Page 22 of There's Pumpkin About You
“In his defense, Sandra,” Nigel’s wife, Simone, speaks up. “I’m certain that August or Sebastian would have called those who placed an order with them to let them know. Wouldn’t you, Gus?”
“That’s what businesses typically do to avoid losing customers, Simone, yes,” he retorts.
I send a glare in Gus’s direction when I hear his tone, even though he hasn’t seen me yet. Simone is only trying to help.
“And yet he hasn’t done it,” Sandra argues.
“How would you know? You didn’t order anything,” Bash pipes up.
Yet again, Sandra scoffs. “I have my ways of knowing things. It’s my job to know what goes on in this town.”
“I thought that was the mayor’s job?” a middle-aged man says from the middle of the room.
Sandra sputters as she tries to find a comeback to what is a rather obvious argument. How she thought she would win that one I have no idea.
“August,” Mayor Johnson steps in, looking around awkwardly. “If you need the help, we can figure out a way. This is the first harvest since you let everyone go and now considering your most recent proble?—”
“I don’t need any help,” Gus says calmly, but I can hear the warning in his tone.
“You’d rather send out all of the orders late?” a woman near Sandra asks.
“I’d rather everyone stayed out of my business unless I ask them to do differently.”
I hear someone nearby whisper, “Just because you want to be rude to everyone in town, doesn’t mean you need to purposely inconvenience us.”
What are these people on about?
I lean over to Jamie. “Why are they being so harsh?”
Jamie, who is currently glaring at whoever just whispered that comment, sighs. “No one knows why Sandra is the way that she is. I put it to her being bitter and alone, but mine isn’t the only theory. As for the rest of the town… well, let’s just say that not everyone’s mindset made it into the twenty-first century.”
I spin around again. Gus still has his head in his hands and for once I find myself with the urge to go over there and comfort him somehow. Place a hand on his back and tell him not to listen to them whilst gently tugging his hand out of his hair before he gets a bald spot. Something tells me that Gus isn’t exactly one for a friendly shoulder, easily deciding to instead mistake it for pity.
To be honest I don’t blame him.
If he sees me watching him, or feels my gaze, he doesn’t acknowledge it, but Bash offers me a small smile which I return before turning around.
“How late is late, August?”
I can hear Gus release a breath before he says, “It’s Gus, and the people who ordered from me will know how late when they receive my phone call, if they haven’t already.”
“Well, how do you plan to conduct the harvest of not just the pumpkins, but the corn as well?” Sandra asks snootily.
“I plan to harvest the corn when it’s ready, which it currently isn’t.”
Sandra huffs like a child before looking to the mayor and slamming her cane onto the floor. The mayor simply shrugs.
“You’re sure you don’t need help, Gus?” he asks.
There’s a pause before his response follows. “I don’t need anyone.”
ChapterTen
WREN
I’ve been reluctant to return to the farm since my overreaction yesterday. The weight of embarrassment still sits on my chest despite Finn calling me to tell me that there is no need to feel embarrassed, that we all get overwhelmed sometimes.
What he doesn’t say, but what sits in the middle of our phone line like a lump in the throat is that I don’t. I don’t do overwhelmed, not when I try my hardest to focus on the positives even if it kills me. I start my mornings with affirmations, I make myself find positives alternatives when it feels like there’s no other way.
