by Zoe York
And then snapping at Will in his office… He was right. They weren’t going to do that again. She was able to contain her feelings better than that, and he deserved better, too.
He hopped into the driver’s side and started the truck. “Where to?”
“To the highway, and then one concession road north.”
As he waited for the last school bus to depart in front of him, Catie glanced around the truck cab. “Did you get this detailed?”
He laughed. “I’ll take that as a compliment. I gave it a good once over after our trip.”
“It looks good.” The console between them was completely empty, except for a card with a name and address on it.
She wasn’t being nosy, picking it up. It was just right there, and she was eager for anything to talk about other than the trip. “How do you know Patrick Hoffer?”
Will answered with a question instead. “Do you know him?”
“He dated my mom briefly. That’s a blast from the past.”
“He was a teacher there.” Will pointed at the school, now receding out the back window as they drove away. “I did my first practicum placement with him, and he was a mentor to me.”
“And now he lives in Collingwood?” She set the card down again.
“Yep. I’m going to see him on the weekend. It’ll be nice to catch up.” Will rubbed his palm on his thigh. “What was your impression of him?”
“Patrick? He was nice. He never taught me. I’d forgotten that he was a teacher. He was firmly in that grownup world my mom existed in that I didn’t care that much about, but I caught bits of here and there. They would go to dances together.”
“Small world.”
“It is, isn’t it?”
The rest of the drive to the vegetable farm just north of town was quiet. Sam’s supplier was his friend Hailey’s dad.
“Mr. Kincaid, nice to see you.”
Will shook the man’s hand and inquired about his wife’s health, then thanked him for the pumpkins. “And this is Catie Berton. She’s advising the business club this year.”
“You’re the one who has my Hailey all fired up about cash flow.” The man’s face split into a massive grin. “It is a pleasure to meet you, ma’am. I’m Fred.”
“The pleasure is all mine, Fred. Cash flows are my jam.”
He chuckled. “Mine, too. The pumpkin patch is just around the side of the canning shed, Mr. Kincaid. We’ll meet you there.”
Catie fell into step with the farmer. “Hailey mentioned your canning business…is that year round?”
“Pretty much, but we freeze a lot so we can keep producing in the cooler months. She’s all fired up to work for me this winter thanks to you.”
And to think Catie almost threatened to quit the club in Will’s office. Not that she actually would have. Not that he’d have let her. “I needed to hear that today, Fred. I’m truly glad that she’s found a passion there and can help with the family business.”
“Were you a farm kid, too?”
She shook her head. “But my mom was a real estate agent—among other things—and I learned that from her.”
They stopped in front of the pumpkins just as Will backed his truck up to where they stood.
“Have at ’er,” Fred said. “The big ones don’t taste as good anyway, so they’re all yours.” He showed them a rough size with his hands. “Leave any that are yay big or smaller. Do you have shears?”
Will opened the back gate of his truck bed and lifted up a few cutting implements.
“Sounds like a plan.” She held out her hand. “Thank you so much.”
Will shook his hand again, too, and then they were alone in the field. “Knife, knife, or shears?” Will asked, giving her the choice.
“Shears.”
He handed her a pair of work gloves that were a bit too big, but would protect her anyway.
“This truck has everything in it, doesn’t it?”
“Some basic tools.” He glanced further down the back of the truck bed at a covered box. “And camping equipment, climbing ropes, a first aid kit…”
She laughed. “Like I said, everything. How often are you hit by a spur-of-the-moment need to go camping?”
He gave her a funny look. “More often than you might think.”
She watched him stalk away, his long legs quickly carrying him out into the patch. He leaned over and cut two pumpkins clean from their vines, then lifted them up off the ground.
Right. To work.
She did the same, and after five trips into the field, the back of his truck was half full of pumpkins. “This is a great workout,” she said as she passed him the biggest one she’d found yet. “And by great workout, I mean surprisingly hard, and I’m glad you’re here to do half of it. Thank you for helping.”
“How many do you think you would have fit in your car?”
She laughed. “Not many. Eight?”
He headed back into the field. “You’d already be done.”
She followed. “There is that.”
But it didn’t take them long to finish, and before she knew it, they were done. “That’s it,” he said, as he closed up the back of the truck.
She turned to head to the passenger side, and he hustled around her to get the door. “Thank you,” she murmured.
He didn’t move away immediately. He gazed at her face for a moment, then smiled as he lifted his attention to the top of her head. “You have a…” He leaned in and plucked a crinkly dried leaf from her hair. “Pumpkin leaf.”
She could breathe in the scent of him, he was that close, and now neither of them were moving. Two dumb, horny chickens. Well, Will wasn’t a chicken. Not anymore. He’d made it clear what he wanted, and she’d turned him down.
One dumb, horny chicken, and a very patient man.
“Will…”
He brushed a strand of hair off her cheek. “I don’t have any expectations of you. We’re just getting some pumpkins.”
She closed her eyes and nodded.
“Hold still,” he murmured. His thumb brushed the corner of her mouth. “You’ve got a little dirt on your cheek.”
That wasn’t her cheek. But she didn’t care. It had been too long since she’d had his hands on her skin, and now she was on fire. She breathed his name again, and he pulled her into his arms, pressing his mouth against hers.
A sweet, soft, too-short kiss that left her aching.
“Can I tell you a secret?”
“Yes,” she breathed, her eyelids fluttering open.
His gaze was solid. Confident. “I thought about that camping equipment when we were driving home from Timmins. One more night, under the stars…we wouldn’t be home yet, maybe it wouldn’t count…” And then he stepped back, and was around the truck before she trusted her legs to climb in on her side.
He gave her a cocky grin as he started the truck up again. “Just getting some pumpkins,” he repeated.
Maybe they needed to go on vegetable garden runs more often.
Patrick Hoffer wasn’t the only former Pine Harbour resident Will visited over the next week. His secret project was growing now.
He was working on it at the kitchen table when Becca and Charlie came home from a walk with Kerry and Lila. Becca found Charlie a snack, then plopped down in the chair next to Will. “What’s this?”
“A surprise for a friend of mine.”
Becca looked at the sketches. “‘Arms open in welcome.’ That’s really nice.”
“Thanks. It’s just one idea.” He showed her the others. “How was your walk?”
“Great. Kerry mentioned that Dad has two folding tables for you. She said you can pick them up at five.”
“Yeah, he texted me. Are you going to go over there with me?”
She shook her head. “Charlie and I are going to watch Hayden’s game from last night, and maybe video call with him after practice.”
Becca’s boyfriend played professional hockey. He’d entered the league as a dad, and t
hey all worried about the pressure that would put on the couple. But despite the odds being stacked against them, Becca and Hayden seemed to be making it work.
Will wasn’t one to judge, anyway. He was still learning how to communicate with the woman he had feelings for.
Fate seemed to be of the clear opinion that he needed more practice, though. After a month of barely seeing her, Catie was everywhere he went now.
Including his brother’s house late that afternoon.
There was a sticky note on the front door advising that a baby was sleeping, so please enter quietly. Instead of knocking, Will carefully turned the doorknob and stepped into the foyer—and saw a familiar blonde head resting against the couch cushions.
His brother and sister-in-law were nowhere in sight.
As Will toed off his boots and crept closer, he realized Catie was gently cooing to Lila, who was curled up on her chest.
Catie wiggled her fingers at him in a silent greeting, then pointed to the kitchen. The door was closed, and Will realized Owen and Kerry were on the other side of it.
“I didn't know you were coming over,” she said softly.
He matched her quiet tone. “And I didn’t know that you would be here when I did.”
“Kerry invited me over to meet Lila.”
“Ah,” Will said. It seemed like everyone in Pine Harbour was now pushing them together. That was probably driving Catie up the wall. But at the same time, he couldn't be sure because they still hadn't talked. Maybe it was time to change that.
Seeing her with a baby in her arms definitely spurred him to speed up his timeline. He knew what that funny feeling in his chest was, he just didn’t want to name it yet. Not when he was still working to get inside her walls. But as she smiled to herself and rubbed her nose against the top of Lila’s head, the feeling grew. He liked that she had a soft spot for teeny, tiny, wriggly humans.
He liked that a lot.
Bad Will.
But his off-limits feelings didn’t feel as bad as they had a month ago.
“Hey,” she murmured. “I wanted to talk to you about the business club and the winter carnival.”
“Sure.”
Lila stirred on her chest, and she put her finger up. Shhh, she mouthed, then smiled.
He wanted to lean over and kiss her pursed lips and suggest they discuss the carnival at his house—which was full of people. Her house. Naked.
Lowering his voice to the quietest warning-a-kid-during-an-assembly voice he had, he suggested a more reasonable idea. “How about lunch tomorrow?”
She thought about it long enough that he knew no was one of the options she was considering. But after a moment, she nodded. “I have some showings in the afternoon, but I can do an early lunch. Eleven-thirty?”
"Great. It's a date."
Her eyes flared wide, and he was saved by the kitchen door opening. Kerry brought out a pot of tea. “Hey Will.” She set it down on the coffee table. “Do you want a cup?”
He shook his head, stopping by the couch to brush his fingers over Lila’s back—and then along Catie’s hand—before heading into the kitchen. “I’m just here to provide some requested muscle,” he said as he gave Owen a focused glare.
His brother shrugged shamelessly. “The tables are out back. Did you take the turkey out of the freezer yet?”
“Yesterday.” He was hosting the family Thanksgiving on Monday, because they were still in babymoon nesting mode. But Owen usually cooked, and he was having trouble letting go of the reins. “It’ll be fine.”
“I know.”
Will waited.
“I could come over and check on it, if you want.”
“Mmm. You could. But you also could have brought the tables with you when you did that, so…I think I’m going to say since you summoned me here to pick them up, at a very specific time, while you had another guest, that you don’t need to come and meddle in the turkey business.”
“Hey now,” Owen protested. “Kerry just thought you might want to see Catie in a neutral environment.”
“I see her every week at school.”
“Kerry’s point stands.”
Will decided not to let his brother know the ruse had worked, and now he was taking Catie out for lunch the next day. That—for now—was their little secret.
Sunday was a busy day at the diner, but Catie knew the sweet spot to arrive just before the church crowd, and just after the late breakfast people. Will, apparently, had the same idea, because when she arrived ten minutes early, he was already in line for a booth.
“You gotta beat the church crowd,” he said, making her laugh. “What?”
“That’s exactly my thinking, too.”
“Great minds.” He gestured for her to follow the waitress.
Catie accepted the menu offered, then craned her neck to see the board. “What are the pie options today?”
“Caramel apple and pumpkin.”
“Thanks.”
Once they were alone, Will asked her a silly question. “What’s your favourite type of pie?”
She shook her head. “That’s like asking who your favourite student is. An impossible choice.”
“I’ll let you in on a secret—we definitely have favourite students.”
She gasped, slightly horrified. But also, vindicated. “I knew it. Then it’s like…children. When I was a kid, I once told a classmate I was loved more than her, because I was an only child, and my mom didn’t have to love a husband, either.”
Will laughed. “Holy shit.”
“I know. I had balls. But my teacher told my mom, and my mom explained that if she had another baby, she would still love me the same amount—with her whole heart—and the love for the other child would be layered on top of that, also with her whole heart.”
“No conversation about the hypothetical husband?”
“Oh, no, we talked about that, too. She said if she ever did settle down with someone, they would get a sliver of her heart. In hindsight, I guess it’s pretty clear why she never did.” Will looked slightly shocked, so Catie frowned. “It wasn’t a bad thing that she knew she wouldn’t love someone the way she loved me.”
He reached across the booth and covered her hand with his. “That’s not what I was thinking.”
Her hand was a tight ball. He didn’t try to coax her fingers out of their tense fist, he just kept his hand there, steady and warm, until she relaxed. “I get defensive about her.”
“I know.”
She swallowed hard. “I don’t want to do this here.”
“That’s okay.” His thumb stroked back and forth over the inside of her wrist.
“I shouldn’t have brought her up.”
“I want to hear about her, though. Any time, any place.” He smiled gently. “It’s pretty awesome to know yourself that clearly. I’m still figuring out what I want in life.”
“White picket fence, two point five kids?” She was joking, because humour was an excellent suit of armour she’d learned to wear well.
“Fence optional.” He held her gaze as he slowly turned her hand so he could stroke her palm. “It was nice to see you with Lila yesterday.”
She laughed out loud and pulled back. “Will!”
“What?”
“We haven't even gone on a date yet, and you're all like, you’d look good holding my babies.”
He laughed with her. “Okay, I came on a bit strong there.”
“You think?”
“But you would.” He paused a beat, his eyes glittering. “If you wanted kids.”
She was blushing now. “I thought we were going to talk about the winter carnival.”
“We will.” He really needed to stop looking at her like he wanted to take her home and make babies right now.
But she hadn’t stopped thinking about the kiss in the pumpkin patch. Or how she really needed to stop caring about what other people thought about her private life. It wasn’t like living as a model citizen had done anything to stop
her critics from whispering about whatever lies they told themselves to feel better in comparison.
“I do want kids,” she finally said. “I don’t know about the point five, though. That seems cruel. Is that a deal-breaker for you? Half a child?”
“Everything is negotiable for the right person.” He was teasing her now. They were playing a game. But it felt real, too. Like this was how they’d learn to share. “Although I’m learning that my assumptions about all of that were way off.”
“What do you mean?”
“For a long time, I thought I was waiting for everything to fall into place. For everything to just happen to me, as it should.”
“Befitting a man of your stature?”
His lips quirked. “It’s rib on Will day, eh?”
“Every day is rib on Will day.” Now it was her turn to reach across the table and squeeze his hand. “Just kidding.”
“I can take it. What else?”
She shook her head. “No, that's it. Sorry. So you don’t think everything is going to fall into place now?”
“Nope. Gonna to have to work for it. And I’m enjoying that a lot.”
“This is an ongoing project for you, then?” She glanced down at the menu. They hadn’t even ordered yet, and he was outright stating he was pursuing her. It’s a date. He hadn’t been joking.
“Open-ended. Might need to bring someone else on board to help me figure it all out together.”
“Good luck with that,” she murmured.
And then she rubbed her foot against his under the table.
By Wednesday, Catie realized she was cranky. Her period wasn’t due, she wasn’t swamped with too much work, and she’d been sleeping well. There was no reasonable explanation for her mood.
There was an unreasonable explanation, though. It had been three days since she’d had lunch with Will, and she missed him. She had a busy day at the salon, too, and she was grateful when Sam arrived after school.
“I’ve missed a few calls that went to voicemail,” she warned him. “Can you pull those and return any that are just booking appointments? I have clients right up until close, too. The schedule is on the desk.”
He nodded and quickly got to work.