Kade clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Let’s see what you got.” He tipped his head at the hoop.
“Do you play?” Aside from my father, I hadn’t been aware of anyone in our family who played the game.
He ran a hand through his honey-colored hair, which I realized was almost the same color as Quinn’s.
Suddenly, images of her were dancing through my head—her smile, the way she looked at me but quickly shied away, and above all else, the way her hand felt in mine—so soft and delicate.
“The family has an occasional pickup game on Sundays sometimes.” Kade’s voice penetrated through my reverie.
I bounced the ball once then twice before I shot it. It scored the rim and landed near Kade, who stood near the net.
He tossed it back to me. “So Coach gave you a goal?”
I nodded as I positioned myself to shoot again. “Do you know Chase Stevens?”
“I know the family. I can’t say I know the kids well. Let me guess. You two don’t get along?”
When the ball left my hand, I shrugged. “Something like that.” That time, the ball swished through the net.
Kade and I got into a routine with him passing the ball back to me and me shooting. The more the ball swished through the hoop, the more I wanted to play the game.
After ten minutes, Kade came over and handed me the ball. “Can I give you some advice?”
I wanted to shout yes. But instead, I dipped my head.
“Don’t let anyone get in the way of what you want. Lacey had a problem back in high school with the captain of the baseball team.” He grinned. “She didn’t let him get the best of her. If you want to play, then play. If Chase gives you trouble, then deal with it. The question is do you want to play ball? Because if you want to as badly as I think you do, then you wouldn’t let anything or anyone stop you.”
I swore I was listening to my dad, and because of that, tears threatened. “I do want to play. I also want to help my mom out financially. I know what I make isn’t going to support a family of nine. But if I can make enough for gas and to buy lunch at school, that would be one less burden on her.”
He smiled so wide. “Maiken, you remind me of me when I was your age.” Then he lost his smile. “So work a part-time job. Working doesn’t mean you have to give up basketball. Besides, Mr. Thompson’s son plays ball. So I’m sure Mr. Thompson will be very accommodating to your schedule.”
I tucked the ball underneath my arm. “What about Chase?”
“You’ll figure out how to handle him.”
“Even if he and I get into a brawl?” It wasn’t even a matter of if but when, especially if he so much as touched Quinn.
Kade started for the garage. “Talk to Chase.”
I followed then placed the ball back on the cart. “Is that what you and your brothers did back in high school? Talk, I mean, to your enemies?”
Jerking his head at me, he snatched a shovel that was hanging on the wall. “What my brothers and I went through shouldn’t have gotten as far as it did. Find a common ground. Find a way to at least be civil to Chase and still play basketball.”
I refrained from rolling my eyes. His advice was an impossible feat. Chase wouldn’t listen to anything I had to say.
Since school had been canceled, Momma put me to work in the farm store shortly after lunch while she spent the afternoon taking care of errands. I’d called Celia to join me so we could hang out. We were far from busy. Snow always made people hibernate. I wasn’t complaining, though. It gave Celia and me time to rekindle our friendship.
She and I sat on stools behind the register, chatting and messing with our phones.
“I’m so glad we’re friends again,” Celia said.
“Ditto, bestie. If you ever have any notion of ditching me again for Tessa, I just might commit a crime,” I teased, but underneath I was a tad serious. Celia and I had been close since elementary school, and I would’ve been more devastated the second time around, although I didn’t think she would ditch me again.
“Are you going to say yes to Chase’s invitation?” Celia asked.
For the last couple of hours, we’d talked nonstop about the Stevenses’ party. Her mom had secured the contract to cater the lavish event.
I set my phone down on the counter underneath the window. I’d thought about his invitation, but honestly, my mind had been more occupied with Maiken. I sighed, touching the area under my eyes, thinking back to the connection we’d had until Carter ruined everything. “I still look like a raccoon. Don’t I?”
Celia snorted. “With the makeup, you really can’t tell all that much.”
“Pfft. You’re just trying to make me feel better.”
“Isn’t that what besties do? Now back to Chase.”
“Argh.” I was supposed to give him my answer at school that morning, so I was relieved for the moment that I had another day to think about it. I really didn’t need to, though. Sure, I was flattered that he’d confessed to liking me since grade school. I was also shocked that he’d been man enough to admit as much with Liam and Maiken present. Yet Chase didn’t touch my heart like Maiken did. The minute I’d laid eyes on Maiken, my heart had gone haywire. With Chase, my heart didn’t even flutter.
“As much as I want to go to the party, my answer is no. I don’t want to lead him on.”
Celia looked up from her phone. “Smart. I don’t think boys know how to be friends, or at least I don’t get that vibe from Chase.” She reached over and placed her hand on my thigh. “It’s an adult party anyway. They’re boring.”
She was right. But I loved Christmas parties and decorations and an atmosphere where everyone was filled with cheer. Frankly, I was tired of being the only one in town who’d never gotten an invite.
Her pink lips split into a smile. “After last night and the time you spent with Maiken, maybe he’ll ask you out on a date. You did say you thought he was jealous of Chase when Chase gave you the invitation.”
I clucked my tongue. “After last night, Maiken will never ask me out. Carter will make sure of that.”
“Your brothers are—”
I held up my hand. “Don’t say it. I know they’re the reason no boy has approached me in a serious way. Now Maiken probably won’t talk to me.”
“Yet Chase stood up to Liam, right?” she asked.
“Liam isn’t as scary as Carter,” I added. “And Liam follows Carter’s lead most of the time.”
She tucked her phone in the back pocket of her jeans. “So Chase was sweet, huh?”
“He wasn’t the Chase I knew.” He’d always been standoffish. But I knew why now—my brothers. “We’ve been talking about me. Tell me what you and Liam were arguing about outside the gym yesterday.”
She gnawed on her lip. “I had every intention of apologizing to him for coming on too strong, but instead, I asked him to help my mom and me with the catering for the Stevenses’ party. He took that as a date and flat out said no. He just doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
I hated to see her sad. I would say something to Liam, but I was by far not an expert on boys. On occasion, I had overheard Carter and Liam talking about girls. Carter believed that girls shouldn’t chase boys. Momma had taught her children that girls had a place and so did boys. Daddy agreed. Carter and Liam always talked about that very thing. They didn’t like when girls hung all over them or were forward and asked them out.
“Forward girls are trouble,” Daddy had said, as had my granny.
I hopped off the stool. “Can I tell you something?” I might as well give her the inside scoop on Liam. Maybe that would help.
Her espresso eyes filled with intrigue. “Of course.”
I leaned against the counter. “Let him come to you. He’s been taught that girls don’t ask boys out.” If he liked Celia, and I didn’t know if he did, then he would take the lead when he was ready.
She pouted. “I might be waiting a long time.”
Join the club. I could be waitin
g forever for Maiken to make the first move.
The bell on the door dinged. Finally, a customer. Momma would be happy about that. But when I turned, the customer was actually Momma. She stomped her feet to shake off the snow on her boots. “Business is slow, I see. Celia, if you need to go and help your mom, I’ll take it from here with Quinn.”
“No, ma’am. My mom closed the bakery early. She and one of her employees had to go shopping for supplies for the Stevenses’ party.”
Momma smoothed a hand over her hair to tame the wispy strands. “Speaking of the party, Mrs. Stevens called.” She set her brown gaze on me. “She wants to know if you’re going, Quinn. Apparently, her son asked you to go with him? When were you going to tell me?” Hurt peppered her tone.
I hadn’t had a chance to see Momma since she’d left early to meet Mrs. Maxwell for breakfast and then run errands. “Chase stopped by last night and asked me. You were gone when I got up this morning.” I’d gone straight to my room after Maiken had left last night thanks in part to Carter, who had irritated me.
Momma set her purse on the counter near the register. “And you said?”
“I told him I wanted to think about it. I don’t like him as a boyfriend.”
“Then tell him that,” Momma said.
Celia rose and rested her elbows on the counter next to me. “I think Quinn should go with Maiken.”
Momma lifted an eyebrow. “Is he going? Eleanor was invited.” Momma’s voice hitched. “I saw you two walking from the barn last night. You would like for Maiken to be your date. Wouldn’t you?”
“Tessa asked him to go. But he told me he doesn’t do parties. Besides, it’s not his party to invite me to.”
Momma drilled her dark-brown eyes into me. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“Yes, ma’am. I would rather go out with Maiken.”
She came around the counter. “Eleanor says Maiken is going through a rough time right now with the death of his father. Just be patient.”
That was easier said than done when all I wanted to do was kiss the boy who was slowly stealing my heart.
The job wasn’t hard in the least. A customer picked a tree, then I baled the tree in plastic netting and loaded it in or on top of their vehicle. Since starting my shift, I’d helped five customers, talked to Mr. Thompson, kept watching for Quinn to show up, and was waiting for Liam to get back from practice. He was over an hour late. My shift had started at five, and it was well past six.
When I asked Mr. Thompson when Liam would arrive, he said Liam wasn’t working that night. Darn. I was dying to pick Liam’s brain about practice. When I’d left Coach’s office, Chase had been walking in. I was curious if Coach had had the same conversation with Chase that he’d had with me or if Chase had talked smack on the court about me not playing.
In between helping customers, I thought about my conversation with Kade. I shouldn’t let Chase or anyone dictate what I did. Kade was right when he’d said my mom was a strong woman. She’d always had a good grasp on the family as the matriarch, and she still did even though my dad had passed, but I could tell she was wearing a cloak to mask her sorrow. She wasn’t her happy self, and I was sure most of my brothers and sisters could see that.
Regardless of my mom, maybe I should talk to Chase in an attempt to appeal to his softer side. Better yet, I could play point guard instead of shooting guard. I didn’t like that I would fill Alex’s position. I didn’t want to be judged against a star athlete, although I’d filled positions of former star players who had graduated at the other schools I’d attended. The operative word was graduated. Alex died. I felt that people would give me trouble if I didn’t live up to Alex’s talent. Then again, I didn’t know if Alex was talented or not, which didn’t matter. Someone had to fill his shoes.
The thing was I wasn’t a point guard. I wasn’t the player to orchestrate the offense. I wasn’t the player with exceptional ball-handling skills. I was the player who scored points. No matter what you do, Chase isn’t going to like you. I was sure of that.
A bitter-cold wind whipped around. Mr. Thompson fixed his knit hat so it covered his ears. “Temps are supposed to drop below zero tonight.”
I popped up and rubbed my hands over the fire flickering out of a metal drum. If it got any colder, I swore my lips would freeze together.
Mr. Thompson joined me, buttoning his flannel shirt.
I blew into my hands. “Do you get used to the cold?” I imagined he did since he wasn’t wearing a jacket.
“Not really, but when you’re moving as much as I do throughout the day with all the things we have to do on the farm, then you keep warm.”
We both stared at the flames, rubbing our hands over the fire when a clip, clop, clip, clop made Mr. Thompson jerk up his head. It took me a minute to realize that someone was riding a horse.
I stiffened. Mr. Thompson darted to the edge of the road. A second later, the horse came into view, and when I dragged my gaze up to the rider, my jaw dropped.
Quinn looked like a queen or a goddess with her long hair draped around her. A smile appeared on her rosy face, and I wished I could capture her expression. I wanted to put it into my mom’s scrapbook so I could cherish it forever. A headlamp beamed down from her forehead. On anyone else, the lamp would look odd, but not on her.
The horse I suspected was Apple made a sound as Mr. Thompson ran a hand down its neck. “You shouldn’t be out on the road in the dark, young lady. How many times have I told you that?”
Quinn’s smile faded as she hopped off like an expert rider, which I was sure she was since she’d grown up around horses. “I took Apple out before it got dark, and we got sidetracked. Sorry, Daddy.” She rose on her toes and kissed him on the cheek.
Since Mr. Thompson’s back was to me, I couldn’t see his expression, but his body seemed to deflate. The exchange between father and daughter reminded me of how my sisters had had Dad wrapped around their fingers.
Mr. Thompson grabbed Apple’s reins. “I’ll take her to the barn. Stay with Maiken in case he needs help with the register.”
Sure, this was my first job, but the register wasn’t hard at all. All I had to do was press a button, and the drawer would open.
Quinn gave me one of her shy grins. My stomach did a wild dance until headlights brightened the dark road. Quinn abandoned me for the SUV that slowed until the driver pulled into the lot. And it wasn’t just any driver. Chase Stevens was behind the wheel. It figured he would be the one to interrupt Quinn and me.
At that moment, anger, hot and bright, burned a path through me. Or maybe the flames from the fire were licking my hands. I bit my lip, willing myself to keep calm. Mr. Thompson doesn’t want trouble. Remember? I had to be on best behavior. You wanted to talk to Chase anyway. So talk to him.
Chase climbed out, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. His hair was wet as though he’d rushed out of the shower to get over to the farm.
I willed his hair to freeze to his head, even more so when he sauntered up to Quinn. That was my cue to kick my butt into gear and rescue my girl.
Mr. Thompson walked Apple into the parking lot. “Chase, what brings you by?”
Quinn glided up to her dad and Chase.
Apple’s tail swung back and forth.
I joined them, staying away from Apple but keeping an eye on the horse just in case. I knew I was being weird and that Apple wouldn’t hurt me, but that fear of horses I had embedded in me wasn’t exactly waning much.
Quinn must’ve noticed when she skirted Chase to stand beside me.
A laugh resonated in my head. I should have been the one protecting her from the likes of Chase.
Chase held out his hand to Apple. “Hey, girl.” Then he petted the area around her neck. “Sir, I’m here to talk to Quinn.”
Quinn frowned at me.
My stomach took a nosedive. She was going to say yes to his invitation.
What the hell?
Mr. Thompson guided Apple toward the path th
at led down to the barn. “Make it quick, Chase. Quinn has chores to do still.”
A truck wheeled into the lot before a man in his forties got out and started looking at the trees under the lighted pergola.
Mr. Thompson returned, leaving Apple tied to the fence. Reluctantly, I abandoned Quinn and Chase and rushed to help the customer. I had a job to do, even though I didn’t want to leave Quinn with Chase. I also wanted to show Mr. Thompson I could handle things.
“Can I help you find a particular tree?” I asked.
The middle-aged man with a thick beard browsed the variety of short, tall, skinny, and fat trees. “Just looking right now.”
I eyed Mr. Thompson, who watched me intently. Then I tossed a look in Quinn’s direction. Chase was grinning at her as though he were truly in love with her.
Nausea settled heavily in my stomach at the notion that he could very well be in love with her. However, I wasn’t sure if I believed he didn’t have an ulterior motive to bully her in some way, especially after witnessing his crass interaction with her at school the day before. Sometimes boys tried not to show how they really felt. At least that was something my mom had said a time or two to Emma.
Quinn and Chase walked to the back of his SUV.
Mr. Thompson shoved his hands in his jeans pockets, watching his daughter. Maybe he stayed because of Quinn and not me.
“I’ll take this one,” the customer said.
I heard him but didn’t rush to help like I was supposed to.
Mr. Thompson cleared his throat. “Maiken?”
At his deep, commanding tone, I snapped to and helped the man, making quick work of baling the tree. Meanwhile, the customer moseyed over to Mr. Thompson with his wallet, ready to pay.
I tried to listen to Quinn and Chase’s conversation, but it was useless since the baler was near the hut and a good distance away from Chase’s truck. After the tree was loaded and the customer drove away, I went over to stand by the fire while Mr. Thompson fiddled with the register. The horse seemed to be happy just hanging out not far from me. But Apple could’ve trotted over to me, and I wouldn’t have cared. My only focus was keeping an eye on Chase and Quinn, who were now clear in my view.
My Heart To Touch: A Maxwell Family Saga - Book One Page 9