17. Madelyn

CHAPTER 17

MADELYN

I tugthe hat farther down my head and continue pruning. It was an argument with Asher this morning because he wanted me to take another day off, but I refused. I felt great when I woke up this morning, and after spending all day working—even skipping a lunch break to eat a protein bar—I feel like I’m making some great progress.

I know that Asher has kept his eyes on me all day, even though he’s done it from a distance. When I feel his arms go around me, I don’t even jump. All I can think is it’s about time. I’m not sure how I can miss being in his arms when it was just this morning I woke up in them, but I do.

I lean back into him. “You’re a brave man, Asher Wild.” I hold up the pruning scissors. “These are pretty sharp.”

“You wouldn’t hurt me.”

I turn in his arms and search his face. “You’re right. I wouldn’t hurt you, but you do know you pay me to work. And I’m pretty sure you don’t pay me to flirt with the boss.”

I wait for him to laugh, but he doesn’t. “Go out with me.”

“What? You want to go out on a date… with me?”

This time he does laugh. “Wow, how come you sound so surprised?”

I shrug. “I don’t know… I just…” I shake my head. “Yes. Yes, I’d like to go out with you.”

“Come on. I’ll walk with you to the house.”

I hold up my pruning tool and point at the tree. “But—”

He pulls on my hand. “Come on. The tree will be here tomorrow. Let’s go.”

We get halfway to the house and I ask him, “So are you walking me home because you’re afraid I’ll have another run-in with a bee?”

He shrugs. “We’ll be prepared this time.”

I notice that he pats the tool belt around his waist. “Wait, what do you have in there, Asher?”

“I put one of your EpiPens in my tool belt. That way we each have one.”

I stop walking. “Seriously? You’re carrying an EpiPen around with you? For me?”

He brushes the hair away from my face. “Yes. I just need to know you’re okay.”

I gulp and shake my head. “That has to be the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

He leans in and kisses me. “Good. I like being the one that does things for you.”

We walk the rest of the way to the house, and I can’t help but think about Asher. This has been a wild few days, but they’ve also been the best few days.

He kisses me at the entrance to my bedroom. “Go shower. I’ll meet you down here in thirty minutes.”

I nod and go shower. After I’m ready, I walk out into the living room to find him already waiting for me. “Wow!” he says when he sees me.

I automatically stand a little taller. “Thank you. You look pretty good yourself.”

As we walk outside, I automatically start walking to his truck, but he directs me to the side of the house. I gasp in surprise. “We’re going on a golf cart?”

He nods. “Yep. Is that okay?”

“That’s perfect.”

He helps me sit down and then walks around to the driver’s seat. He drives us to the end of the property of the Wild Peach and then gets onto the golf cart path that leads into town. We go by Peach Springs Lake, and when we pass other people, they all wave.

When we get into town, he drives us straight through downtown. I look at all the signs for restaurants. Peach Fuzz, Pink Peach, Peachy Keen. “They really take this peach thing seriously.”

He just laughs and pulls to a stop in front of a restaurant called Peaches. I point to the sign. “Of course, it’s called that.”

When we get inside and seated at a table for two, I look around the restaurant. We are getting quite a few looks from the tables around us. A woman walks by and looks at Asher. “Hey, Asher.”

He nods his head at her, and she keeps going.

I lean toward him. “What’s going on?”

He continues to look at the menu. “What do you mean?”

I lean closer to him. “What’s up with everyone staring at us? Particularly all the women?”

He just shrugs and keeps looking at his menu.

The waitress comes, and we both order steak, potato, and salad. After she goes to put our order in, I slap my hand on the table in front of him. “Oh my God, Asher, are you known as the town playboy or something? I’m getting some kind of vibe. It’s like they can’t believe you’re on a date or something.”

He rolls his eyes. “I’m not a playboy.”

“So how do you explain—”

“Ugh, you’re not going to quit, are you?”

I smile at his frustration. “Nope, I’m not. So what’s up? Why are all these people surprised to see you here?” I gasp. “Is it me?”

He reaches across the table and grabs my hand. I swear I hear a lady gasp from somewhere in the restaurant. “People are surprised because they haven’t seen me out with anyone since my divorce.”

I nod. Okay, that makes sense. “So it’s not because you’re here with a different woman every week.”

He laughs. “It’s definitely not that.”

“When did you get a divorce?” I know he’s told me about his divorce, but I don’t think I ever asked when it happened.

“Five years ago.”

I bite my lip. “So it’s been five years since…”

His face turns red. “Yep.”

I shrug. “No wonder you’re insatiable.”

He threads our fingers together. “I’m insatiable because of you. You make me this way. Even now I want you.”

When he brings our hands up and kisses my knuckles, I’m pretty sure I’m going to swoon right here in the booth.

When our dinner comes out, we eat in silence for a while.

As he cuts up his steak, Asher asks, “Tell me about you.”

“What do you want to know?”

He shrugs. “Everything.”

“Uh, okay, well, I grew up in New York.”

His nose scrunches up. “Why did you get into agriculture?”

I take a bite of my steak and chew. “Uh well, I’ve always loved the idea of contributing to the world’s food supply. I grew up always wanting to create gardens and grow things. I loved playing in the dirt, much to my mother’s dismay. But you have to know what that’s like. How satisfying it is to plant something, nurture it, and watch it grow.”

He agrees. “I do. Okay, so tell me more.”

I ask. “More?”

“Yeah, tell me more about you. Like, what’s your favorite vacation?”

That’s easy. “Italy. Hands down.”

His eyebrows raise. “Favorite childhood memory?”

“My nanny traveled with me across the East Coast one summer, and we hit up pecan farms, apple orchards, peach orchards, and strawberry fields. You name it, we saw it that summer.”

He nods, smiling, but it’s not as big of a smile as it was. “You like to travel?”

I nod. “I love to travel. Besides farming, it’s probably my favorite thing to do.”

He’s staring down at his almost empty plate. “What about you? Tell me about you.”

He shrugs. “You know everything about me.”

“No I don’t. Tell me about your brothers.”

“My brothers. Okay. Well, Owen is the oldest, and he owns a brewery in Silver Spoon Falls. Fletch is a cop here in town. Justice is the lead singer of the Wild Ones—”

My mouth drops. “Your brother is Justice Wild?”

He smiles proudly. “Yes, that’s my brother. And then Colton was a stuntman and was injured, so he’s back in town, recovering. And then you know Beau.”

“Wow.”

He shakes his head. “I know. They all have exciting lives, that’s for sure.”

The rest of the meal is eaten in silence. We decide to forgo dessert, and I notice that Asher is quiet on the way home. No matter what I do or say, I can’t seem to bring him out of it. The sun is going down, and I enjoy the night air as we go back to The Wild Peach.

When we walk into the house, I tell him, “I had a great time tonight.”

His smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Me too. I’d better hit the hay. Thanks for joining me tonight, Madelyn.”

Before I can say anything, he’s disappeared through the house and is taking the stairs two at a time to get away from me.

Stunned, all I can do is stare after him. I cross my arms over my chest and start to pace back and forth, wondering what happened. I thought we had a good time. I know I did. Did I say or do something wrong?

The only way to know for sure is to ask him.

I finally get the nerve up and I walk up the stairs and stop at the landing. I stand here, staring at the closed door in front of me for I don’t know how long. I’m about to go downstairs when one of the doors down the hall opens, and Beau comes out.

He stops when he sees me and then smiles. “Uh, hey, Madelyn.”

“Hey,” I answer with a wave. Damn, I’m an idiot. Why am I waving at him?

He stops next to me. “You looking for Asher?”

I nod, and he points to the closed door in front of me.

There’s no way I’m going to tell him that I knew which door was his and then have to explain how I knew, so I just nod my head. “Yeah, uh, thanks, I was just—”

He cuts me off and holds his hands up. ‘You don’t have to explain. I’m going out. See you guys later.”

He’s bounding down the steps before I can say anything to him.

I smooth my hands down my pant legs and then walk over to Asher’s door and knock tentatively.

He opens it, and he doesn’t look happy. His hair looks as if he’s jammed his fingers through it a thousand times, and he’s frowning. All I can do is fidget, so I hold my hands together in front of me. “Did I say something wrong?”

He shakes his head. “No.”

I’m so lost, and I know I look it. His behavior doesn’t make sense. “Are you sure because I thought we were having a good time. I was. And well, I don’t know… I felt like it ended weird.”

He’s not going to answer me. He has a stubborn look on his face, and when he says nothing, I hold my hands up. “Okay, well, thanks again… I’ll just go…”