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“Good, that’s good.” Ashley smiled.
“I can’t believe AJ got up this early to come.” Nadia shook her head as she motioned toward the barn.
I looked and saw AJ standing beside Harlan, deep in discussion about something. Harlan was clearly giving him advice about something. One day, Harlan would make an amazing dad. My ovaries ached at the sight.
“Aww, that’s so sweet.” I sighed.
“AJ’s so supportive,’” Ashley added.
“It’s not support. It’s Kendall,” Zoe whisper-mouthed to the group.
“Who’s Kendall?” Nadia questioned.
“Don’t all look at once,” Zoe instructed as she casually tilted her head to the left in a stretching motion. “Blonde with her mom, Ariana Culpepper.”
“I’m first,” Nadia called dibs as she turned her head. “Oh, cute.”
As if we’d choreographed it, when Nadia looked back at the group, Ash took her turn. Her response was a grin as she hummed, “Mmmm.”
I was last to check her out, and when I glanced in her direction, I recognized both the blonde and her mom. I’d seen the blonde on the pier the night I had the date with Mark. A shiver raced through me at the thought of what I’d done after that date below the pier. But I digress; Kendall’s mom was the woman who bid five thousand dollars for a date with Harlan.
Another feeling rushed through me, and this time, it was not so pleasurable. I didn’t like the fact that she’d gone on a date with him and was now taking his class. Even though Harlan said it was more of a business dinner because she’d offered to buy the farm, I still didn’t like that she was here.
Which was ridiculous. Especially considering after our chili dinner, I’d told Harlan I thought it would be best if we were just friends for the rest of the time I was in town. After the way I’d felt when he hugged me by the door and then finding out that he’d stayed the entire day at the hospital with me even though he thought I’d lied about having a secret boyfriend, I knew I couldn’t risk falling even further for him.
But now, I was stuck in this town, living next door to a man I had a major crush on, or worse, who I’d friend-zoned out of pure self-protection. And the truth was, I would rather have my impacted wisdom teeth pulled without any anesthesia and then recover without any pain medication because my dad stole themagainthan have a front-row seat to Harlan’s dating life.
“Do you know if Harlan ever took her out on a second date?” Nadia turned and asked me.
“No. What? I mean, I don’t know. How would I know?” I shot back, hearing defensiveness in my tone, and immediately regretted not taking a breath before answering.
From the expressions on the faces of the three women staring at me, I knew that I’d fucked up.
“I just thought you two were friends.” Nadia lifted her hand and started counting on her fingers. “You live next door to each other. You danced at the ball, and?—"
“He took you to the hospital and stayed with you all day,” Zoe cut her off.
“You’re helping him with his business,” Ashley pointed out.
“Right, yeah.” I tried to cover up my overreaction. “I don’t know. I don’t really, you know, ask him about, you know, that stuff.”
All three of the women shared a ‘knowing’ look. I’d been in town for a month and a half and had been able to hide the fact that I’d hooked up with Harlan Mitchell, but thanks to an early morning with no caffeine and an overdose of jealousy and whether or not I’d admitted anything, I knew the gossip train had definitely left the station. I might as well have just said ‘no comment.’
34
HARLAN
“Well,hello there Miss Daphne, how is your auntie feeling’?” Ms. Shaw rushed up and asked Daphne as we walked into City Hall for the small business association meeting.
I was used to going to these solo. Ever since I started Farm Strong, I’ve been attending the monthly meetings on my own. Usually, I dreaded going to the SBA meetings. They were boring and tedious. I hated hearing people whine about problems and not come up with any solutions. The only upshot was that Mrs. B usually baked her cinnamon rolls. But tonight, I was happy to be here because Daphne and I had come together…as friends. I didn’t love that part.
In the past few weeks, we had been relegated to strictly friends with no benefits. Our relationship had gone in reverse. As much as I’d enjoyed the physical part of what we shared, I had to admit that getting to spend time with Daphne and just getting to know her might be even better than the physical. Okay, not better, but it was definitely as good.
Daphne smiled. “She’s ready to be home.”
“I bet she is. They probably have to tie her to the bed to keep her in there.”
Daphne chuckled. “They pretty much do.”
