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This time, she seems more on edge.
“Just don’t embarrass me in there, okay?” she repeats resignedly.
“You got it,” I say.
I follow her as she slides her long pony behind her shoulder and walks away.
We arrive at the doorstep together, and Ben Walker greets us. He’s surprised but happy to see Juliet, and we soon learn the other Walkers are busy on the farm, though Tate and Liv are visiting the pumpkin patch.
“So it’s just me today,” Ben says.
“And me.” A woman pokes her head around the corner and greets us brightly. “He’s always forgetting about me.”
“Right, and...Maven.”
I don’t recognize the woman, but Juliet stares. “Maven,” she says, reaching forward with a hug. “I heard you were visiting. It’s so good to see you again.”
“You, too, Juliet.” Then she faces me. “Is this your boyfriend?”
Juliet coughs. “Oh, no. Nope, no. He’s just here for the business meeting for the festival. He’s providing the hayrides. Archer, Maven. Maven, Archer.”
Maven invites us in like it’s her place, and with how she keeps speaking to Ben—like they’re an old married couple—I’m clearly missing something. As far as I know, he’s single. Juliet keeps looking between them, too. I want to ask how Maven and Ben know each other, but I don’t want to pry.
Ben leads the way forward out the back of the house, but Maven moves right alongside him. “You’re sure you chose the best hay for them, hon?”
Ben casts her a look of longsuffering. “I’m sure.”
Maven continues asking Ben questions about the hay—which he continues to respond to with retorts of his own. While they’re busy, I take my chance, falling slightly behind with Juliet as we walk across the Walker’s land.
“What’s the deal with those two?”
She bites her lower lip. Her voice drops so low, I have to read her lips to fully understand her. “They got a divorce years ago, but apparently, it wasn’t official. Rumor has it, they’re still married and have to go through a court-ordered reconciliation before the actual divorce goes through.”
“What a mess.”
She nods.
“Also,” I continue in a hushed tone, “you probably shouldn’t be whispering with me. We need to be professional, remember?”
“You’re the one who asked me the question.”
I shake my head in disappointment. “I expected more from the mayor’s daughter.”
She scowls, then zooms ahead to walk beside Maven. “So how’s the violin playing going?”
I smile to myself the rest of the way to the wagon—which I’d brought to the Walkers for this very purpose. After a thorough studying of it and the hay—Juliet crossing things off her checklist—the examination is complete in half an hour.
“Everything looks perfect,” she says as we walk back to the front of the house, eying the golden retriever playing in the creek beyond us. “Just make sure the hay is changed and refreshed between days or if it rains. And Archer, you just make sure you go through the checklist before starting each ride. People sitting down, the barrier’s closed, you know the drill.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She casts me another glance, then faces Ben and Maven near the front door. “Thanks for all your help.”
“Oh, my Ben is always willing,” Maven says, sending a pointed grin in Bennett’s direction. “Aren’t you?”
He doesn’t even look at Maven. “More than she’d ever know. Good luck with everything, Juliet. Let us know if there’s anything else we can do.”
We say goodbye, Maven waving while she stands next to Ben on the front porch. She says something to him, and I’m pretty sure I see his eyes roll.
