"Screw them all," I groaned and grabbed him by the back of his neck and kissed him hard and deep.
"You don't mean that," he mumbled between mouthfuls of him.
I took another moment wrapped up in him before I put an end to it and agreed with him.
I did have shit to do. And I didn't mind doing them. For five years I never really complained about having to spend the whole day on my feet, but now...
"You're right. I've neglected the fields and my clients."
"Well, it wasn't your fault. You've been sick."
I rubbed the sleep of my eyes and got up.
"Still. It's time to go back out in the field and deal with whatever awaits."
"Can I come?" He sat up in bed and looked at me with puppy dog eyes.
"Sure. But I can't make promises on what happens to you out there." I narrowed my gaze with a smirk.
Zach grimaced.
"If you think I'm doing anything naughty out in the freezing, muddy blueberry field you've got another think coming." He rose from the bed and put his hand on my chest for a moment before pushing me out of the way and running into the bathroom.
"Hey!" I shouted. "I was going first."
All I heard from the other side of the bathroom door was laughter. Laughter that filled my heart to the brim with happiness.
I carried that feeling through the rest of the house, as I released the goats and the dog outside to do their business, and as I poured myself a coffee. I even carried it with me all the way out in the fields as we both worked on trimming and deadheading,but the more I savored this feeling, the more another one pulsed alongside making my heart ache and my mind reel.
Because I was used to happiness having an expiration date. I knew now Zach wasn't anything like Wyatt. I'd always known it, to be fair, but was just too stubborn and too hurt to see it. The problem was I could picture a life with Zach, which wasn't a problem per se but it was a thing that stumped me because there was one thing threatening what we could have right now.
Victor.
Yes, Zach and I might realize we were incompatible in the long run. Maybe we'd realize we were too alike or too different, or too...something and go our separate ways at some point, as scary as that sounded, but the more immediate problem was his ex. A problem that needed to be dealt with if we had a chance of making it long enough to figure out whether we were incompatible or not.
"Are you okay?" Zach asked when we sat down to have our sandwiches for lunch.
I nodded. I lied. I changed the subject, but the thought never left my mind. All this time I'd done little to find the bastard and be done with him. I had been relying on Wyatt and the others to do something about Zach's problem, but that wasn't enough.
It had never been enough, but that is especially true now. I needed to act. To do something. To find that bastard and get rid of him for good.
With that resolution clear in my head, I made a plan, and by the next day, it was time to implement it. I left Zach at home, in his happy place—the kitchen—and went into town.
"Well, if it isn't my favorite blueberry farmer!" Hwan explained as I walked into his bubble tea shop.
"Hey, handsome. I'm not sure that's much of a compliment considering I'm the only blueberry farmer in town."
Hwan giggled while brushing his bubble-gum pink hair out of his eyes, and waved me off.
"Yeah, but you are the best."
I rolled my eyes at him, and he offered to make my favorite tea, blueberry and taro milk with tapioca pearls.
"Before I forget," he said when he brought it over to the table where I'd sat down with Parker, his fiancé, and Teddy, his employee. Both of them had been my teammates, once upon a time. "I need more jam or I won't be able to make your favorite drink."
I chuckled and raised my cup at him in acknowledgement, and he retreated back to the counter to serve his next customer while we talked shop.
"What's up? Is Zach okay?" Teddy asked and I put him at ease.
