Chapter One – Autumn
For a list of content warnings in All For You, please check the book’s page at http://www.reneeharless.com/allforyou
Dedicated to the girls who took a chance and followed a different path.
And to the wallflowers… this one is for you.
Chapter One – Aspen
Hefting another full crate from the back of my sister’s truck, I twisted around to set it onto the wooden tabletop of our market booth, only to trip over a pair of suit-clad legs. I nearly topple over my friend, who was casually leaning against the table, his long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles. But before I could, along with the container of asparagus no less, I felt a strong hand grip the back of my overalls, then hoist me into the air like a toddler.
“You know,” I said, dropping the crate onto the table and readjusted my overalls and underwear, which had been wedged between my ass cheeks, “when you asked if you could come along, I assumed you were going to help, not get in the way.”
I turned back around to grab another crate, when I’m halted by the same grip on my overalls once again. “I’m sorry, snowflake. What can I do to help?”
I look up, way up, at Dean’s overly handsome face. It really was a shame he looked so damn gorgeous, with all his chiseled features, and my body felt nothing toward him. Not even the tiniest of sparks. Heaving an overly dramatic sigh, I replied, “Dean. First, you can stop calling me snowflake. I hate nicknames. I told you this.”
“But it suits you. You’re all dainty and have that white-blonde hair.”
“I am not dainty,” I grumbled as I lifted another crate from the back of the vintage red truck. “And just help me get these crates from the truck and onto the table so I can set it all up.”
Together, Dean and I moved the produce from point A to point B. He was in town for the housewarming party for my sister, Aurora, and his best friend, Talon, who she was married to. They’d been married for about two years now, of which some of that time was a contract, an arrangement to get him access to his family hotel. The rest of the time, they were a lovey-dovey couple who thought each other hung the moon.
Gag.
My entire family—everyone was dropping like flies. Thankfully, my brother and I steered clear of Cupid.
“You work too hard,” Dean said as he set the final crate at my feet. I was busy sorting through the fruits and vegetables, selecting the best to put on the front of the display. Summer was coming to a close, and I knew we’d have a busy weekend. School had been in session for a month already, but the heat and humidity of the summer still clung to the air.
Setting some figs along the front of the market table, I turned toward Dean, wiping my hands on the rag I kept tucked in my pocket, and said, “I’m just doing what needs to be done.”
He cocked one of his thick eyebrows, and his tan skin wrinkled along his forehead. “But at what expense?”
I rolled my eyes at him just as the first marketgoers started to arrive. The sun had barely peaked over the trees, illuminating the sky in an orange haze. The customers appeared like little shadows across the expansive lot.
“I know what you need,” Dean said as he popped open a chair and gracefully folded his big body into it, making it seem more like a throne than a camping seat.
In a hushed tone, I murmured, “If you say ‘some dick,’ I’m going to smack you.”
He had the audacity to chuckle. “No, though you definitely could use that too. What I was going to say is that you need a vacation.”
“Yeah, and who would take care of the farm if I took one? You know my dad is retiring, and everyone else if off doing their own things. I’m all Sunny Brook Farms has.”
“And that’s fair to you, how?”
I didn’t offer a response, just rolled my eyes as my first customer arrived. A steady stream of people fell in line to purchase some of our locally grown fruits and vegetables. Sunny Brook Farms’ main produce was corn. We sold it all over the country. But my three sisters and I kept up with my great-great-grandmother’s garden. We sold those items weekly at the farmers market.
Dean didn’t do much more than offer a suggestive wink to the women and mothers as they made their purchases. After an hour, there was a lull in the crowd.
“You know, I won that trip to Scotland. You should come with me,” he suggested, and my eyebrows rose. Dean was aware I was as innocent as they came. I couldn’t imagine letting an experienced man like Dean pop my cherry. “I didn’t mean like that, snowflake.”
“Sure,” I added, chuckling to myself at the thought of Dean being interested in me at all. That was laughable. No one ever showed an interest in me. Growing up, I used to think it was due to my older brother’s influence, but now that he lived an hour away from Ashfield, I was certain it was just me.
“Can you watch the booth while I run to the restroom?” I didn’t bother asking him if he knew what do to. I had faith he paid enough attention earlier.
Thankfully, he nodded, and I slipped out from under the canopy, the sun’s rays immediately causing me to wince. With each step I took across the market, I felt eyes on me. Did they all know I was a twenty-four-year-old virgin? Did they all look at me with wrinkled noses, as if they smelled something unpleasant.
What’s wrong with me?
I relieved myself in the park’s bathroom across the street. As far as public restrooms went, Ashfield prided itself on their cleanliness.
Just as I stepped free, I bumped into Magnolia Hayes. Ashfield’s beauty queen and one of the many reasons I had always dreaded school. She and her clique always found a way to torment me. Not much changed in the past six years, since we graduated. Other than she and our high-school-quarterback husband were pregnant with their third baby. I actually hated how beautiful she still looked. It didn’t seem that karma was on my side.
“Oh, I didn’t see you there,” the statuesque woman said as she gently rubbed her belly. I may have been small, but there was no way she couldn’t have seen me opening the door.
“Magnolia. How are you?” I almost giggled at the shocked expression on her face. It was so tiring to stay mad at my old schoolmates all the time, so I optioned to be nice and polite instead. There was sweet satisfaction in watching their confused gazes dart around wildly, waiting for the other shoe to drop. They had every reason to be suspicious though. In high school, I was known to give it back just as good as I got it.
“I’m good, thanks. I… er… need to use the bathroom. Baby pressing on the bladder and all.”
“Yes, I’ve heard stories about that. Enjoy your day.” I left her lingering by the bathroom entrance as I made the trek back to my booth. I always did my best to keep a pleasant tone whenever I spoke with my old tormenters. I gave up trying to enact some sort of revenge. Instead, I saw them as potential buyers or customers. Or, at the very least, because it was the mature thing to do. There was only one person who still deserved all my wrath, and he had only shown his face once in this town since he went off to college and was drafted by the Los Angeles Coyotes. His random appearance at my sister’s best friend Frannie’s wedding had thrown the town into a spiral. He was Ashfield’s golden child.
My steps morphed into stomps as I continued to think about the overly gorgeous man who made my life a living hell. Glancing up and across the park, I saw the large sign with his name on it above the baseball field before looking at the ground once again.
Owen Ramsey Played Here.
Even in his absence, I couldn’t escape him. Grumbling, I crossed the street without raising my gaze until I was nearly clipped by a passing car. That’s when, from a distance, I could see there was a crowd growing around the Sunny Brook Farms stand, so I rushed back over to relieve Dean. But I was surprised to find him throwing quips back and forth with Mrs. Hensen, our beloved and notoriously dirty-minded resident of Ashfield.
I hurried over, hoping to alleviate a situation before it escalated. Dean held up a fig that’d been sliced in half and explained to Mrs. Hensen how it was a little-known aphrodisiac.
