The ride out was bumpy and rough. Tayler couldn’t even enjoy the view, her butt hurt so badly. She held on for dear life and tried to avoid getting her new sneakers dirty.
Kevin led them through the fields and Tayler picked whatever she saw everybody else picking. She wasn’t into this getting-back-to-nature stuff. The only thing she wanted to get back to was the house so she could get on her cell and cuss Nicole out.
“Barbara, think you’ve got enough green beans? Why not move on down and get some cucumbers. I like them in my salad.”
“Forrest, get your own cucumbers. We’re trying to show Tayler here how to pick beans. I may not have lived in the county for a while now, but I’m still a country girl.”
Tayler compared the small amount of beans in her basket to the overflowing amount in Barbara’s. She had to admit she needed the help.
“Honey, the truck’s not gonna be out here all day, so you need to pick faster. Here, let me show you how. Sit that basket down. You need both hands.”
Tayler did as she was told, and in no time at all, her basket was overflowing as well.
“Thank you. This is the first time I’ve ever picked anything.”
“Fun, isn’t it?”
Tayler glanced down at her dusty sneakers and dirty manicured nails. Hell, no, this isn’t fun. “I guess, yeah.”
Barbara laughed. “Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it. Before you leave you’ll be a pro at picking beans and anything else you want to eat. Once we leave, I guess Rita or Kevin will ride out with you every day.”
Tayler stopped in her tracks. “You have to do this every day?”
“Sure, that’s what staying on an organic farm is all about. Everything’s fresh right from the garden. Wait until dinner tonight—you’ll see what I mean then.”
Barbara picked up her basket and started walking away.
“What if I’m not able to make it out here every morning?” Tayler asked. “Surely Rita will prepare something anyway.”
“Maybe, but why wouldn’t you want to?” Barbara stopped and turned to face Tayler. “That’s what people stay here for, the holistic experience. Isn’t that why you’re here?”
Holistic, as in back to nature, organic, oh, hell! Tayler gave a slow nod of her head. “Sure, it’s just some mornings I might be working, and I wondered how they’d handle that, you know. Let’s say I miss the truck or something.”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure Rollin won’t let you starve,” Barbara responded with a laugh.
“He just might,” Tayler mumbled, remembering how rude he’d been to her.
“Honey, as pretty as you are, I wouldn’t be surprised if Rollin doesn’t offer to pick your food for you. I don’t know him that well, but I saw the way he looked at you this morning.”
“What do you mean? How did he look at me?” Tayler asked, apprehensive about the answer.
“Let’s just say I noticed him noticing you. That’s all. Come on, let’s go pick some blackberries—Rita promised me a cobbler after dinner.”
After a brief stop back at the truck for a bottle of water and a new basket, Tayler tried to talk Barbara into letting her wait by the truck, but she wouldn’t hear of it.
“If you’re going to be out here after we leave, you need to learn a thing or two,” she insisted. “Come on, city girl.”
With the sleeve of her shirt, Tayler wiped the sweat from her brow and followed Barbara along a path that lead to blackberry bushes. Hot, tired and ready for a bath, Tayler could barely muster up the energy to pick berries.
“Okay, honey, dig in. But be careful, they have thorns. And remember, the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice,” she said with a laugh. “Oh, I love that saying.”
Tayler chuckled and shook her head.
“No, seriously, though, the blacker and plumper the berry, the better. The red or purple ones aren’t ripe yet, so leave them. And don’t be afraid to get under there and find them berries. They’re tough—you can’t hurt anything.”
But my hands, Tayler thought. Then, she realized the sooner they had enough berries, the sooner they would be out of there, so she held back the thorns with one hand and plucked off berries with the other.
A few minutes later, she moved down farther in search of more plump blackberries. She was starting to get the hang of it and had only been pricked by thorns twice. She crouched down when she saw a bunch of blackberries close to the ground. Careful this time, she pulled the thorns back with one hand and reached in with the other.
Suddenly, a long black snake slithered from the open path, headed in her direction.
“Ahh!” She screamed, jumped to her feet and ran as if her life depended upon it.
Before she could catch her breath, she ran into a brick wall named Rollin.
“Hey, what’s going on?” he asked as he reached out and caught Tayler by the arm.
“A snake!” She flung her arms and looked back over her shoulder. “A snake attacked me back there. It crawled out from under the bushes and came right at me.” She shook her hands before brushing down her pant legs.
“Did it bite you?” he asked.
All she could do was shake her head.
“How big was it?” he asked, holding her now with one arm around her shoulders to steady her.
She took a deep breath. “I don’t know, it wasn’t too big, but it was a snake nonetheless. Yuck, I hate snakes.” She swatted at the crawling sensation going up her arm.
“What color was it?”
Now everything on her body itched, and Tayler pulled away long enough to shake her pant legs and notice the smirk on Rollin’s face. “I think it was black, or...what’s so funny? Are you laughing at me?”
“No, of course not,” he said as he pointed behind her. “Is that it?”
Without looking behind her, Tayler jumped and ran behind Rollin, and then glanced at the ground. She didn’t see anything.
The roar of laughter caught her attention and she looked up at everyone in the truck bed having a good laugh at her expense.
Rollin chuckled and held his hands up, palms out. “I’m sorry, that was mean. I shouldn’t have done it.”
Barbara called out, trying not to laugh, “Tayler, we’re sorry, but it was only a small garden snake. It won’t hurt you.”
With her arms crossed, Tayler glared at Barbara and the crew. “It was a snake, that’s all I know, and I don’t do snakes.”
“Occasionally, a little snake crawls under the bushes looking for a nice warm bed. Come show me where you saw it.” Rollin touched Tayler’s elbow, edging her back down the path.
Arms crossed, she stood rooted to her spot. “I’m not going back down there. I told you, I don’t do snakes.”
Kevin walked up. “Is she okay?” he asked Rollin.
“Yeah, she’ll be fine.”
“It was probably a garden snake, like Mrs. Barbara said,” Kevin offered. “They’re virtually harmless, and they do their best to avoid people. I don’t see too many of them out here.”
Kevin and Rollin walked down the path in the direction of the snake. They poked around under bushes, but it didn’t look as if either spotted the snake. Rollin picked up her basket of blackberries. She wondered what she was going to eat every day, since she wasn’t about to come back out here to pick anything.
Back at the truck, Tayler sat on the edge of the bed, trying to get her hands to stop shaking. A snake! A damned snake! If anyone had told her they had snakes here, she would have stayed in Chicago.
Rollin and Kevin made their way back to the truck, laughing with each other. No doubt she was the topic of conversation.
“Glad I could make your day, fellas,” she said.
Rollin looked from Kevin back to her. “I’m sorry, we weren’t talking about you. Her
e’s your blackberries.” He set the basket next to her.
“Thank you.”
“I’m sorry your first morning turned out to be such a dramatic one. Guests usually don’t encounter snakes this soon.”
“So it usually takes a few days before snakes show up?” she asked sarcastically.
“Oh, they’re out here every day. You startled that one, that’s all. Next time, make some noise and it’ll slither away.”
“Next time! Oh, I don’t plan on coming back out here. I’ll eat all my meals in town if I have to.”
Rollin nodded. “That’ll get pretty expensive.”
“I can afford it.”
“Maybe you can.” He stretched his arms over his head. “Guess I was right when I said you might not last a month. I can spot a quitter from miles away.”
He touched a nerve and she straightened up. “I’m not a quitter. I just don’t play with snakes.”
He shrugged. “Just stay out of the blackberry bushes, then everything will be okay. What do you say?”
She looked at his outstretched hand, waiting for her to accept it, then looked away. She wasn’t making any promises.
“What do you have to lose? You’ll eat some good food and might even make a new friend.”
She raised a brow at him. “You want to be my new friend?”
“I wasn’t thinking about me, but Rita. She’ll be disappointed if she can’t cook for you. After these guys leave she won’t have guest to cook for.”
He still hadn’t persuaded her.
“Say yes, and I’ll do my best to keep the snakes away.”
He smiled and those big dimples mesmerized her. It took a few seconds to turn from his gaze and pull herself together.
“Okay, but no more blackberries.” She accepted his hand.
Chapter 4
The next morning, no one rode to the fields because, luckily, they’d picked enough food the day before.
Tayler took advantage of the free time and ventured out to the porch after breakfast with her laptop. Minutes later, Forrest joined her.
“This feels wonderful, doesn’t it?”
Tayler turned to Forrest, who sat in one of the big white rocking chairs across the porch from her.
“Yes, it does. We have a nice breeze.” She smiled and turned back to her laptop.
“You don’t get this in the city.” He took a deep breath. “Just smell that air. No car exhaust or garbage. Just clean country air, the way God intended it to be.”
Tayler cut her eyes at Forrest. What’s so damned special about the air?
“What’s that you’re working on? I thought you said you were on vacation.”
“I am, but I’m still trying to keep up with work—you know how it is. It’s hard to take a vacation when you have so many responsibilities.”
He crossed his legs in her direction. “So what do you do?”
She took a deep breath and thought of a way to explain what she did so he’d understand. “I oversee a team that installs data communications lines all around the world.”
Forrest whistled. “Sounds like a lot of work. Too bad they can’t manage without you.”
“Oh, they can. I just like to keep tabs on everything.”
“So you’re somewhat of a micromanager?”
“No, not really.” She hated that phrase. “I just like to be available if I’m needed.”
“We used to have backups for vacations and such.”
“I have a backup.”
“Incompetent, though, huh?”
“He doesn’t handle things the way I do, but he’s very competent.”
Forrest laughed.
She smiled but didn’t get the joke. “What’s so funny?”
The front door opened as Forrest stood up and pointed at her laptop. “You need to look up ‘micromanager,’” he said as he walked over to hold the door for his wife.
Tayler crossed her arms and gave him a knowing smile. She understood.
Barbara walked over to Tayler. “Well, Tayler, it was nice meeting you, but we’re gonna have to get on the road.” Tayler moved her laptop aside and stood up to hug the older woman goodbye. Within minutes, everyone else came out to say goodbye. Rita and Tayler stood on the porch waving as both cars pulled off. The moment reminded Tayler of a scene from an old movie.
“Well, young lady, what have you got planned for today?” Rita asked.
Tayler sat back down and picked up her laptop. “I was going to get some work done, but I’ve changed my mind. I think I’ll just enjoy the breeze.”
“That sounds nice. You enjoy yourself, now. I’m gonna go up and start cleaning those rooms. Lunch is at noon.”
“Okay, I’ll see you then.”
Tayler thought about what Forrest had said and closed her laptop. She wasn’t a micromanager.
A few minutes later, she heard a vehicle barreling up the driveway. A big black truck that resembled a monster with tinted windows pulled in next to her BMW. She’d seen the truck parked around back before but wasn’t sure who it belonged to. It kicked dust all over her precious jewel.
The door opened, and Rollin stepped out. Tayler rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, “I should have known.”
He walked up onto the porch. “Enjoying yourself?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m just relaxing.” She followed his gaze to her laptop. “And trying to stay away from work.”
“Yeah, Nicole said you were here to get away from work. She said you needed to get some rest,” he said.
She glanced over her shoulder as he now stood at the door. “And I plan to get plenty of that, as long as I don’t have to adhere to six a.m. wake-up calls every morning.”
“You must plan on losing at lot of weight, then.”
She set her laptop aside and turned around in her seat. “So, let’s talk about that. Do you really expect me to go out there all by myself and pick vegetables every morning?”
He left the entrance front door and walked over to stand against the railing opposite of her. “Sure, I do. This is a working organic farm. People come from all over for the opportunity to pick their own food and have Rita prepare it for them. Almost everything we make here is fresh and from scratch. Tomorrow, I’ll take you out and introduce you to the hens.”
Tayler laughed. “You talk about hens like they’re people.”
His lips pressed together in a slight grimace. “No, but I think a proper introduction should be made before you stick your hand under her ass to pick up the eggs.”
Eyes wide, Tayler pointed to herself. “Oh, no, my hands won’t be going under anything’s ass. Besides, I don’t have to eat eggs. Pancakes are fine with me.”
He chuckled. “You need an egg for pancakes.”
“Then I’ll have a bagel.”
He shook his head. “No bagels, nor doughnuts, before you ask.”
She brought her palm to her forehead and massaged it for a moment. “Seriously, though, how do I get a good meal without playing farmer Jane? And what about the elderly? Surely to God, you don’t make them ride out on that old rusted truck.”
“They appreciate it the most. But if you want to eat somewhere else, there’s always Donita’s Diner in town.”
“And how do I get there?”
“Take the main road back into town and you’ll see it on your right. The green-and-white sign kind of jumps out at you.”
“Thank you. I think I’ll try it.”
He walked back to the front door. “Suit yourself, but I think you’ll be disappointed.”
“As long as I don’t have to pick the food myself, I’ll enjoy it.”
Rollin went inside and Tayler opened her computer back up. She hadn’t been able to catch Nicole by
phone, so she sent her another email. She was going to wring that chick’s neck.
A few minutes later, Rita poked her head out the door and announced that lemonade would be served in the library.
“Rita, you didn’t have to go to any trouble for me.”
“Honey, it’s no trouble at all. Besides, around here folks is dropping by all the time. Come on in and help yourself.”
Tayler went inside for her afternoon treat. First, she ran upstairs and grabbed her book. The minute she opened the door to head back outside with her goods, two children came barreling through the door, screaming as they shot past her.
She spun around and almost dropped her glass.
“I smell cookies, I smell cookies,” they screamed.
Kids. Please don’t tell me they’ve come to stay. She could hear her peace coming to an end.
Juggling her lemonade, cookies and book, she continued out onto the porch to retain her seat.
“You must be Tayler,” a woman who didn’t look a day over twenty asked as she came up the steps.
“How did I give myself away?”
“Rollin said you were the only guest.”
“Oh, that made it easy.”
“Hi, I’m Corra, his sister.” She held out her hand.
Tayler juggled a hand free. “Hold on, let me set some of this down.” She placed everything on the table next to her laptop and shook the woman’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Corra. Do the little ones belong to you?”
“Yes, those are mine. They smelled Rita’s chocolate chip cookies the minute they stepped out of the car. I swear, it’s like they’re cookie bloodhounds.”
Tayler chuckled. “They are good.”
Corra placed a hand on her large hips. “I need cookies like I need a hole in my head, so I’ll take your word for it.”
Tayler returned to her seat.
“Are you enjoying your stay so far?”
“Yes, I am. This is a lovely place.”
Corra walked over and sat in the swing across from Tayler’s rocking chair. “I hope Rollin is being hospitable.”
“He is, and so is Rita. Everyone’s been very nice.”
When I Fall in Love Page 3
