“I can’t believe you didn’t remember her. I thought she was going to break her neck when she almost fell out of the tree house that one day.”
A nightmare he’d had a few times in his youth.
Gale and Meri running to the tree house, then rushing up it before his younger brothers Ash and Blaze. Gale got up it first, he moved closer from where he was mowing the lawn, not trusting Meri.
Good thing because she got to the top, lost her balance on the rung ladder and fell backwards.
Ash, Blaze, and he all raced forward, but he got there first, catching her in his arms before she knocked him on his back.
“Christ, she doesn’t look like that anymore. And she goes by Meredith. At least she didn’t tell me otherwise.”
“I’m still getting used to calling her Meredith. I’ve got to work on that. I just thought you would have realized who she was.”
“No,” he said. “As you said, it was years ago. She had thick glasses on top of it. She doesn’t now.”
“Corrective eye surgery,” Gale said. “I asked her that too. She did it years ago. I remember she used to break her glasses all the time and couldn’t get her finger in her eye for contacts.”
“That sounds more like it.”
“She’s sweet. I can totally see her doing this. She’s always been one of those happy ever after people looking for love and romance.”
“Nothing like my baby sister,” he said.
“Nor my older brother. We’re jaded.”
He didn’t think he was jaded. It had more to do with a woman not putting up with his military career. He didn’t blame them. It’s not an easy life.
Since he’d been home, he hadn’t had time for anyone outside of his family. Not that he was looking.
“Whatever,” he said. “I hired her. Mom talked to her yesterday and sent her a bunch of stuff. I’ll catch up with her at some point, but Mom can deal with it.”
“Come on, Clay. You wanted the barn for this and it’s part of it.”
He didn’t need the guilt on his shoulders. “No. You wanted it just as much. I was happy to have it be something more laid back only for the hard cider. Nothing like weddings and events like it turned out to be.”
“And look at the money you’ve made off of it so far,” Gale said. “You know it. It’s growing the family business for Mom and Dad.”
“I don’t want to give Mom any more work and we know Dad is less equipped to handle weddings than me.”
“Who are you kidding? Dad loves being the bartender,” Gale said.
His sister wasn’t wrong. Though he had to admit he didn’t like that his father was on his feet for so long.
His parents told him to back off, that his father knew his limits.
He had no choice but to believe them. Just like they believed in him when he told them what he wanted to do to the failing farm.
Sure, apple picking was great. Hayrides and the pumpkin picking. But it was seasonal and wasn’t making enough to carry them year round like it had in the past.
His mother was holding it together in the cafe, and even then, that was slower in the colder months.
Now, the Ridgeway name would be associated with something else.
“I guess,” he said. “As long as he doesn’t overdo it. Anyway, you should have told me it was your friend.”
Maybe he would have softened his tone a bit more.
Now he was embarrassed over the way he spoke to her. Even acted.
