Her Apple Delight (Man Card Book 10)

by Terra Kelly

  Her Apple Delight

  Man Card Book Ten

  Terra Kelly

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Epilogue

  A note from the author

  Join TK’s Newsletter!

  About the Author

  Also by Terra Kelly

  Books by T.M. Kelly

  Acknowledgments

  Synopsis

  I loved everything about him. Then he left and it broke my heart.

  When I saw his truck pull-up next to the barn, I wanted to run far away, but something about him always pulled me back in.

  He’s everything I told myself I couldn’t have…

  …but rules were made to be broken and I planned to break mine.

  The man card series is a collection of short stories that are full of steamy romance. You're guaranteed that perfect happy ending and a cupboard full of sweets from all the cravings.

  One

  Autumn

  Four years ago…

  “Stay,” I wrapped my arms around Liam’s waist and rested my head on his chest. “Why would you want to leave all this?”

  He tightened his hold and kissed the top of my head. “You know I have to go. It’s expected of me.”

  I leaned back slightly to glance up at him. “Break the family tradition.”

  He gently pulled me off his body and stood up from the bed. “Autumn.” He reached down and grabbed a T-shirt sitting on the floor. “Would you do that?” I could tell he was frustrated because he sighed heavily. “Your family is everything to you. How would you like it if I asked you to break with all your family’s traditions?”

  I sat up and crossed my legs in front of me. “You’re right, that was shitty of me.”

  He squatted down in front me. “It’s only four years. Plus, I’ll come home every summer.”

  “Promise,” I grabbed his hand and brought it to my lips. “And we can talk via text message every day.”

  “You’re going to get tired of me,” he winked and leaned up to kiss me.

  “Not possible.” I combed my fingers through his hair and rested them on the back of his neck. “I love you too much.”

  He surprised me by wrapping his arms about my waist and lifting me up off the bed. Then he turned to sit down and carefully placed my body onto his lap. “I love you so much, Autumn Appleton.”

  Present Day…

  “Autumn, you there?” Olivia knocked lightly on my bedroom door. “Autumn, I know you’re in there, your mom told me.” She finally pushed the door open. I was sitting in the middle of my bed with two photo albums spread out in front of me. “Hey,” she whispered and sat down beside me.

  “Hey.” My hands were resting on one album and one particular photo.

  “Wow, you’re just a baby there,” Olivia laughed and leaned closer to get a better look. “When did you both start dating? Weren’t you a sophomore?”

  For the last two weeks I was a mess. Anti-social. Moody. Basically a fucking delight.

  Liam Hicks walked back into my life and my world suddenly turned upside down.

  “Freshman. He’s two years older than me.” I pulled my hand away and wiped a tear that escaped. I could still see the moment he asked me out like it was yesterday. It shocked me because I was just a freshman in high school. I always wondered why a junior would be remotely interested in me.

  “Crazy how time flies.” She turned the page on the album. “Oh God, I made the cut.”

  I nudged her side. “Of course you did, you’re my best friend.”

  “Autumn, what can I do to help you get past this shit?”

  “Why did he have to come back?” I dropped my head onto her shoulder and wrapped my arms around her bicep. “He’s the one that cut off all communication. Why is he here?” It took me months to let go of the pain he caused by ghosting me. After all this time, I thought I was over him. Then I saw his heart-stopping grin outside the food truck and I realized my traitorous body had a mind of its own.

  “Maybe he missed his home?” Olivia grabbed my hand in between hers. “Maybe he realized what a jack-ass he was and wants to atone for his actions.”

  I lifted up my head. “It took me so long to let him go. I can’t do that all over again.”

  “Then don’t,” she leaned down and looked into my eyes. “Nobody expects you to run back into his arms.”

  “Everyone loves him though. I feel like I would be letting my family down.”

  Olivia stood up causing my body to fall to the side. “Whoa, no one expects shit. That’s all in your head.”

  Liam Hicks was my light. Not so long ago I could see us getting married and having babies named after trees. Willow if it was girl and Ash if we had a boy. Then six months after he was at college the text messages started to drift to every other day. Then once a week. The part I was always confused about, why did he stop talking to me? Apparently he found it easier to ghost me.

  “Are you sure it’s in my head?” I closed the album and stood. “Jesse seemed excited to have him back, and Levi already offered him a job.”

  “What?” Olivia said loudly.

  “Yeah, mom told me this morning.” Olivia walked to the door. “Livy, don’t. Please don’t be mad at Levi.”

  “I’m not mad.” She opened the door. “I’m furious.”

  I watched blonde hair fly up as she stormed out of the room. There was nothing normal about this situation. The man I loved just disappeared from my life. Now I had to smile and work with him. Something was fucked up and it wasn’t me.

  I jumped up and ran down the hallway. “Livy. Wait. Livy.” She was on the top step of the front porch.

  “Autumn, I need to go talk to your brother.”

  “Please don’t.” I noticed movement from the corner of my eye. “Just leave it. Please.” Then he was there. The man we were talking about.

  “You have a lot of nerve showing up unannounced.” Olivia didn’t hold back.

  “Autumn, can we talk?” He had his hands in his pants pockets.

  I reached for Olivia’s hand. “It’s okay. You can go.”

  “Are you sure?” She stepped closer to me.

  “I’m sure.” I leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “But don’t say a fucking word to my brother.” I had this look and my family knew when I was being serious. “Promise me?”

  Livy let out a heavy sigh. “Fine, but I don’t like it.”

  “Noted.” I patted her cheek. “I love you.”

  She started down the steps and stopped a few inches from Liam. “I don’t have to tell you that if you fuck with her head again I’m going to kick your ass.”

  “I know.” He had his head down and nodded.

  Olivia walked to her car. I waited until she pulled out before I said anything, but Liam beat me to the punch. “Will you take a walk with me, Autumn?” He was still standing on the bottom step. The moment he pushed his cowboy hat back and glanced up at me, I knew I was fucked. “I’ll keep my hands to myself.” Then he tucked them into his jacket pockets. “See, locked away.”

  I glanced back and noticed my mom leaning against the doorframe. She winked and it felt like a silent nudge to go. I turned back toward him and shook my head. “Don’t make me regret this, Liam Hicks.”

  “I promise, I won’t.”

  It just sounded like broken promises.

  Standing just inches away from him, all the feelings from before he left came back into my mind. I closed my eyes and remembered my secret promise I made several years ago. Never ge
t hurt by this man ever again.

  What if he didn’t hurt me though?

  What if he was sorry?

  Nope, I couldn’t break my promise…

  Two

  Liam

  “I thought you would say no,” I said and glanced toward Autumn. Her flowing red hair was tied up in a bun and wisps were falling around her face. God I missed her, I missed this.

  “I probably should’ve.” She kept her head forward. I knew she was avoiding eye contact with me.

  “Autumn.” I stopped and placed my hand on her forearm. When she looked down at my hand I quickly lifted it. “Listen, I know this is weird.”

  She lightly laughed and finally glanced up at me. “Weird. Is that what you would call this?”

  “Well, yeah.” I could see her eyes shift from sad to pissed in a nanosecond.

  “Weird,” she repeated. “Weird is when people have an ongoing conversation with their pets. This. This is fucked up.”

  When I started college, I thought everything in my life would stay the same. I had a beautiful woman back in my hometown who loved me. Classes would keep me busy. I figured the four years would just fly by. Then six months after starting school I realized I was wrong. There were a lot of distractions. Plus, the twelve-hour car ride or two-hour flight to see the one woman I loved, felt like too much. I knew I was a pansy for not being honest. Somehow in my mind, just stopping all communication with her made more sense. Which also made me a grade A idiot. My man card was probably revoked on the spot.

  “Tell me the truth. Were you really okay with the long-distance relationship?”

  “No,” she blurted out. “But no one ever is, Liam.” Autumn rolled her eyes and leaned her body against a tree. “Who was she?”

  Her question threw me off. “Who? What are you talking about?”

  She pushed off the tree. “Oh don’t play dumb. The new girlfriend must’ve been pretty amazing, because you dropped my ass quickly.”

  “No.” I grabbed her hand and turned her to face me. “There wasn’t a girl.”

  “You’re gay? Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”

  “What?” I shook my head trying to keep up with her accusations. “Autumn, will you just wait and let me explain.”

  “Were you with a man or a woman? I have to know.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Neither.”

  “What?”

  I sighed. “Can I explain now?”

  “You need to because I’m really confused.”

  There was an old tree trunk resting on its side on the ground. “Can we sit?” I pointed to the tree. She didn’t say anything as she walked over and sat down. “First, there is no guy and there is no woman in my life.”

  “Now,” she said under her breath.

  “Ever,” I quickly said and sat down beside her. “Autumn, it was always you.” It felt like my heart was about to bust out of my chest. “I won’t lie, I had my fair share of opportunities.” The next sentence was not going to be easy to say. “I did kiss a woman once.” Autumn sprang up so fast I had to grab her hand to stop her from running off. “But,” I said quickly and squeezed her hand. “But I realized my mistake the moment I did it.” Her body was ridged and poised to leave if I let go of her. “It was always you, Autumn.” I could feel her body soften in my hold. “I fucked up.”

  “Yeah ya did.” She pulled her hand away and finally sat back down. “You hurt me,” she said it so quietly I wouldn’t have heard her if I wasn’t sitting two inches away.

  “I know.”

  “Then why did you do it?”

  I turned to face her. “Fear.”

  “What does that even mean?”

  She lifted her head and looked right into my eyes. Just like all those years ago, the fear was creeping back up into me. “When did we start dating? I was a junior, you were a freshman.” She dropped her head. “Do you know when I left for college I had my future mapped out perfectly. We would get married right after I graduated. Have four amazing kids. Live here on the farm because I know this place makes you happy.” I reached for her hand. “Then a few months passed in college and I wondered if I’d made a mistake. Hear me out.” I could feel her try to pull away. “College is different. Charlotte is a big city, but where we live is more small-town living. Having the opportunity to live in the city scared me. I wondered if I should explore and meet new people. I even thought about moving there permanently.”

  “Liam, is this supposed to make me feel better?”

  “Well, that part certainly won’t.” I glanced her way and lightly laughed.

  “Not even a little bit.” She rolled her eyes.

  “There was a woman I met during a study session. Yes, I did kiss her. No, I didn’t date her. Oh, and no, I was never with a man. Autumn.” I turned to face her. “Around the time I stopped talking to you, that’s when I kissed another woman.”

  “Why didn’t you just break up with me? It would’ve been easier.”

  “Because I was being selfish. I wanted to be with you and yet, I had cheated on you.”

  “Did you have sex with this woman?”

  “No, it never went that far.”

  “Then you didn’t cheat.” She clasped her hands together and rubbed her thumbs back and forth.

  “It’s cheating to me.” I placed my hand over top of hers. “You were my everything and I threw it all away.”

  “There’s a lot you did wrong, Liam.” She stood with her back to me. “It took me two years to get over you. If you think this changes anything, I’m sorry, it doesn’t.” She turned her head to face me. “You made the choice to stop talking to me. You opted to go silent instead of sharing the truth.”

  I watched her turn and walk away. “I still love you, Autumn.”

  “It’s not about love right now, Liam. It’s about the choices we make. The reasons behind our choices.” She stuffed her hands in her jacket pockets. “If you truly knew what you wanted then your choices would have been very different.”

  “I do know what I want.” I stood and wanted to chase after her.

  She stopped and turned on her heel. “No, you don’t. That’s why we’re here at this moment.”

  “How can I make this right?”

  “You need to find your way first.” She held up her hand to stop me from talking. “Don’t try to lure me in, Liam. It won’t work. I’m stronger this time.” She paused for a beat. “I love you. I always will. Kissing a girl is nothing to me. Feeling like you made a mistake with me, the farm, your future, that’s the part I’m struggling to understand.”

  “I’ll fix this, Autumn.” I yelled out but it was dusk and I couldn’t see her anymore. It was possible I was talking to myself.

  I walked back to the tree trunk and sat down. Autumn didn’t let me explain further. For three and half years I worked to find my way and what I wanted. I skipped school and took a few trips by myself exploring the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland and visited Adelaide in South Australia.

  During my travels all my thoughts lead back to one thing. Well, one person. Autumn.

  My life felt empty without her.

  I wanted the four kids, life on the farm, and her in my arms every single day.

  Three

  Autumn

  One week later…

  “Coming right up,” I said to the woman in the pass-through window. Jesse asked me to help run the food truck because he and Hannah needed the night off. I reached down and grabbed a prepared apple pie out of the small reach-in refrigerator. As I stood back up to throw the pie in the deep fryer I felt him before I saw him standing by the window.

  “Need some help?” His husky voice was like music to my ears. I shook my head at the thought. No, I had to stick to my rule. He was off-limits.

  “I’m good. Thank you though.” I grabbed the tongs and moved the pie around in the hot oil.

  “Are you sure? The line keeps growing.”

  I rested the tongs on counter beside the fryer and
turned around. “Why are you here?”

  “To get an apple pie.” He flashed his heart stopping smile.

  “Then get in line and order one.” I turned back and grabbed the pie with the tongs and placed it on the paper food tray. “Here you go.” The woman glanced at Liam and then back at me before grabbing the pie.

  “When did Jesse get the food truck?” Liam leaned his elbow on the small counter.

  Things were fine tonight. I was doing okay. Then he had to appear out of fucking nowhere and threw me off. For the last week I was mentally preparing myself for when Liam would make an appearance. Unfortunately, I was far from prepared. I was more like a wreck.

  “A few years ago.” I said and reached into the small refrigerator to grab a container full of what looked like cream cheese. It was like a movie playing in slow motion the moment the bowl fell from my grasp. “Shit.” There was no way to save the mixture, it fell hard and splattered everywhere.

  “Autumn.” Liam said and then he magically appeared inside the truck.

  I dropped down to my knees and let my body fall against the cabinet. “Liam. Why are you here?”

  He squatted down beside me. “To see you.”

  The cream cheese was everywhere. This was a disaster. I attempted to scoop up some of the mixture with the container, then I stood and dropped it into the sink. “Why though?” I glanced at the window where several people were waiting to order. “I’ll be right with you.”

  “Because I love you.” The moment he said the words I wanted him to take them back.

  Why did I have to be the only one in the food truck today of all days? Instead of responding to what he just said, I decided ignoring him would be easier. “What can I get you?” I asked the young couple and reached down to grab the container full of pies from the cooler. Carefully stepping around the cream cheese mess.