Page 61 of Keep My Heart
‘I remember you talking about her back in high school. It’s no secret you liked her back then.’
‘Every guy liked her. She was hot and a cheerleader.’
‘But you were the guy she was friends with. Am I right? Weren’t you guys friends?’
‘Yeah, but only because I was tutoring her. If I wasn’t her tutor, we would’ve just passed each other in the halls and never spoken.’
‘Did she have a boyfriend?’
‘Yeah, this jerk, Chris. Quarterback of the football team. He treated Lyndsay like shit. I hated him. She ended up marrying him.’
Nash leans back on the bench and looks out at the orchard. ‘If I were you, I wouldn’t give up on her. A girl with a boyfriend doesn’t confide in some other guy unless she trusts him and feels something for him. I’m guessing her feelings for you back then were more than she was letting on.’
‘I doubt it, but even if that were true, it doesn’t change the fact that we live on opposite coasts. I can’t date a girl from thousands of miles away.’
‘Is she staying in California?’
‘I don’t know. I assume she will. She has friends there, a life, a job.’
‘And you’re determined to stay in New York?’
‘I’m about to make partner at my firm, so yeah.’
‘Nash?’
We turn back and see Callie, Nash’s fiancé, coming up behind us.
‘Hey, babe,’ Nash says. ‘You need something?’
‘I just didn’t know where you went. Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.’ She smiles at me. ‘Hey, Nick.’
‘Hey, Callie. Congrats on the engagement. You sure you want to commit to this guy?’ I nod at Nash.
She laughs. ‘There’s no one I’d rather be with.’ She leans down to him and he kisses her.
‘I’ll be in there in a minute,’ he says.
‘No rush,’ she says, going back inside.
Nash watches her with the same look on his face that my parents had as they gazed at each other on the dance floor.
‘You guys seem made for each other,’ I say.
‘I’m lucky I found her. But like I said, nothing would’ve happened with us if I hadn’t put in the effort.’ He gets up. ‘If you really want Lyndsay, you could make it work. I’ll see you inside.’ He goes back into the barn.
I get up and walk over to the line of trees at the edge of the orchard. It’s dark out, but the area around the barn is lit, casting light on the rolling hills lined with apple trees. My dad built this place from nothing. He inherited the land from his father, along with the house. The land was covered in tall prairie grass back then, but my dad imagined it being an orchard. He had no experience in farming, but he read books and talked to tree experts and drove to other orchards asking for advice, then took out a loan and got to work planting trees.
The orchard took off soon after it opened. There weren’t any others in the area so he had an advantage. He made a decent living off the apples, but Mom suggested they sell more than just apples to bring in more people. She started making pies and apple fritters and selling them on the weekends when we got the most visitors. They sold out within hours and soon people were showing up just to get her homemade pies and fritters. The following year, they added a store with apple-themed products and baked goods. Then Dad started growing pumpkins, which drew in even more people.And a few years ago, he planted strawberry fields to get income coming in during the summer.
Dad never went to college, but he didn’t need to. He grew a successful business out of nothing and made it more profitable every year by adding the stuff people wanted, like tractor rides to the fields and pumpkin painting for kids. And he’s helped the town. Not only does this place draw in tourists, but he also gives part of what he makes back to the community. And on his two busiest weekends of the fall, he hosts a vendor fair, where locals can sell their craft items.
‘What are you doing out here?’ I hear Matt say.
Turning around, I see him coming toward me.
‘Just checking out the orchard. The trees are looking good this year.’
He stands beside me and gazes out at the fields. ‘Remember that time we were cutting branches and you made me laugh so hard I fell out of the tree?’
