“Then things really get chaotic,” he said.
“And this year you’re opening a new event-venue business at the same time. Your dad might have a point, you know,” I teased him. “You’ve bitten off a lot.”
“I’ll sleep in January.” He smiled as I fought off an image of him sleeping all alone in a big bed…naked. “But not too much because that’s when we get serious about pruning the apple trees.”
“I don’t know how you juggle it all,” I told him.
“We have a good crew, some who’ve been with us for years, so they know the drill almost as well as I do.”
“And your dad is retired?”
“Not by choice. His back forced the issue a few years ago.”
“Do you ever consider cutting back to just two crops?” I asked.
Luke shook his head. “The three work out well, laborwise. There was a period a few years ago when we had two terrible strawberry seasons in a row. I considered throwing in the towel on them, but I decided to keep them for two reasons. One, everything cycles in farming. You go through bad seasons, but they always swing around to good ones. Two, strawberries were my mom’s pet project.”
“That’s sweet.”
“It started out as a personal garden when she was a little girl. She loved strawberries and wanted to grow her own, so my grandfather helped her plant a small strawberry garden. Each year she took care of it, expanded it a little bit, until my grandfather recognized it would be a good expansion businesswise and made it official. We have a family tradition now that she’s gone. The first strawberries of the season, we eat with homemade whipped cream in remembrance of her.”
Emotion flashed over his features. Something deep, sadness tinged. I remembered his affection for his mom from the days when he drove her home from work. I instinctively reached out and touched his hand before realizing what I was doing. I kept the touch brief and pulled my hand back to where it belonged.
“I love that you do that,” I said. His family closeness was almost unfathomable to me, and yet when he talked about it, I could imagine. It opened up a longing in me for those kinds of close family ties. There was no chance for that with my parents. My only hope was to someday create that with a husband and kids.
I realized someone was approaching our table from the lobby instead of the bar kitchen, so I sat back on my stool, looked up, and nearly messed my pants at the sight of Felix James.
“Magnolia,” he said in a falsely magnanimous baritone.
My only response was to raise my brows. I refused to fake politeness with the jackass who’d kept me under his thumb until I finally rebelled, years later than I should have.
“Isn’t this cozy,” he continued.
Luke turned to see who it was. He must have recognized him, because then he stiffened and focused back on me. I met his gaze, and he seemed to be gauging whether I was okay. I gave a subtle nod.
“What do you want?” I asked my not-father quietly but succinctly. I glanced out to the lobby and noticed a woman waiting for him, watching us. She was quite possibly younger than me and dressed for a date. Gross.
Felix shook his head slowly. “After everything I did to steer you toward suitable men, away from this particular person, and here you are.”
“Maybe your first mistake was trying to steer me at all,” I said. “I can make up my own mind.”
Then his words sank in.
“What do you mean you steered me away from Luke?” I asked.
The smarmy asshole grinned, glanced at Luke with an air of superiority, and said, “I fired his mother from her housekeeping job to stop you two from sneaking around together.”
As much as I wish I would’ve controlled my reaction, my mouth fell open. “Why would you do that?” Other than because he was a complete, tyrannical piece of crap.
Felix chuckled diabolically. “I was doing my best to prevent you from ending up with a farm boy.” He said farm boy as if it was the worst insult. “And yet here you are, slumming anyway.”
I pressed my lips together and glanced at Luke. His hands were on the table as if he was about to stand and possibly take a swing. I’d love to see someone knock Felix out, but…
“He’s not worth the trouble,” I told Luke quietly.
“Isn’t that sweet? You trying to save your lowly lover boy.”
That did it.
