Page 16 of New Hope

I shrugged. “I just meant it’s not as easy here as it probably is in the city. Not as many eligible men. They’re all either taken or straight.”

Ford’s eyes widened. “Oh! I didn’t…I mean…you’re gay?” I tensed slightly, wondering if this was going to be a problem. He must have noticed because he winced. “I’m sorry. That came out all wrong. I didn’t mean anything by it, I was simply surprised. I mean, you’re allowed to like whoever you want to like. Everyone should have the freedom to—” His words cut off as I began to laugh. I couldn’t help it. He covered his face with his hands.

“I’m making a mess of this, aren’t I?” His voice sounded muffled.

“No, you’re not,” I assured him, trying to rein in my giggles. The look he shot me when he lowered his hands told me he knew I was lying. That only made me laugh all over again. “Okay, maybe a little.”

Ford wore a self-deprecating look, shaking his head at himself. He waited until I’d settled down to continue. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I was so surprised, but I promise you, it doesn’t bother me. At all. I guess there are a lot of things we don’t know about each other yet.”

“Yet. I like the sound of that. It implies there’s more to come.”

He stared at me, sincerity swimming in those warm chocolate eyes of his. “I hope so. It’s nice having someone to talk to.”

My smile softened. “You can talk to me anytime. That’s what friends are for, right?”

His answering smile was radiant. “Right.”

“Well, for what it’s worth, I’m certainly glad you moved here and so is Hannah. It seems like everything lately has been Ellie this and Ellie that.”

He huffed out a laugh and I could see the relief in his eyes when he realized I wasn’t going to push him for more. “Ellie’s talked quite a bit about Hannah too. I’m so glad they’ve become friends.”

“Me too. Speaking of which, do you have plans for this Saturday?”

Ford eyed me curiously. “No, why?”

“I have to work until noon, but then Hannah and I were planning on going to the apple orchard. We’d love it if you and Ellie came with us, if you’d like to.”

“That sounds great. Thank you. We’d love to go.”

I smiled at him. “Perfect. Give me your number and I’ll text you the details.”

We exchanged numbers then Ford looked at his watch and sighed. “I’d better get going. I still have an hour of patrolling left then some work to do at the station before I pick up Ellie.”

“I suppose I should head back to work too.” I paid the bill quickly and we headed out to the parking lot. “Thanks again for rescuing me earlier. This was nice though. We’ll have to do it again sometime. Except maybe without the whole tire shredding, of course.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I’d like that. But only if you let me buy next time.”

“You’ve got yourself a deal.”

I watched him slide behind the wheel of his patrol car and carefully back out of the parking space. With a final wave, he drove away. I spun my keyring around my finger a few times until he was out of sight and then slowly climbed into my own car. I was disappointed our time had been cut short, but I was looking forward to spending more time with him on Saturday. I couldn’t wait to tell Hannah the good news.

* * *

“Wow! This place is amazing.” Ford glanced around as we helped the girls climb out of the back seat. “When you mentioned going to an orchard, I pictured a small farm, maybe a few rows of fruit trees with a stand in the front where they sold their goods. But this is a full-fledged business.”

With the temperature a perfect seventy-three degrees and the sky clear and sunny, it seemed as if all of New Hope had had the same idea as us. The parking lot was nearly full, with even more cars streaming in behind ours. People poured out of a large brick building, loaded down with baskets of apples, bags of popcorn, and gallons of sweet apple cider which they carried to their cars. Children raced each other up the grassy hill to the right of the store where a small petting zoo had been set up with pigmy goats, chickens and sheep, and a large mama pig with her four tiny piglets.

I smiled at his awed expression. “I know. And it’s all owned and operated by one family.”

“Really?”

“Yep. Jason and Marjorie Jackson opened J&M Apple Orchard over two hundred years ago, selling the apples from the trees they’d planted, and things like pies and breads Marjorie used to bake in her own kitchen. They had ten kids, which even now is a lot of mouths to feed, so they all learned to pitch in. They’ve added the store, a few barns, and the cider mill over the years, passing the business down from generation to generation. Phillip, Roger, and Edward Jackson are brothers. They run it now, along with their wives and children.”

Ford arched an eyebrow at me. “Are you the town historian or something?”

I laughed. “Nothing like that, Smarta…uh, butt. Smartbutt.” My eyes darted to the girls but they were too busy petting one of the many cats I’d seen wandering around to pay attention to us.

“Don’t worry. They quit listening around the time you got to the twentieth century,” he joked. I gave him a gentle shove which made him laugh. The sound was amazing, as was the smile on his face. He seemed much more relaxed today, as if telling me a little bit about his past had taken some of the weight off his shoulders. I hoped so. I also hoped he’d continue opening up to me, but I’d let him decide when, and if, he was ready.

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