Page 78 of At First Flight
We travel down the many paths lining the strawberry field until we happen upon another three-man group plucking strawberries and placing them in the crates. Rowan and I work in companionable silence for a few minutes, the kind where neither party is quite sure what to say.
Finally, Rowan breaks the silence. “Didn’t expect to see you today.”
“Wasn’t planning on being here either,” I admit.
“Lila still happy working for you?”
“She hasn’t resigned yet, though I know she’s been searching for jobs. But she never complains.”
“And you? You’re still being professional?” he asks, yanking a handful of plump berries and tossing them into the crate with the ease of someone who’s been doing this for years.
I meet his gaze. “I know what I want. So does she. But I’m not rushing her. I have the kids to look after. The real life kind of baggage most women don’t want to deal with.”
“Lila’s not most women.”
Boy, isn’t that the truth. She’s one of the best women I know.
“This wouldn’t be a fling for me,” I confess.
Rowan responds with a long pause.
“She’s been hurt.”
“I know.”
He nods, then he glances over at Oliver and Evelyn, now cackling wildly near the fence with Claire as she reaches out toward the horse’s nose.
“She likes horses,” he divulges. “When she was a teen, she’d come out here when we aggravated her too much. It didn’t matter if it was day or night, rain or shine.”
A smile grows on my lips. “I get it.” I felt the same about being on a boat.
We worked together a few more minutes in silence, the air feeling lighter, like I’ve passed some sort of test. I’ve always been an overachiever.
“You know, Ashvi set her up on a surprise blind date the other night.”
“Oh, shit. I bet that didn’t go well. If Lila hates anything, it’s a surprise.”
“Noted,” I say as I fill my second crate. “She didn’t seem pleased when she came home.”
“I bet not. Ashvi has always been the wilder of the two. She always wanted Lila to come out of her shell. Then when my sister left and pretty much cut everyone off, it hurt her.”
“I don’t know much about her time away, but I know she regrets it. Wishes she could take it all back.”
“We and Ashvi just want her to be happy. She carries the weight of the world on her shoulders.”
Secretly, I wonder if her family is part of why she desires to succeed in such a spectacular way. She frowns upon her mother’s business yet pushes to follow in her footsteps. I understand wanting to make it on your own.
“You know, I think you’ve said more today than you said the first night we met,” I point out.
“Asshole,” Rowan replies as he gets up and shifts to another line of strawberries a few feet away. I follow just to live up to the nickname he’s given me.
A few hours and several crates later, Rowan, myself, and his team have harvested what we could from the cordoned-off patch. He explains that they keep the far field open for families to pick strawberries on their own, which explains all the cars in the lot when I showed up.
“Business good here?” I ask, helping load the crates into the back of the pickup.
“Why? Looking for another investment?” he asks arrogantly.
“Been looking me up, Rowan? I’m so flattered.”
