Travis scratched at his beard.“Town seems plenty great already, but whatever.The hell you talking aboutyour apples?”
Nate rolled his eyes.“I asked Dad to set aside a barrel for me to bring to work.I’m not above using fresh fruit to try and win people over, but when I went into the storage shed to look for them, they were gone.”He wiped his tired face and shrugged.“I guess I’ll figure out another way.”
Travis felt bad for the brother two years his junior.Nate worked his ass off to get elected as Mayor at a young age and had so many big ideas to improve the town, but it seemed the townspeople who’d voted for him liked his ideas in theory, but not practice.
Slapping his brother on the chest, Travis smiled reassuringly.“If Dad set them aside, I’ll find ‘em.”
Nate chuckled and started to walk back toward the main house, Travis not far behind.“I appreciate that.I’ll go inside and talk to Dad again to see if he remembers anything.I just wish I could get more people on board without having to bribe them.”
Travis nodded solemnly, not liking the tired lines around his brother’s blue eyes.“Know it’s important, but take time for yourself too.”Willa helped out as much as she could as his assistant, but she was new to the town and didn’t have many connections outside the family.Now that she was pregnant, she’d likely be even more preoccupied.An idea popped into his head, and while Travis hesitated mentioning it, knowing it would likely piss Nate off, he had to try.“There is someone who could help.Someone who knows as much about this town as you do, has connections with shop owners, bunch of the seniors in town.Pretty much universally loved by everyone in Applewood.”
Nate looked hopeful for a moment before the realization of who Travis was talking about struck him.“Hell, no.Charlotte Adams is the last person I would go to for help.”He started walking faster toward the house, stomping up a few porch steps before turning back to Travis one last time.“I would rather sprint backwards naked through the orchard in the middle of December!”he exclaimed, slamming the back door behind him,
Travis stared after him, wide-eyed at the protestation his brother had just uttered.As he walked toward the storage shed to look for Nate’s barrel, though, the thought of his brother streaking through the trees made him chuckle.As he searched around the shed and some of the other outbuildings, Travis wondered if Nate would stay true to his word and make that winter run, or if he would give in and accept help from the one person in town he seemed determined to avoid.Boots meowing drew Travis’s attention toward the door of the equipment shed he was in.Walking over to the orange cat, he reached under her chin and gave her a few good scratches.
“What you up to, Boots?”He reached down and picked up the cat.She never wandered into any building except the barn.“Kit’s gonna be pissed if you don’t show up to play at least once today.”
Smiling at the thought of making the little girl feel better, Travis started toward the barn, stopping just inside it when Boots started to wiggle in his arms.Putting the cat down, he watched her slink around under the stairs.He started to go up and talk to Parker, but something near Boots caught his eye.A sinking feeling formed in his gut when he spotted a few barrels of apples in the dark alcove.When he looked closer, he also saw jars and jars of applesauce as well as a few jugs of cider.None of the seasonal workers came into the barn.Hell, even his dad had barely been in there for months, so there was only one explanation for what he was seeing in front of him.
The thought of Parker stealing from him and his family made his heart sink.Sheknewhow much he hated people taking advantage of the farm, he’d told her how hard it was for him to trust, and yet here she was, taking from his family when they’d already given her so much already.Travis gripped his chest as he felt his heavy heart shatter into pieces.Being betrayed by someone he truly loved felt more awful than anything he could have imagined, and he wouldn’t wish it on his worst enemy.The stairs above him creaked and with each soft footstep that came from the person who’d hurt him more deeply than he thought possible, Travis quickly reconstructed the ice around his heart.Parker had already broken it once, she wouldn’t get another chance.
“Hey.I’m glad I found you so quickly,” she said sweetly.Travis didn’t dare look at her, not when he was this upset and not when one look at her beautiful face might get him to change his mind about what he had to do.When she tapped on his shoulder, he sighed, knowing he was going to have to have the kind of conversation he was nowhere equipped enough to handle.“Kit fell asleep, so I thought we could have that talk.”
They would be talking alright, but not about what he’d originally planned.Holding fast to his anger so that he could make a clean break of things, Travis spun on her, watching the blissful expression fall off her face when she caught a glimpse of his.“Want to talk about how you’ve been stealing from us?”
Parker looked confused by his statement until he stepped to the side to show her the stash he’d found.She looked unbothered by his discovering her secret.“That’s not what that is.I can explain.”
Travis crossed his arms over his chest.“Can you explain how you have barrels of apples hidden away, how you’ve taken jars of applesauce, jugs of cider from the storage shed?”Travis snorted derisively at her audacity while also feeling ashamed at himself for speaking at her in such a way.He shook his head, thinking back on all the people who’d trampled through the orchard without a thought to the damage they caused.“Just like the rest of them.Taking what you need without a care for others.”
Parker reared back, her eyes filled with moisture.The sight of the hurt he was causing was like a punch in the gut, but it was also a wake-up call.“You really believe that?After everything I have told you and everything we’ve shared, you really think me capable of that?”
Travis looked away for a moment, needing to think because he hadn’t believed it, but her using him made so much more sense than her actually loving him.Besides, the evidence was there, he saw it with his own two eyes.Then again, he’s seen a lot of things with his own eyes without reallylookingclosely at it.
Travis sighed heavily, shuddering as his righteous indignation gave way to shame for accusing her of something she would never be capable of doing.“No,” he choked out.“Don’t believe that.”He reached for her, a fifty pound weight lifting off his chest when she took his hand.Pulling her into his chest, Travis breathed into her hair, letting the smell of strawberries and sunshine, the smell of home ground him as he felt like he might crumble from how badly he’d just screwed up.“I’m so sorry, Parker.”
Parker wrapped her arms around him and sniffled.Dampness hit his chest and Travis made a vow right then and there to only make her cry happy tears from then on.“I thought it was okay to take the ones no one was using.”
As he continued to hold her, Travis looked back at the fruit piled up in the barrel and saw them for what they really were, fallen apples they left on the ground to rot and fertilize the trees.Parker had taken them and turned them into something she and Kit could use should they need the extra food.Could he really blame her for protecting her and her child?It’s what he would have done too.
“Normally leave them there.Guessing you didn’t know that.”Parker shook her head, making him feel even worse about his getting upset.She would have known that if he’d told her like he was supposed to.“I’m sorry, darlin’.Should have told you that a long time ago.”
Parker nodded against his chest.“That’s okay.”The fact that she so readily understood his outburst was another reason why he should kiss the ground she walked on and hope he never screwed up again.
Travis shook his head and tilted her face up to his.“It’s really not.Can’t promise it won’t happen again, but I can promise to realize my mistakes sooner, not take my issues out on you.”Parker nodded, her expression no longer downtrodden.“Forgive me?”
The corners of Parker’s mouth twitched.“Maybe.”She hugged him tightly, the move already making him feel ten times better.“I might need some more motivation.”
Travis had a feeling he knew what she was talking about, but before he kissed her, there was something else she needed to know.Cupping her face, he brushed her wet cheeks with his thumbs and stared into her chocolate sprinkled with cinnamon eyes.“What if I told you I love you?That work?”
Parker’s eyes shone again, but this time Travis could tell the tears were happy.“You love me?”
Travis nodded, pressing a kiss to her lips.“I do.”He hoped those were two words he’d be repeating in the near future in a totally different context, but before he could make that happen he needed her forgiveness.“Love you so much.Thinking that you couldn’t love me too drove me a little crazy back there.”
Parker smiled, reaching up to grab his wrists.“Well, I forgive your craziness because I love you too.”The words went straight to his heart and nearly burst it wide open, and when she bit her bottom lip, all the blood went straight to his dick.“I think we should go upstairs and make up properly.”
There was nothing Travis wanted to do more.Well, almost nothing.Before they made up, he wanted to show her his plans for their future.“We will.Want to show you something first.”He held out his hand, delighted beyond belief that not only did she take it without hesitation, but that it was something they would get as much as they wanted for a long time to come.
