Page 49 of Pick Me This Time

Surprise flashed through me, my eyes wider than they’d ever been as I stared at him. I’d known this man all my life. Thanks to his wife’s friendship with my mom, they’d always been around, but I’d never even suspected that he hadn’t wanted to be a farmer.

“Why did you do it?” I breathed, even my voice lost to the shock.

He shrugged. “Andrea. She was my reason for everything, including why I kept the farm.”

His eyes took on a far-away shimmer. “She was so proud of my family and our legacy, and she knew this was where she would be happiest. Living on the land my family had been on for so long. Farming, despite how hard a life it is.”

“Wow.”

He nodded, sighing as he kept strolling down memory lane. “Do you know how the fall festival started?”

I frowned, wracking my memory but not coming up with anything. “No, I don’t. I just kind of thought it’d always been a thing.”

“Andrea’s birthday was in the fall,” he said softly. “When we were young, before we even got married, I used to throw her birthday parties here, on the farm. Eventually, those parties turned into a full town affair. She invited everybody and they came because they loved her.”

The wheels turned in my head. “And that turned into the festival?”

He nodded. “She loved it, bringing the community together like that. When we realized we needed to keep the kids entertained as well, she was the one who came up with all the ideas that still live on, even to this day.”

Tears burned the backs of my eyes as I listened to him talk about his late wife. “She was an incredible woman, John. I know my mom misses her tremendously, but now I understand why even better than I did before.”

His own eyes misted over and he blinked hard, a gruff sob escaping him before he groaned. My heart shattered into millions of little pieces as I watched him, so completely helpless in the face of such raw grief.

I did the only thing I could think of, sliding my chair closer to his and putting my arms around his shoulders. I wasn’t sure if he was crying, but I sure was. He was shaking, though. He lifted his arms and buried his head in the crook of my neck, his body trembling like a leaf.

How could Sterling have left him all alone after her death?

I’d never blamed the guy for leaving until this very moment. Even now, five years later, John was clearly still absolutely broken and Sterling had just left him. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. No amount of money or success in the world would’ve dragged me away from one of my parents if our roles had been reversed. I knew people were different, but for the first time ever, anger at him simmered in my veins.

What an ass.

John and I sat like that for a long time before he finally patted my back and let go. Sitting up again, he turned back to the farm and sighed. “I’m just glad Sterling got out.”

What?I blinked hard, frowning as I waited for him to continue. “He still thinks I’m disappointed that he didn’t stay here, but I’ve never been so proud as I was that day I found out he got into that fancy college.”

“You didn’t want him to stay?”

John shook his head firmly, glancing at me. “Never. Farming is a tough life, girl. Our Sterling has a nice, cushy job in finance, living in one of the greatest cities in the world. I never wanted this for myself, but I definitely didn’t want it for my son.”

I stared at him, once again suspended in a state of complete shock for a few long minutes. Jeez, these North men really are complicated.

“Do you think he’s happy there?” I asked quietly, sensing a deep discord between these two men. “It doesn’t seem to me like he’s very happy at all.”

John sighed, grunting when he turned back to the farm. “That’s not on me. He shouldn’t have come back here. He got out. He should’ve stayed that way.”

When he fell silent, I realized he was done talking and I got up, quietly saying goodbye before I left. It was obvious that I’d interrupted him and I didn’t want to impose, so I climbed back into my truck and wondered if I should talk to Sterling about what I had just learned.

It was none of my business, but at the same time, I really wanted to help John—and Sterling, for that matter. They both seemed deeply unhappy to me, and there was clearly a massive rift between them. I doubted they would be able to bridge that divide by themselves. Certainly not while they were as far apart as they were right then. I just didn’t know if it was my place to try to do it.