Page 18 of Sweater Weather (Sapphire Falls Orchard #1)

EIGHTEEN

Tilly

“ T ills!” Hattie calls through the bedroom door.

I groan before answering. “What?”

“It’s breakfast time! Get dressed and come downstairs.”

“Fine! Give me five!” I call back.

I hear her walk down the stairs, and I turn over—groaning.

My head is killing me. How much did I have to drink last night?

Usually, I set up a glass of water and some Tylenol on my nightstand, but I guess drunk me wasn’t very helpful this time.

Suddenly, I sit up, remembering Bells in my bed last night.

She spent the night, didn’t she? But where is she?

I glance toward the bathroom, but she isn’t in there either.

I guess she went home. Did she sneak out before Hattie and Lina came over?

I guess there is only way one way to find out.

I get out of bed, toss on some pajamas, and head to the bathroom to tame my messy hair.

It’s a mix between sex hair and bedhead—something I don’t want to explain to my friends, let alone Ollie.

Once that’s tamed, I brush my teeth. As I’m about to leave my bedroom, I hear an unfamiliar chime go off.

It happens twice more, and I follow the sound to a cell phone on the floor under my bed.

I pick it up and recognize it as Bells’s phone.

She carries the damn thing around wherever she goes.

I’m shocked she left it here. But maybe that shows how much of a rush she was in when she was trying to leave.

I had thought we might talk in the morning.

About whatever was going on between us. But now she’s gone, and I guess that’s my answer.

I could be a one-night stand; I’ve done it plenty of times with other women.

I just never usually had to see those women again on a daily basis.

I slip the phone in my pocket and head downstairs before Hattie comes looking for me again.

“Look who’s finally up,” Lina teases as she sips her coffee out of one of my mugs.

“It’s barely nine a.m.,” I groan. I need coffee and some Tylenol before I get into this with them.

“Someone was up late,” Hattie muses, and I can’t tell if she’s just commenting or she’s jealous.

“Where’s Ollie?” I look around.

“He’s watching TV. There’s a shark documentary on that he was begging me to see,” Hattie explains.

“Plus, it gives us grownups a chance to chat about the redhead making a run for it this morning.” Lina smirks.

Shit, so they did see Bells leaving. I decide to play it off. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

Hattie and Lina both roll their eyes at me as I sit at the kitchen table. I grab a cinnamon roll off the plate and take a hearty bite. Fuck, Lina is such a good baker. The pastry melts in my mouth and goes perfectly with a fresh cup of coffee.

“Bells was in a mad dash out of here this morning, are we to believe she snuck in without your knowledge?” Lina asks.

“We hooked up last night.” I sigh. There was no use hiding it from them.

“We know that, but why was she running out?” Lina asks.

“I don’t know. I was sleeping.” I shrug.

“Maybe she heard Ollie and I coming in?” Hattie offers quietly. I hope this conversation wasn’t making her uncomfortable.

“She left behind her phone,” I say, pulling it out of my pocket and putting it on the table.

“Oh my god, like a modern-day Cinderella.” Lina laughs. “Have you looked through it?”

“No!” I gasp.

“Why not? Maybe she wants you to?” Lina says.

“It’s not her business what’s on her phone,” Hattie adds.

“Fine, I’m just saying. Maybe you’d have more information if you saw her recent texts.” Lina shrugs.

“I’m not reading her texts,” I say. But just as I do, the phone chimes and lights up with a new text.

“Wait, this person is talking about you!” Lina grabs the phone and reads the latest message aloud. “How was the sex?? Better this time or last time??”

“Oh my God,” Hattie mumbles.

“Who’s she texting?” I ask, my mouth getting suddenly dry.

“Uh, it just says Bestie . So her version of Hattie and me,” Lina says. “We can’t read what she’s saying without unlocking the phone, but she must be texting from an iPad or her computer. These are coming in right now.”

The phone chimes again.

“It says, ‘Holy shit! She was that good?? I need details or the number of her friend,’” Lina reads aloud. I blush, and Hattie spills the coffee she’s pouring into her mug.

“Maybe let’s not read these.” I reach for the phone, and Lina nods.

She’s the only one I told about Hattie’s crush on me. I want to be sensitive, but I also don’t want to treat her with kid gloves. I’m constantly overthinking everything when it comes to our friendship. But it’s obvious she’s uncomfortable hearing about me and Bells being intimate.

“So, are you two seeing each other now?” Hattie asks, clearing her throat.

“We didn’t really talk about it. I thought we’d talk today, but she left before we could,” I admit.

“Maybe that’s the answer?” Hattie says.

“What do you mean?” I raise an eyebrow at her.

“Well, I’ve never really had a one-night stand. But don’t you typically stick around if you want to see the person again?” Hattie sips her coffee. She isn’t saying this maliciously, but it does hurt a bit to hear.

“I mean, yeah, but there are a lot of reasons she could have left,” I say.

“Yeah, maybe she had work to do,” Lina points out.

“Without her phone?” Hattie says.

“That’s why we should read it and see what she’s thinking.” Lina eyes the phone that’s chiming in my hands.

“No.” I shake my head. “If I’m going to find out what she’s thinking, it’s going to be in person. Not because I snooped in her phone. But maybe Hattie’s right...”

Is Hattie right? Bells made it obvious what she wants by leaving.

I shouldn’t be second-guessing her motives when she couldn’t get out of here fast enough this morning.

Which is fine. It’s not like I suddenly want to fall in love or some shit.

It would be easier if I didn’t sleep with my boss, but I’ve done worse things.

“Can you bring her back her phone on the way home?” I ask Lina.

“Are you sure?” She looks at me skeptically.

“Yes. I have to check the animals, and I don’t have time,” I lie as I slide her the phone.

“Okay.” Lina nods.

I head upstairs to change into work clothes.

They can keep hanging out, but I need to feed the horses and use my muscles for something productive.

I feel too anxious to sit around talking about this.

I wave goodbye to my friends on the way out and unlock the barn.

It wouldn’t be the first time my friends hung out at my house when I wasn’t home.

We all have an open-door policy when it comes to our homes.

I let the horses free, give them their breakfast, and then take a walk toward the apple fields.

I haven’t checked in on the apples in a few days, and it can’t hurt to look.

We open in twenty minutes, so there are already people hard at work everywhere else on the orchard.

It’s technically my day off, but I can’t help myself.

I take the hike to the orchard and walk the fields.

There are new baskets at the end of each aisle, and the trees look amazing.

Thankfully no wildlife has gotten to them yet, so most of the apples are still hanging beautifully on the branches.

The bright green trees, different-colored apples, and the smell of freshly cut grass make me close my eyes for a moment and take it all in.

Maybe this is what I need. There’s a light breeze, and I take a deep breath as I walk down the empty paths.

We keep the paths down between the aisles of apple trees freshly mowed so people can walk through without a problem.

Some families have strollers or walking aids, and although the grass is even, it’s easier to walk through when it’s cut closely.

We try to make it accessible to everyone.

That’s something Benny pushed for—especially at the end, when she was too sick to walk along the paths herself.

At least once a week, I’d push her in the wheelchair up here, and we’d walk through the lanes to make sure the apples were growing okay.

We’d talk about the next season even though both of us knew she wasn’t going to make it for the next one.

I clench my fists at the memory. I knew she was sick, but it didn’t make losing her any easier.

I’ve come to somewhat understand her choice to give Bells the orchard.

She’s doing an amazing job and has really turned the place around.

Everything is bustling, and I know we’re sold out of tickets for the next few weekends—something that hasn’t happened in years.

Maybe she wanted to keep it in the family, or maybe she had an idea that Bells would take over the place like this.

I’m still worried she’s fixing it up to sell, but for the time being, it seems unlikely.

The only thing that bothers me is feeling like she thought I couldn’t handle the orchard on my own.

Did something happen where she thought I was no longer able to handle it?

She always promised it to me, and then all of a sudden, it was out of my hands.

I wish she could see how much I’m taking on and how much I handled everything at the end when she was sick.

She never wanted to talk about it, but I thought that was just because she was scared.

I always thought she saw me as family, the way I saw her as the mother I needed—but maybe that was more embellished than I thought.

In the end, I guess it comes down to her wanting to leave it to a blood relative, and I was just a teenage runaway she took in.

I hear people coming toward the aisle I’m in, and I know I need to get the tractor back.

Someone forgot to bring it back down yesterday and while I didn’t mind the walk up to the apple trees, something tells me the staff will.

The staff will need it for the hayrides and transportation of the day.

I wipe my eyes, suck in a sharp breath, and take one last look at the orchard.

Everything is picture-perfect for today, and I have no doubt with the growing crowds Bells promised, we’ll be set.

Hopping back on the tractor, I watch as couples, families, old people, and everyone in between head toward the apple trees.

Everyone is smiling, the kids running up to the trees and parents telling them to be careful.

I’m glad Bells’ influencer day has brought in all kinds of crowds.

I didn’t think that was possible, but I’m proven wrong about her again—not that I’m ready to admit it to her yet.

Bells’ smile pops in my head as I head back, and I can’t help but smile myself.

I’ve been an idiot lately when it comes to her, and as much as I want to blame the alcohol or the overwhelming sexual tension, I know it’s more than that.

She’s getting under my skin, and I don’t think I mind it.

Something about her makes everything different.

Every time I think she’s going to change things for the worse, things end up better and stronger than before.

Maybe that’s what she’s doing to me too.