Page 47 of Every Beat of My Heart

Teddy grabbed a glass of apple cider and drained it. “That hit the spot. Thanks, Dad.”

“You’d better get that walk in before they need to head home,” Al said gruffly.

“You’re coming, right?” Owen asked me.

I stood. “Of course. I wouldn’t miss it.”

Owen walked with Wes and Teddy.

Jameson stepped into line with me. “It’s a bit of a walk to the field with our best trees for this season. It’s a good thing you wore boots.”

“You help out on the farm in addition to your other jobs?” I asked Jameson, wanting to know more about his family.

“We all help out when we can.”

I loved the idea of Owen hanging out with the Calloway men. They would be a good influence for him. Plus, it wouldn’t hurt for him to get an idea of what work is, learning responsibility.

“When Owen volunteers, he could prepare the trees and secure them on top of the cars, check out customers, or even help people find their tree and cut it down.”

“I don’t think I’m ready for him to wield a saw.”

“We can start him with securing the trees then. And work up to more. Only if you’re okay with it. I don’t want you to think we’re taking advantage of you.”

“Would it be a volunteer position?”

“We can’t afford to pay right now, and the kids can earn service hours by working here. We’ve worked it out with the local schools.”

“I think volunteer work would be good for him. He could learn hard work and responsibility.”

Jameson grinned. “I think so too.”

“He sees his father working, but it’s to earn more money to buy more things. I don’t know that it’s the message I want Owen to have.”

“We’ll be a good influence on him. I promise.”

“I know you will be. Your brothers seem great.”

Jameson puffed his chest out. “Not better than me.”

“Not better than you.” I laughed and hooked my arm with his. “You’re my favorite Calloway.”

CHAPTER 11

JAMESON

You’re my favorite Calloway.

I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her words since she’d said them. I’d never brought anyone home to tour the farm before. It was good to share it with her and her son. Especially since they seemed to appreciate it.

Teddy explained the tagging process to Owen and was patient with his questions. He even took him to one of the fields with trees that weren’t tagged and let him do a few of them.

“Thank you for taking your time with Owen. You all are so patient with him.”

“We enjoy spending time with him.” Wes and Teddy wouldn’t have spent their Saturday with him otherwise.

Their presence made me nervous. I wondered if they knew about my crush on his mother. I’d done my best to keep my distance from her, but when we walked together, she’d hooked her arm through mine, and it felt too good to pull away.

I justified it to myself by saying that she could stumble at any minute. I was doing my part to help her traverse the uneven terrain. I could smell her shampoo and feel her warmth through the palm of her hand. It was a selfish move on my part.

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