Page 71 of Harvest Moon

So while we were waiting for me to get my shit together outside the truck, Lexis rocking back and forth beside me, I had to come up with something to talk about.

“Who’s Skye?”

He started, blinking a little.

“Claudia mentioned his method over breakfast,” I continued. “Take it he knows something about the Condition. He some kind of expert in it?”

Alexis smiled, a little color rising in his cheeks. “Oh, he’s actually an omega in town who’s had the Condition since he was born. He runs a blog about things he’s done to minimize the symptoms. It’s a bunch of diet stuff, some exercise, but we’ve been focusing mostly on the food. Alpha Grove put Claudia on bedrest, so I don’t think she’s going to go running a marathon any time soon.”

“I’ll be sure to check it out.”

Alexis started looking at me funny then, but if this Skye guy had a diet fit to help those afflicted by the Condition, it made sense for a man growing food to keep himself appraised of what worked and what didn’t.

“I take it Mrs. Claudia’s got a bit of a sweet tooth?”

“Yeah, like I said—loves those little packaged cakes.”

But she liked cantaloupe too. While it wasn’t fruit-growing season, and the farm didn’t seem to specialize in that, there were still workarounds.

“Okay, I’ll see if I can bring some stuff by. You free tonight? If I’m stopping by anyway...” I ran my hand through my short hair and shrugged. “We could go out. Cider House or Chadwick’s? You pick.”

Alexis frowned. “What are you doing?”

“Asking you on a real date.”

His frown cleared, a charmed little smile playing at the corners of his lips that were so damn pretty and pillowy soft. “No, I mean, bringing us stuff. Is this more of that alpha-provider nonsense?”

He might have a point there, but there weren’t many ways I could take care of Alexis or his family. Here, with food, I might’ve found one that worked. And sure, my instincts were screaming at me to give him stuff, but that wasn’t new. I’d been giving him anything I could put my hands on for as long as I could remember.

I leaned against the door of my truck, hooked my thumbs in my pockets, and shrugged. “Just thinking. Good food doesn’t have to taste bad, and if Mrs. Claudia likes stuff a little sweeter, I think we can work with that. The farm’s got a bunch of good squash coming in. Be nice for roasting, and it’s pretty sweet, got a good, soft texture she might like. Like... veggie cake.”

Okay, that was a bit of a stretch, but it was still good and plenty nutritious.

Alexis was staring right at me, blinking slow. He didn’t say a word.

“And I had a roommate back in Raleigh, was on the rowing team, really into the whole juicing thing. Don’t juice stuff. You strip all the fiber out and just leave behind the sugar. Some vitamins too, I guess. But if Claudia’s not much for leafy greens, smoothies can be a good work around. I’ll ask him his recipe. Think it’s just pineapple and spinach—I’d bet Claudia’d turn her nose up at kale or arugula, but spinach might be okay—and some local honey. We’ll have that next spring, but in the meanwhile, I’m sure Ambrosia—”

Alexis cut me off by reaching up. His warm hands pressed into the base of my neck and he pulled me down. I didn’t realize I’d been rambling until his lips slanted over mine, moving softly, sucking my swollen bottom lip into his sweet mouth.

“That all sounds great. But, um—” Lex pulled back, his eyes still shut, and dropped his forehead against mine. “Dinner tonight? Maybe around seven-thirty?”

“I’ll pick you up,” I promised. Now that I had a guarantee I wouldn’t have to go long before I saw him again, it was possible for me to get in my car and go to work. Possible, sure, but still not easy.

I traced the shape of his face with my fingertips, delighted that I could touch him whenever I wanted, and he didn’t seem to mind a bit. “Seven-thirty,” I repeated. “Anywhere you wanna go.”

But with Alexis’s funny grin and the way he leaned in to kiss me again, I got the feeling he didn’t care where we went any more than I did. So long as we were together, everything’d be just right.

41

Alexis

Veggie cake.

Those were words that had actually come out of Ridge’s mouth.

Because he wanted to help make Claudia better. It had been enough, his being there, listening as I cried about how I couldn’t lose her, and how much I hated the damned Condition. But not for Ridge.

Nope, he’d actually listened, and considered, and tried to find real solutions.

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