Page 10 of Cozy Girl Fall
You already broke his heart once, Tasha’s voice reminded her and Penny blew out a long breath, annoyed that her vanilla-musk bubble bath reminded her of Ethan’s sweet sandalwood scent against her lips.
If she made it to Friday without seeing Ethan again, then she would be able to look Tasha in the eye overtheir cocktails, knowing she hadn’t broken her promise to stay away from Tasha’s brother. But if not … Maybe it was best to keep both of the Blake siblings out of her mind, to try to stop it from wandering.
Fuck, she thought and then, as if the universe had heard her thoughts, her phone buzzed on the side of the bath, lighting up with Tasha’s name and starting her spiral all over again. “Fuck.”
6
Penny was grateful for a break from working on the orchard on Wednesday; her muscles ached after two days of manual labor and her head was a little fuzzy from exhaustion. The town was only a short drive away, so she decided coffee would be a good way to get out of the house without being too exercise-intensive. Plus, she enjoyed driving. Her little green bug had been a trooper on the long drive from the city and she knew she’d be bummed when the time came to replace it.
Pulling out of her parents’ drive, tiredness sweeping through her limbs, she was reminded all too clearly of the day she’d left Magnolia Springs. She’d been exhausted that day too, but her excitement for her dream job in the city, working under the head chef of one of the most highly rated restaurants in San Francisco, had kept her going. It had been a conscious decision not to say goodbye, one she’d thought made sense at the time but that she could now see had been a mistake.
She’d loved Ethan, and Tasha, and her parents too—but she hadn’t thought they would understand wantingto get out of this little town, to find something bigger. None of them had ever wanted to leave, making her the outsider, and whenever she’d tried to talk to them about it before she’d gone, she’d been unsuccessful. And then she’d realized that if she was going to leave, she needed to just go, otherwise she’d do the comfortable, easy thing and stay with her friends instead of following her dreams. Still, she could have handled the whole thing a lot better. But she’d been young and stupid, brash in her overconfidence. Qualities she hoped she’d grown out of ten years later.
Penny parked the bug by the church and enjoyed the cool breeze as she walked into town. She’d layered a thick, cozy pink sweater over the top of some denim overalls and was glad she’d opted to wear her sturdy black boots given the deceptively deep puddles along the sidewalk. Her sneakers were more comfortable to drive in but had a tendency to let in water and with the way the gray clouds had been looming, she hadn’t wanted to take any chances. There was nothing she hated more than wet socks.
Coffee Affair was busy, with a long line of customers winding its way past the register and along the cake counter. But they did serve the best coffee in town, so Penny joined the back of the line and breathed in the coffee-scented air, her mouth already watering at the thought of her pumpkin spice latte.
“Good to know some things don’t change,” a quiet voice murmured behind her and Penny jumped,glancing over her shoulder and then whipping around to face straight ahead again with wide eyes once she saw who was behind her. The warmth at her back should have been the first giveaway really. Ethan always had run hot.
“You know me,” she said, injecting false cheer into her voice and wincing when it cracked. “Need my fix.”
He didn’t reply and the silence made her all too aware of her pulse pounding in her ears and the lack of space between their bodies. It had always been this way with him, ever since they were kids. There was some draw between them, pulling them closer even when they hadn’t known what it meant. More than that, they had thrived in each other’s company—Ethan Blake wasn’t only her first love, he’d been her best friend.
Now he was nearly a stranger.
The line shuffled forward and for a second Penny could only blink blankly at the barista, trying to remember her order, and before she could stutter the words out, Ethan leant round her, saying something her brain couldn’t process to the barista. She jolted at the proximity, finding herself frozen to the spot as an arm reached out from beside her to pay for her drink before she’d even reached for her purse.
“Oh,” she mumbled, looking up and up until she could see the underside of Ethan’s jaw above her. “You didn’t—I can pay—”
Ethan glanced down like he’d already forgotten she was there and nodded slightly. “Old habits.”
The air filled with everything she wanted and feared to say, her surprise at the lack of reproachment on his face, the nostalgia of being there with him again, all while the pain of how much everything had changed between them hovered invisibly too. Then the barista handed over their drinks and the moment was gone.
His eyes flicked from hers to her mouth and she watched his throat bob, frozen in place. “Bye, Pen.”
She raised her hand, but he was already gone, marching out of the coffee shop and through the painted door before she could open her mouth.
“Thank you,” she whispered to the air and then cursed when she sipped her drink and burned her mouth. But before the sting, she recognized the flavor—pumpkin spice. He’d remembered.
It had rained all of Thursday morning, the grass slipperier than usual and the smell of sweet apples thick in the air, making Penny feel surprisingly thirsty every time she plucked a droplet-covered fruit from a branch. Like she was in a damn shampoo advert or something.
The trees were doing their best to cocoon her from the chill in the weather, watching over her as she plucked the ripened fruits from the boughs and sprinkling her with water as the branches bounced.
But now, the sun had finally stopped sulking and was warm on her face, so Penny decided it was time for a break to try and dry her gloves a little. Her fingers looked pale and a little pruney when she yanked thegloves off and positioned them on one of the stepping stool’s stairs in direct sunlight.
She’d opted for layers again that day to keep warm. She was relieved by her choice to wear thick, dark tights and a light, long-sleeved white tee under her denim dungarees that morning, but now that the sun was out she’d had to roll her sleeves up to her elbows to try to cool off.
She’d already eaten the sandwich she’d packed for lunch as a snack at around eleven, so Penny decided to just enjoy the temporary sunshine and slipped her headphones on. She stretched out her arms and legs before peeking down the rows of trees nearest her and finding them deserted, not a single person lurking amongst the green-orange leaves.
Perfect.
Music poured through the headset and she moved in time, throwing her hands in the air and spinning, rushing from one row of trees to another and skipping with extra flourish as Natasha Bedingfield begged to be taken away to a secret place. By the time the song ended, Penny was breathing hard but she was smiling, her muscles feeling looser, her mood lifted. As she paused to gulp some water, trying to catch her breath, she glanced round the orchard, stopping mid-chug at the sight of Ethan Blake in a tank top, picking apples on a ladder much bigger than her own.
There hadn’t ever been a time in her life when she’d seen a man in a tank top and thoughtyes—until now.Who knew apple picking could be such an intense, erotic activity?
No! Not intense! Not erotic! Off-limits!
Despite her better instincts, Penny couldn’t look away. Instead, she ignored the whiny voice in her head and let her eyes trace the minute movements of Ethan’s biceps as he reached and pulled, water droplets landing on his skin from the branches and the strong flex of his muscles making her swallow hard as his fingers closed around the fruit and dropped it into the bag he’d slung across his chest.
