Page 14 of Three Days of Holiday

And okay, I couldn’t actually see any wrinkles around his lips from my distance, but they were totally there. Trust me.

I checked in at the registration booth, making sure I understood exactly where we needed to be and when, and then I waited off to the side. Will and the woman argued another few minutes, and then she left him alone. Like an absolutely crazy person, I slowly meandered my way over to his growling cranky-looking self as he leaned up against the back wall in the hall.

I’d worry he didn’t want to talk to me after whatever happened between him and the woman, but his eyes tracked my every step. As I drew closer, his smile tipped up higher until he no longer frowned.

At least until I reached his side and then his eyes widened for a fraction of a second and his smiledecreased. Not quite a frown, but not a smile either, as if he was tired suddenly and waiting for the next thing to happen.

And apparently I was the next thing.

In that moment, I couldn’t decide if it was a good next thing or a bad next thing.

“Where’s Bacon?” I asked, stopping a few feet from him, still unsure whether he wanted to see me.

I left our dessert date completely smitten, but considering he didn’t run up to me, throw me into a bear hug and plant another whopping kiss on me, instead maintaining his position against the wall looking angry, I was no longer sure he felt the same way. Those questions caused my stomach to tumble. Mom was right. I should have eaten breakfast.

“I left him with a friend. We stayed in Clearwater.”

“Bacon helped decide to stay in Clearwater?” I asked, wanting to make sure I understood the situation.

Will’s smile tipped a millimeter higher and my stomach tumbled again, but this time for good reasons. “Yes, he’s a very vocal dog.”

We were avoiding saying so many things. I definitely had a lot of things I needed to say to him, but no one wanted to come off too strongly in the beginning of a relationship. Plus, what Will and I had wasn’t even a relationship. It was one late-night date. It didn’t do any good telling my brain that because my heart remained excited with the fact he stayed in Clearwater. I wanted to ask what made him change his mind but couldn’t.

“Holly, I need to tell you something,” Will said, his expression now stiff.

The suspense over the decision had me about to askwhat when the lights flickered. That sent me a reminder of how we’d been kicked out of the diner the night before, and then he’d left me on my back porch with a searing kiss. People told their grandchildren about such a kiss.

Everyone, including Will and me, made our way into the main area of the competition. Just the day before, they announced Oceanview Orchards as the winner of the regional event, and soon they’d declare us the state winner in the same place. Everything in life lined up perfectly.

I represented the family orchard at a state-wide taste-off event. I’d kissed a freaking hot-as-hell guy the night before and now would get the chance to show everyone in Maine the amazingness of Oceanview Orchards.

Things were… right. Perfect.

I smiled and I knew my cheeks had a delicate rose color to them because I felt it in every inch of my body. Everything was light and happy. I wanted to shoot out positivity like rays of sunshine. One night with Will and I had basically become a high school cheerleader. I was absolutely okay with that.

The group of us, about fifty people—other competitors, assistants, judges, coordinators, and pretty much anyone you could think of—huddled in the main room.

An older man with a balding head, who had greeted everyone at the doors when we walked in, stepped up to the microphone and tapped it twice. “I want to thank everyone for coming today, even at this early morning hour.”

The room laughed together. Some people were lessthan happy as they grumbled and clutched cups of coffee.

“This week, the four best orchards in Maine get the chance to compete against one another with the uppermost competitor named Maine’s top cider mill and event destination. When you checked in this morning, you received a list of the rules, so I will make this quick because I know we have to get to planning. In case you haven’t been following along, let’s do a quick introduction of our competitors.”

I’d already scoped out the competition, but I scanned the room again trying to pinpoint all of them. The only one I couldn’t place was old Mr. Causebay, the jerk of an owner for the Causebay Family Farms. You couldn’t miss the old ass, and he definitely wasn’t in the room.

They probably thought this introduction event was beneath them since they’d won the competition the last five years in a row.

He’d caused a lot of grief with my family over the last two years as he made a desperate attempt to buy our farm for the apple trees. Everyone knew that Oceanview Orchards had the best apples in the state of Maine. I couldn’t wait to beat that asshole this year and then rub it in his face.

I guess I got a little competitive at times.

But that family had everything coming to them.

“On the left we have Maribel Family Farm and Uncle Johnny’s Apple Orchard representing the west and south sides of Maine respectively.”

Everyone clapped, and the main representatives for each farm raised their hands when their names were called. Anticipation and excitement grew even more,which I hadn’t thought was possible with how excited I’d been in the morning.

I couldn’t wait to raise my hand and give a little whoop when it came time for our name to be called. I’d worked hard for the last three months to get competition-ready for regional qualifications and now state. It was all coming together, and the hard work would be worth it. My time to take my place at Oceanview had arrived.

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