Page 11 of Ember's Heart
As soon as we hit the water I felt my swimsuit bottoms get yanked off by the water. I gasped when I surfaced, and felt my face burning with embarrassment. I noticed the bottoms were floating in front of me. Trying to cover myself, I heard the laughter from all of Cade’s friends. Everyone was laughing except Cade, Sara, and Colton. I felt a wave of humiliation wash over me realizing that Colton saw what happened.
“That’s enough!” I heard Colton’s voice shout to everyone, sharp and angry.
He was standing on the rock, his expression dark and forbidding, staring directly at Cade. He jumped into the water, swimming towards us with long, determined strides.
“You can be such a jerk, man,” Colton said, shoving Cade in theshoulder. He grabbed my bottoms, handed them to me and turned his back to give me privacy to put them back on.
Colton turned to me, his eyes filled with concern. “You okay, Ember?”
I nodded, my voice trembling. “Yeah.”
He helped me out of the water, grabbed his t-shirt lying nearby, and handed it to me. “Here. Put this on.”
I took the shirt, grateful for the cover, and pulled it over my wet swimsuit. It was too big, but it smelled like him.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, avoiding his gaze.
He nodded, his eyes lingering on me for a moment longer than necessary. Then, he turned back to Cade, his expression still hard. “You better not pull anything like that again,” he warned. “Or you’ll have to deal with me.”
I was chewing on my lip, lost in thought when a customer’s voice snapped me back to reality. “Excuse me, miss? Do you have any fresh eggs?”
I blinked, shaking off the thoughts from that day. “Oh, yes, of course,” I said, forcing a smile.
Garrett stepped forward, his eyes narrowed slightly as he observed me. “I’ll take care of this,” he said, his voice low. He turned to the customer, his usual cheerful demeanor back in place. “We’ve got the best eggs in the county, ma’am. Fresh from our hens this morning.”
A couple of days had passed since my encounter with Colton, and my mind was still a tangled mess. Every time I closed my eyes I saw his face. The years hadn’t erased the pull I still felt towards him, and seeing him again was like a jolt to my system.
I tried to focus on arranging the baskets of fresh strawberries. I was working our produce stand today. The early June sun was warm on myskin, and the air was thick with the scent of freshly picked fruits and vegetables. It was a beautiful day, but my mind was miles away, lost in the past.
After the customer left, Garrett turned back to me, his expression concerned. “You alright, Em? You seem distracted.”
I sighed, running a hand through my hair. “Yeah. I’m sorry about that,” I mumbled.
He studied me for a moment, then shrugged. “Well, how about you take the day off? You look like you need a break.”
I hesitated. I had a lot of work to do, but the thought of escaping for a while was tempting. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, go on,” he smiled, waving a hand dismissively. “I can handle things here. Besides, you’ve been working non-stop lately. You deserve a break.”
I nodded, a wave of relief washing over me. “Thanks, Garrett.”
I was tempted to head into town and walk along main street, or maybe go for a hike, but instead I headed back to the house towards the office. I decided to focus on planning some new social media advertisements for the upcoming summer season. I had some new ideas I wanted to play with that would highlight the farm’s fresh produce. I also wanted to brainstorm some new promotions for the produce stand, maybe a “pick-your-own” day or a farm-to-table dinner featuring our seasonal produce. I even had an idea to start doing weekly videos on social media that would show more of the farm’s workings and the people who worked here. It would be a great way to connect with our customers and show them the heart of our operation. I also wanted to talk to my mom about maybe doing some how-to videos on cooking and preserving our produce, with recipes and tips. She had a real talentfor it and always sold out whenever we participated in the local events. Owen could even do the filming and editing, he was really talented with a camera.
The more I thought about possible ideas the more excited I was, and soon I was forgetting about the return of a certain soldier. It felt good to focus on something positive, something that was mine, something that helped our family.
Chapter 7
Ember
The next morning, I was excited to gather my parents and brothers, Garrett and Owen, in the office to discuss the business ideas I had. Dad, even in his fifties and sporting the same dark brown hair as all my brothers, was in good shape, his eyes twinkling with interest. Garrett and Cade, both spitting images of our dad with their brown eyes, while Owen and I, had my mom’s blue-gray eyes. They all listened with clear support and a sense of fascination and curiosity. Mom, as always, was my biggest cheerleader.
“I’ve been thinking about ways to boost our sales and connect more with our customers,” I began, laying out my plans. “I want to do a ‘pick-your-own’ day, maybe for the strawberries or the blueberries and in the fall for apples and pears. I was also thinking of doing a farm-to-table dinner, showcasing our seasonal produce. But I still have to domore research on that.”
Garrett, ever the practical one, raised an eyebrow. “That sounds like a lot of work, Em.”
“I know, but it could be really successful,” I countered. “Plus, I have more ideas. I want to start doing weekly live videos on social media, showing the farm, the fields, the people who work here- give people an idea of how everything works. Owen, you’re the tech whiz, you could do the filming and editing.”
Owen, who seemed excited at the mention of him filming and editing, sat up interested. “Yeah definitely, that could be cool. I’ve been wanting to try out some new editing software.”
