In the middle of the property was a pretty little shed with a greenhouse attached to the front of it.
It’s where Pauly did the work needed to graft all the branches that he so carefully cut and labeled.
His dream was to eventually open a mail-order company. “Only I want to sell the old varieties, not the new, lifeless ones,” he said.
They never discussed it, but she knew that, someday, he planned to use the hundred and thirty acres of Kelly’s family’s farm as part of his tree business. If it all worked out, that is. After he and Kelly were married, and if people ordered the trees.
She saw him beside the greenhouse, a pot in his hands. He was a very good-looking young man, with his blond hair and blue eyes. Mrs. Carl said Kelly and her son were so alike they looked like a pair of salt and pepper shakers.
Kelly had shot back, “Who’s the pepper?”
“You are,” Pauly answered. “And I’m the salt of the earth.” They’d all burst into laughter.
Pauly nodded when he saw her and gave a bit of a smile. For a second, Kelly frowned. No fireworks in greeting. No expressions of undying love. No feeling of I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth ran through her.
She dismounted and tied Xander up tightly. She didn’t want him wandering about and munching on Pauly’s young trees. “What’s going on?”
“Just some cross-pollination and staking,” he said. “The wind’s been bad this week, so I—”
“I was told you’re leaving.”
“Oh. That. Vera will be here so you won’t be alone, and Adam said he’s staying until Robbie enters college. I’ll be back in the fall.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me about your plans?”
“I was going to talk to you about it first, but then Adam told me about Robbie and...” He shrugged. “It just came out. I didn’t think the gossip would spread this fast.”
Kelly sat down on the edge of one of the raised beds Pauly had paid someone to build. For all that he was great with a grafting blade, he knew nothing about carpentry. “Tell me everything.”
“Remember Brian Tayman?”
“The guy you met at...?” She couldn’t remember where.
“In San Francisco. Agriculture show.”
“Right.”
“You know we exchange letters. He and two of his friends are spending the summer in the British Isles—Scotland, Ireland, Wales, all of it. They’re collecting seeds and studying farming methods and I—”
“Let me guess. You’re going to cut branches off fruit trees.”
Pauly gave her a look that said he didn’t like her tone.
“What about your job?” He was manager of the Ottawa Safeway. Young for the position but he was good at it.
“Mr. Dunham. Remember him? Used to manage the store? His wife said that since he was retired, they could spend the summer in Mississippi with her relatives. Mr. Dunham offered to pay me to say he had to take over for the summer.”
Kelly knew she was supposed to laugh but she was deeply annoyed. Vera would be with Adam, so with Pauly away, Kelly would be left with her mother and an increasingly unhappy Dr. Carl. There were wonderful summer activities in Mason. Pond swimming. Picnics. Barbecues. Just plain laughter. For the first summer since she was eight years old, Kelly would be alone. Or worse, the object of pity.
She looked at Pauly in speculation. And after the summer, then what? When he returned, would they have an autumn wedding? “Your mother said something about a ring. I think it cost your dad a lot.”
Pauly turned away from her and she could see that he was frowning. “Mother can be extravagant. I returned the ring to the store.”
Kelly sat still, staring at him, knowing the reason he wasn’t meeting her eyes. No mention of an engagement.
“That’s good to hear.” She slapped her hands on her thighs. “I think all this sounds great. Really fabulous! I’m sure you’ll enjoy yourself very much.” She stood up. “I need to take Xander back. I wonder if my sister and Adam have finished their afternoon of lust? Their sexual fulfillment will give the town something to talk about. How many hours can Adam Hatten last? We should make bets.”
Pauly had turned and was staring at her. Never, ever was Kelly crude. He was shocked.
She smiled, mounted Xander, then looked down at him. “I hope you found someone to take care of your little trees. I have too much to do to tend to them.”
She didn’t wait for his answer, but turned Xander around, then pulled on the reins so he went two steps back. As she knew he would, Pauly leaped to the side. He didn’t like big animals. She gave him one last smile, then urged the horse forward, knowing that Xander’s iron-clad hooves were digging into the carefully tended soil. She didn’t lead the big horse down a row of trees and flatten them, but she wanted to!
CHAPTER THREE
Adam felt like he was drowning in paperwork. His father believed that paperwork would get itself done, so he rarely bothered with it. As the mayor of Mason and the “fixer of problems,” Burke had been forgiven for his foibles. When he was late with a payment to a local merchant, a pretty girl would be sent to get a payment from him. Burke and the young woman would spend the day laughing, eating and drinking, and eventually someone would drive her home with a check in her hand.
But Adam wasn’t his father. He believed bills should be paid and things kept in order.
When he heard a car engine, he glanced out the big window. Robbie had finally come home. It was 7:00 a.m., his clothes were rumpled and a cigarette was hanging out of his mouth. He looked like he’d been up all night, with up being the key word.
Wonder who it was? Adam thought. He hoped it wasn’t some local girl who would be planning to move in with the Hattens.
Robbie came into the house and went to the kitchen without so much as a glance at his older brother. “Who’d you get to cook?” he asked.
Adam didn’t answer.
Robbie rounded the corner, a plate piled high with chicken and tortillas. “This is from Forey. Did you know that she’s got a nephew staying with them? I hear he’s old. Like you.”
Adam glared at his brother.
There wasn’t as much difference in their looks as between Vera and Kelly, but Robbie was the pretty one, with a face of such sweetness that he made people smile. Adam was handsome, but he tended to scowl. No one bothered Adam when he didn’t want them to.
The brothers were the same height but Adam was wider, built more strongly. In high school, he was a coach’s dream, good at all sports, played well with his teammates. A quintessential man’s man. For years, it was thought that Adam might go pro in several sports. But when he was a senior, he hurt his knee badly enough that the sports life was out of the picture.