“Oh, yeah, sure that’s fine. Whatever you think is best,” I respond, still half distracted by my thoughts.
My friend squints at me from the opposite side of the table. “Where is your head at?”
I pull my shoulders back and try to wipe whatever look I have on off my face. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, don’t play dumb. I’ve known you since we were six years old. I know when something is ruminating in that head of yours.” Again, she shakes the wooden spoon she’s holding in my face.
I feel my eyebrows pinch together defensively. “You do not.”
This has her laughing out loud. “Yes, I do. Now spill, what’s got your panties in a twist this time?”
She reaches for a bowl of some sort of white, creamy mixture and begins to stir it. Her eyes watch the other peoplesupporting the kitchen like a hawk while still standing at attention in front of me. Leaning against the counter, I give in and tell her what’s going on.
“It’s this whole ‘you have to be married thing,’ is all.” I only partially lie. I hadn’t told her about how I ran into Nick last week but that was mostly for his own good. There’s no telling what she will do when she finds out he’s back and since she has a litany of knives at her disposal, it’s probably nothing good.
Not that I care about what happens to him because I don’t care about him at all.
“Yeah, that’s pretty fucked up. Do you think she’ll really sell the place if you don’t get married by her birthday?”
“That’s what she told me at breakfast and she seemed pretty serious when she said it.”
Her face falls into a frown. “What are you going to do?”
I groan and throw my head back, unsure of what my answer is because I don’t know what I’m going to do. At the same time, the back door to the kitchen flings open and a person steps inside.
“Produce delivery, fresh from the patch!” a happy voice booms out. Jack, our long-time produce man, spins around to reveal he’s carrying a massive crate of vegetables. Some are nearly spilling out over the edge, one of them actually does and tumbles to the floor.
Bending over to pick it up, Eve snaps back upright quickly and smiles when she sees who’s standing in front of her.
“Jack! No shit, you’re still in Evergreen?” Her eyes go as wide as her mouth does as she smiles at him.
“Eve?” Her name comes out as more of a whisper when he sees her. He almost drops the entire crate on her feet before he catches himself, blinking quickly. “I, uhm, I didn’t know you were back. When, uhm, when did you get back?”
I bite back a smile as I watch him findhis tongue. It’s no secret around Evergreen that Jack has had it bad for Eve ever since he moved here our freshman year in high school. Eve and I grew up here, born and raised. Jack and his family relocated to Evergreen when his dad bought a few acres of farm land on the edge of town. Ever since he saw her on the first day of ninth grade, he’s been pining after her, waiting to get the courage to finally ask her out. They were fast friends but everyone in town knows that he’d give her his rightandleft kidney if she needed it. When she left for New York, they kinda fell out of touch. I’m really the only person Eve still talks to from Evergreen anymore.
She pulls the crate from his hands, sets it down, and pulls him into a hug. “A few days ago. I’m staying with Noelle at her place and helping around the kitchen while I look for a new restaurant to work in. I didn’t know you were the produce supplier for Holly House.”
“He’s been our one and only supplier since he took over his dad’s farm a couple years ago,” I explain. She glances at me before looking back at him.
She punches him hard in the shoulder and smiles at him. “You took over the farm? That’s great, Jack!”
A hint of pink touches his cheeks and he pulls the knit cap off his head. “It hardly compares to that big fancy job of yours in New York City.”
“Oh, forget New York City, the place is a cesspool. That’s amazing, Jack, I’m so happy for you.” His eyes lock on the hand that she’s placed on his arm in reassurance until she pulls it away.
“Well, I guess I’ll be going now,” he says after a beat.
“Okay, thanks for the haul. I’ll be sure to use this in this week’s dinners. The squash looks beautiful,” Eve comments, looking at a massive beige squash she’s pulled from the crate. She brings it to her nose and smells it before smiling once more.
“Yeah, it really does,” he says softly while watching her. Pulling his eyes from her, he glances at me with a kind smile. Nodding politely in my direction, he excuses himself and slips out the back door.
“Eve,” I say bluntly, leaning over the counter on my hands and staring at her.
“Hmm?” she mumbles, not looking up from the produce she’s pulling out of the crate. With each new piece, her eyes grow wider and I can see her mind running away with all the different recipes she can make with it.
“That man is in love with you,” I say a little louder so she actually hears me over her daydreams. She finally looks up from the produce and frowns at me.
“Not this shit again,” she laments. “Jack is not in love with me; he never has been. We’re friends, that’s it.”
