Page 21 of Break My Heart
‘Who let you come out here?’ I yell as I stare at her tight little ass in those jeans, her hips swaying as she walks through the rows of trees.
‘Your mom!’ she yells back. She trips, but catches herself, and keeps going. It’s easy to trip out here. The orchard is on a hill, forcing you to walk on a slope, and the ground is covered in straw to keep the weeds under control. I’m used to it, but people who aren’t sometimes trip or get their feet caught up in the straw.
Gina’s back to picking apples now, ignoring me. I grab my basket and go to a different row. Since my family owns the place and I grew up here, I know how to spot the best trees and best apples, and I know all the varieties and how they taste. For thecider, I want an apple that’s tart and firm and will produce the best juice.
I walk down a row to a tree that has the exact kind of apple I want. It’s a good, healthy tree with lots of apples that are just now turning ripe. They’re at their peak so their flavor will be perfect, just what I need for the cider.
‘Ow!’ I hear Gina say. ‘Dammit!’
‘What happened?’ I yell up the hill.
‘Nothing,’ she yells back. I hear her voice again, but it’s softer. ‘Shit. Damn, that hurts.’
‘Gina?’ I set my basket down. ‘You okay?’
‘I’m fine! I just .?.?. fell.’
She fell? While she was standing there?
I make my way back to her and see her sitting on the ground, rubbing her ankle.
‘What happened?’ I ask, kneeling down to her.
‘Go away. I’m fine.’
‘Then why are you sitting on the ground?’
She glares at me. ‘I was resting.’
I smile. ‘In the middle of an apple orchard? Don’t you need to be getting back to work?’
‘I’m the boss. I can get back whenever I want.’ She looks down at her ankle. ‘But yeah, I should probably get going.’ She tries to stand up and cringes.
‘Need some help?’ I take her arm and lift her to standing.
‘Thanks,’ she mutters.
‘What happened? Did you trip on the straw?’
‘No, I um .?.?.’ She clears her throat. ‘I was in the tree, trying to reach an apple.’
I stifle a laugh. ‘You were climbing the tree? Aren’t you a little old for that?’
She sighs. ‘I couldn’t reach the apple I wanted to get. I didn’t have a choice.’
‘You could’ve asked me to get it for you.’
‘After the fight we just had?’ She rolls her eyes.
‘It wasn’t a fight. It was .?.?.’ I try to think of how to describe it. ‘Okay, yeah, it was a fight, but I still would’ve helped you out.’ I look up at the tree. ‘Which one did you want?’
‘Forget it. I’ll just pick something lower.’
‘No, get the one you want. Which one is it? Show me.’
She points to it. ‘That one with the green on it.’
‘The green means it’s not ripe. This variety is a deep red when it’s ripe.’
