Page 50 of Harvest Moon (Riverbend 3)

The familiar weight of his hand, the concern on his face tugged at her heartstrings. Made her wish things had worked out differently. “Patty’s supposed to return tomorrow. This’ll all be over soon, and I’ll go back home and resume my job, right?”

Their gazes tangled for a long moment. Something shifted in his eyes. His brows smoothed out as his gaze drifted over her features. “Right.”

“Gabin, see Sunny!” Emma called from the patio, laughing.

Their gazes held another instant. Then with one last wistful look, Gavin got up and went outside.

Chapter20

Time to check the apples. Laurel finished loading the dishwasher, then gathered her supplies on the island. Though it was too early for bedtime, Gavin was upstairs playing with Emma. From the sounds of her laughter filtering through the ceiling, all was well.

She lined up three apples—Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, and Jonagold, along with the refractometer and a butter knife. She’d learned a lot just from helping Mallory out with the orchard a few times. Harvesttime for each apple type varied, and many factors determined the right time to pick the fruit, including their ultimate purpose. These apples would be sent to Clean Eating. She’d already been in contact with them and ironed out the details.

She sliced the Red Delicious in half, finding the seeds nice and dark. She took a bite of the flesh, and the juices burst from the fruit with a mild, sweet flavor.

Now to measure the sugar content. She put a drop of juice on the refractometer’s slide, closed the lid, and peered through the eyepiece. After turning the focus ring, she read the scale. Ten degrees Brix. Between the sugar content and taste test, the Red Delicious apples were ready for harvest.

She moved onto the Golden Delicious and found the fruit not quite ready. The Jonagold tested the same.

When she was done she finished off the Red Delicious apple and cleaned up the mess. It was time to get Emma into the tub. It had been quiet up there for a while—or maybe Laurel had been too focused on her task to notice the sounds.

She went upstairs, her mind already on the harvest. She’d call Emilio in the morning—she’d touched base with the crew supervisor last week and told him they were getting close. But what would happen after Patty came and Laurel had to leave? There was a lot to running an orchard, and it was a critical time in the growing season to be on the wrong side of the learning curve. She couldn’t risk Mallory and Mike’s hard work. But what other choice did she have?

As she hit the top of the staircase, quiet sounds of play carried from the nursery. When she reached the open door, she peeked inside.

Emma rooted through her toy box and came up with a pair of flamingo sunglasses. She walked them over to Gavin, who sat on the floor by the rocking chair—wearing a bejeweled tiara and a hot-pink feather boa. His hand grasped a plastic scepter capped with a huge pink jewel.

Biting back a bubble of laughter, Laurel stepped fully into the doorway, posture perfect and pasting on an expression worthy of the queen’s royal court. She lowered her weight in a deep curtsy, bowing her head. “Your Majesty.”

Gavin scowled at her. “Very funny.” He dropped the scepter and pulled the boa from his neck. “Emma’s playing dress-up.”

“Looks like you’re the one playing dress-up.” Laurel didn’t remind him about the tiara, still perched atop his head.

“Gabin princess!”

“I see that.” Laurel turned loose her smile. “He makes such a beautiful princess.”

“Bootiful.” Emma placed the flamingo sunglasses on his face, temples spread wide to accommodate his head.

“Now, these are cool,” Gavin said. “How do I look?”

“Too wittle.” Emma took them off.

Laurel checked the time. “Guess what, angel? It’s bubble time. You want Gavin to give you a bath or me?”

“GabinandWaurel.”

Laurel’s gaze connected with Gavin’s.

“All right by me.” He stood. “I’ll run the bath.”

He stood, still looking pretty regal in that sparkly tiara. Laurel arched a brow at him, biting back a grin.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

He rolled his eyes and headed toward the bathroom.

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