Besides, it was a minty shade of green and went with the trees. I mean, sure, there might be a little rust, but it added character.
“Call my car a can of tuna. His is gonna make us feel like a can of sardines,” Toby muttered as he practically marched forward.
My hand shot out to wrap around the place above his elbow. The fabric of his quilted jacket was cold from the air, but it didn’t stop my fingers from tightening and my footsteps from slowing.
“Get your hands off of me,” he hissed beneath his breath.
I ignored him and tugged him toward me. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Something I regret,” he snapped.
“What?”
Tugging his arm free of my hold, he adjusted the jacket. The obnoxious fur trim around the hood looked like a beast about to attack. “What does it even matter?”
My lips twisted but remained closed. I did not blink as I stared, waiting for an answer.
“Brett seemed nervous about coming. Seems to think his dad expects him to shoot the mistletoe down.”
“As if I’d give that moron a gun.”
“He’s not a moron. He’s actually really smart.” Toby defended him, and I was pretty sure my heart started to sweat.
Could hearts sweat?
Sure felt like they could.
“But the outdoor life seems a little out of his element.”
I grunted. “‘Cause he lives inside textbooks.”
Toby crossed his arms over his chest, a stubborn set to his jaw. “So?”
“So I’m not giving him my gun.”
“Obviously,” he allowed. “He just seemed kinda nervous, and Mom told him I’d done this before. So I offered to come along, you know, for moral support.”
“Moral support,” I echoed, the words sticking to the inside of my throat like old gum. I wanted to ask where my moral support was when my dad died five years ago and he was nowhere to be found, but those words stuck in my throat too.
“Yeah.” He confirmed. “Moral support.”
“We’re losing daylight!” Paul hollered from the open passenger door of my truck.
Yeah, because he’d brought half the town to this harvest.
I stalked forward, resolving to just get this over with. I hated doing this every year. And this year, I hated it even more.
Almost to the truck, I noticed Toby wasn’t following. I glanced over my shoulder to see him standing in the same placeI’d left him, hands tucked into his pockets and the fur at his back blowing in the wind. The look on his face squeezed my heart.
“What?” I asked, not raising my voice to make it easier to hear. He’d hear just fine.
Hesitation bled from his every pore when his eyes paused briefly on mine before flicking away. His voice didn’t rise either, despite the space between us. “Do you want me to stay back?”
You know what? Maybe I was developing a heart condition. All day, it had been palpitating, forgetting to beat…sweating. And now it was contracting like a cow in labor. I was going to have to call the doctor.
It would one hundred percent be best for him to stay back. To get in that green monster he called an SUV and drive off the farm and never come back. My life would know peace again.
“Get in the truck, Tobes.”
