Page 36 of Oops, I Fell For The Town Bad Boy!

“You know how fond I am of you, Taylor, and ordinarily I would say yes. But I don’t know if I want to be caught up in all that old gossip,” Mrs. Lipton said. “Especially with Jason so recently dead and all — it seems a disgrace to the man’s memory. I would have thought you might see it that way too. You were as close to Jason as anyone. Don’t you think it would hurt him to see you hobnobbing around town with his son?”

Taylor pressed her lips together. Hobnobbing around town was such a silly expression, and ordinarily she would have laughed, but she understood what Mrs. Lipton was getting at, and the meaning behind the words wasn’t that silly at all. She was saying that she perceived Taylor and Kane to be a pair — a duo, certainly, if not a couple.

And Taylor couldn’t pretend she didn’t enjoy being seen that way. She loved having her name linked to Kane’s. She loved speaking of him in this proprietary way, as if there was something real and permanent between the two of them — something that wouldn’t just wash away when he went back home. Right now, talking to Mrs. Lipton, she could almost let herself believe that was the case.

It was beautiful and painful at the same time. Taylor had never known that anything could feel quite like that. She didn’t know whether she was glad to be discovering it or not.

The only thing she knew for sure was that with each passing day she seemed to fall deeper and deeper into the well of her feelings for Kane. The eventuality of him leaving felt more and more like the worst thing that could happen — and yet, it was inevitable. It lurked in her path, waiting to come for her and break her heart. It should have made it impossible to enjoy the little moments in the meantime, moments like painting booths with him and talking to Mrs. Lipton about the connection the two of them shared. But instead, it seemed to make those moments that much sweeter.

“I think you should come to the market,” she told Mrs. Lipton. “Don’t think of it as something to do with Kane. Think of it as supporting the Chesterfields. That’s what we’re really trying to do here. It’s all about making sure they’ll be able to keep their farm. No one wants them to lose it.”

“No,” Mrs. Lipton agreed. “We don’t want that. And you really think this event of yours is going to make a difference?”

“Well, I don’t know,” Taylor admitted. “All I know is that I have to try. I couldn’t allow myself to sit back and do nothing at all — and I can see that Kane feels the same way.”

“You’ve always been a good girl,” Mrs. Lipton said with a smile. “All right, sweetheart, I’ll be there.”

“Thank you,” Taylor said. “The doctor will be in to see you in just a moment.”

She left the exam room with a smile on her face. Conversations like that one were becoming more and more frequent as they prepared for the big day, and she hoped she was interpreting it correctly by thinking that it boded very well. It looked as if the farmers market was destined to be a success.

CHAPTER 19

KANE

“Iswear, you’ve been in here every day this week,” Steve Tucker said, smiling at Kane across the counter of Tucker’s Hardware. “Every time I think I must have seen the last of you, you come back again!”

“I always think I have all the supplies I need, and then I find out otherwise,” Kane explained.

“What is it this time?”

“Pony rides. So we need a post we can put in the middle of a circle, something to tie the ponies to so they can go around.”

“Sure, I think I’ve got you covered there,” Steve said. “Want to wait here while I go see what I can whip up?”

“I’ll be in the paint section, if you don’t mind,” Kane said. “Taylor’s insisting that we need a booth selling local honey, and that it has to have bees painted on it.”

“You’re lucky to have that girl helping you out, you know,” Steve said. “She’s a gem.”

“I know she is,” Kane agreed. “I couldn’t have done any of this without her.”

He made his way over to the paint section to look for the shade of yellow they’d need to paint bees — they already had the black. His heart was lighter than it had been in a very long time. Everything was going surprisingly well these days.

They had met with the Chesterfields a few more times since that awkward first meeting — Jeff had gotten Donna on board with the project. She remained a bit hesitant about it, but Jeff was downright excited. Yesterday, he and Kane had set up all the booths they’d constructed so far. There were only two days to go before the farmers market was due to begin.

Jeff Chesterfield wasn’t the only one who seemed to have come around on Kane, either. As word spread about what they were planning, the whole town seemed to be looking at him differently. He had noticed it as he’d gone about town doing his errands. It definitely felt like fewer people were whispering about him as he passed, and some people had even smiled at him.

And then there were the conversations with vendors, like the one he had just had with Steve Tucker. They greeted him, these days, like they were happy to see him, like they thought what he was doing was something impressive. His actions in the present were beginning to balance out the sins of his past, just as he had hoped they might. Just as Taylor had suggested they would.

Kane pulled out a paint card with various shades of yellow on it, trying to decide whether any of the colors would be suitable for bees. One of them would probably work. He had just about decided to ask Steve for his opinion when he came back, but then his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of voices in the next aisle over.

“That’s what I said — Taylor Levine.”

The sound of Taylor’s name got his attention, of course — how could it not? Kane felt guilty as he stopped to listen, but he couldn’t resist. He had to know what was being said about Taylor.

“Janice, you’re such a gossip,” said another voice. “You always say that you’re not interested in gossip, and then you do this sort of thing, and it makes you impossible to believe.”

“I thought you would want to know what Taylor told me,” the first voice said, and Kane realized it belonged to Janice Lipton. Whoever she was with was correct about her. She was one of the biggest gossips in Miller Creek. But what was she saying about Taylor? He couldn’t walk away now. He needed to know what this was. It was hard to imagine that anyone could have an unkind word to say about her, and if they were saying anything rude, he knew he would intervene to stop them.

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