcasm.

“What is up with that? Why does everyone keep doing that to me?” I groan.

“Because it’s so obvious you’re into her.” She laughs.

“Just because I no longer hate her doesn’t mean I’m in love with her or something.” I scoff.

“I mean, no. But you do. It’s obvious in your interactions and the way you look at her.”

“I know she’s beautiful—that’s why I hooked up with her that first night. But it’s not like I think about that anymore. It was a one-time thing before I knew who she was.”

“But now that you know she isn’t who you originally thought she was, hasn’t your view on her softened?” Hattie asks.

“Yeah, but not enough to say I’m into her.”

“Okay.” Hattie makes a face but drops the conversation.

Hattie finishes taking care of the chipmunk and calls Ollie and Bells back in. His little leg is wrapped up, and she’s finding an old shoebox to keep him in for the week. She and Ollie have a habit of taking in strays and nursing them back to health, so it isn’t abnormal for them.

“The little guy needs a name,” Bells says, looking at him.

“You should name him—you found him,” Ollie says.

“That’s true.” I nod.

“How about Peanut?” She smiles.

“That’s funny. Can we feed him peanuts?” Ollie asks.

“We can. Actually, we should get him some food. I don’t know how long it’s been since his last meal,” Hattie says. She and Ollie head for the kitchen, and I look at Bells.

“Thanks for taking him here—and not hitting me with that baseball bat. Now I know never to sneak up on you,” she teases.

“Thanks for trying to save him. The code is 1919, by the way, in case you ever need it again.”

“Good to know, just in case I need to save any more chipmunks.” She laughs.