What the hell just happened?
‘Cheers to a job well done,’ Noah said, and they all lifted their compostable paper cups of cocoa in a toast to their hard work tying trees all afternoon.
‘Cheers!’ Hazel and Jeanie sang out. They were all gathered on the little porch in front of the cabin, Logan in the rocking chair with Noah perched on the rail of the porch beside him. Hazel and Jeanie were huddled together on the steps, keeping warm now that the sun had set. Kira was freezing but she stood just off the porch in the frozen dirt. Bennett was leaning against the porch on the other side of his sister, and she was still studiously avoiding his gaze. She had been all afternoon. All afternoon while these people she barely knew helped keep her business afloat.
And isn’t this exactly what she swore she wasn’t going to do? Hadn’t she started this whole crazy plan to do something on her own? Something without Chloe’s sensible guidance and without her parents’ money (other than the money she used to start the whole damn thing, but that was beside the point). Wasn’t she here to stop mooching off other people and using them for what they could do for her? She was supposed to be self-sufficient up here on her farm. But she was even further from that goal than she was when she started.
Five people had given up their afternoon for her and she had absolutely nothing to offer them in return, other than watered-down cocoa in cups that would disintegrate if they didn’t drink it fast enough.
‘I can send over a few of my guys tomorrow,’ Logan said, interrupting her thoughts. ‘They’re always looking for more work in the colder months. They’ll help you out and they’re reliable.’
‘Oh … uh … thank you. That would be great.’ Kira chugged the last of her cocoa, wanting to reject his offer but really, really needing a way to keep this stupid farm running. ‘And thanks for helping today, all of you. I appreciate it.’
‘Of course!’ Jeanie smiled at her. Her arm was tucked under Hazel’s, the two women leaning in toward each other, and a sharp pang of jealousy hit Kira. Did she miss her sister or just any human contact? At this point, she thought it was probably both.
‘It was like being in one of those holiday romcoms Hazel likes to watch,’ Noah said.
‘We like to watch,’ she corrected.
‘Right, we like to watch,’ he amended with a grin, and Logan huffed a laugh.
‘So, what’s the plan for the other eleven months of the year?’ Logan asked, steering the question back to business. Kira had learned throughout the afternoon that the man ran a successful produce farm and apple orchard so she should probably ask for some advice. Business advice was different from random help from strangers, she figured. They were associates, fellow farmers. It was different than Bennett trying to swoop in and rescue her. Right?
‘Well, I thought I could focus on more of a general garden center. There’s an old greenhouse in the south field and we could do shrubs and small trees.’ It was the first time she was saying any of it out loud, mostly because she had literally no one to say it out loud to, but also because she was nervous and didn’t know if any of it was a good idea, but Logan was nodding so that was probably a good sign…
‘Sure, that could work. I’m going to get you in touch with my agricultural engineer. He’ll help you get set up.’
‘Agricultural engineer?’
‘Yeah, name’s Gordon. Give me your number, I’ll send you his information.’
‘Um … okay.’ As she rattled off her number, she wondered what the hell an agricultural engineer was and how much they cost, and why the hell running a farm was a lot harder than just planting some seeds.
‘What about your pickles?’ Bennett asked, speaking for the first time since they’d stopped working, forcing her to finally look at him. Shit. He looked good. In the soft glow of the Christmas lights, he looked like a damn holiday card come to life. His dark hair was mussed from an afternoon of working, and his puffy vest was streaked with dirt and pine needles, but his cheeks were ruddy from the cold and his eyes bright and teasing.
Frankly, it was rude to look that good when she knew she was a wreck from the afternoon of running around in a panic, that fake customer-service smile plastered to her face.
‘It’s possible the internet lied to me.’
His perfect mouth tipped up in the corner.
‘What pickles?’ Jeanie asked, forcing Kira to tear her gaze away from Bennett’s mouth. That stupid, perfect mouth.
‘I just thought things would be different when I got here.’ She shrugged, like it didn’t matter, like she hadn’t been completely wrong and delusional about setting up her own little homestead. That she thought she could be self-sufficient and not need things like actual money to fix radiators and windows. That she had lived her entire life in an absurd sheltered reality, where anything broken was fixed for her.
When her gaze flicked back to Bennett he was watching her again. Something was different about the way he was looking at her now. Something decidedly less … wholesome … was lurking in his eyes. Had it been there all along and she just missed it? Or had something shifted between them? Despite the cold evening, heat flared in her cheeks.
‘You thought things would be more pickle-y?’ Noah asked, pulling her attention from Bennett again.
Kira laughed despite the feeling that her world was falling apart around her. ‘Yeah, much more pickle-y. I just … I didn’t plan on setting up a business. I kinda thought I was coming here to go off the grid.’
‘We can plant cucumbers in the spring,’ Hazel told her with a smile, and Kira’s heart hurt at how kind they were all being. ‘Then you can make all the pickles you want.’
‘Right.’ Kira cleared her throat. She was not going to cry over pickles. ‘Thanks. That would be great.’ Her gaze snagged on Bennett’s again.
He dipped his head in a nod but didn’t take his eyes off her. Kira swallowed hard. Was it possible that Bennett wasn’t quite as nice as she thought he was? Suddenly this damn coat was too warm.
‘We should probably get going,’ Logan said, standing from the rocking chair. He reached out a hand and pulled Jeanie to her feet.
‘Let’s go, Haze. Those Christmas movies aren’t going to watch themselves,’ Noah said, hopping down from his perch. Hazel stood from the step and Noah hoisted her over his shoulder. She shrieked.
‘See,’ Jeanie said with a giggle. ‘Feeling all manly.’
‘Noah! Put me down.’
‘Don’t worry, I won’t strap you to the roof,’ he teased. ‘Bye, everyone!’ He carted Hazel across the parking lot before sliding her down his body and placing her gently on the ground near his car. As Noah’s head lowered to Hazel’s, Kira turned back to Jeanie and Logan not wanting to intrude on their moment.
‘Call me if you need anything else,’ Logan said.
‘Thanks, I will.’
‘See you later, Kira. Make sure you come into the café sometime. Oh, and Annie wanted me to mention that you should call her. She’d love to set something up to sell gingerbread cookies up here.’
Kira winced a little, remembering the business card that was tucked into the free cookies George had dropped off a week ago. She was supposed to call the baker, but time had gotten away from her. ‘Oh, that would be great. I will.’
‘Great!’
