Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 65862 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 329(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65862 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 329(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
“Have you had a chance to visit the peach groves?” Kathleen asks, pulling me from my dirty thought about this morning and sending me straight to the dirty thoughts of the orchard. “It smells heavenly this time of year.”
I almost choke on my coffee as I hear Ryker chuckle, and I think about his comments when his head was between my legs.
“Um, yes,” I say, patting my chest. “It’s really beautiful.”
“We should take a walk out there later. I haven’t been this season and I’d love to grab a basket before they’re all gone.”
“I think we can handle that.” Ryker looks at me and answers my unspoken question. “When they’re in season and picked, we donate them to the farmers market and local food banks.”
“That’s so nice,” I say, mentally marking down another thing about Ryker that makes my heart melt. Can he really be this perfect?
“He’s pretty great,” Kathleen says, and I can hear the pride in her voice.
“All right, enough about me, why don’t you guys interrogate my woman,” Ryker jokes as he tickles my side.
He looks relaxed and so at ease with his family here. I haven’t seen this side of him, but now that I have, I want it all the time. Could he be this way with me?
His parents ask me questions, but they’re careful not to ask one that would make me uncomfortable. We talk about how I liked riding Diamond and what kinds of foods I like. There’s never any talk that might lead back to my job before I came here, or what led Ryker to take me. I wonder now and then if he briefed them on what to say before they got here, but then decide I like the safe talk. It makes me more relaxed and less afraid of landmines I’m not willing to talk about. From the looks of it, Ryker comes from a good home with good parents. My upbringing was the polar opposite of what he experienced, and I don’t want anyone feeling sorry for me. My mom sucks, and I don’t have any family to speak of, but I refuse to let that define who I am.
“Oh, you poor thing,” Jackie says when Ryker tells them about me almost getting swept away in the flash flood. “You’re lucky to be alive. Those things are known to kill farmers who are more worried about saving their livestock than themselves.”
“I’m lucky Ryker was there,” I say.
I noticed he left out the part where I was trying to run away, but I’m sure his parents are smart enough to figure it out.
“We should go for a ride down and check it out today,” Kathleen offers, and everyone agrees.
When we finish eating, we start to clear up the dishes, but it’s as if Lily can hear us and comes in at that exact moment. She lovingly scolds Kathleen before we’re all pushed out of her kitchen and made to go outside.
The four of us pile into the Gator, and Ryker drives us out to the barn. He points out some things for me along the way, and I can see some of the land he’s had bush-hogged so he can put in a playground.
“A playground? What’s that for?” I ask as we drive by it. When I look over at Ryker, he’s got a sly smile.
He shrugs and then squeezes my hand. “For one day.”
It’s then the implication dawns on me. He means for our kids. The thought should terrify me, but instead it warms my heart. He’s already planning a future where we’re together and having kids. I think back to Fritz and how even the sight of children always disgusted him. I thought I never wanted kids either, especially after having a mother like I did. But as time went on, the more the thought had taken hold. Now when I look out onto the pasture I can envision children laughing in the swings and begging Ryker to push them higher. I can almost hear their squeals as I chase them around the old oak tree. It’s so beautiful it makes my breath catch in my throat. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever thought was possible and suddenly I’m homesick for something I didn’t know was there.
“I think that tree would look good with a tire swing,” Kathleen says and points out to the same tree in my fantasy. I can see it, too, and it would be perfect.
They talk about the orchard and how it’s doing this year, and Jackie seems to think Ryker needs another barn. They talk back and forth, and the whole time Ryker’s hand is on my leg, rubbing up and down.
When we get to the stables, Kathleen and I walk towards the horses while Jackie and Ryker go down to talk to a couple of his farmhands about some repairs that were needed after the storm. Ryker was telling me that he’s got several other houses on the property where families and workers live. They all take care of the land and the orchard, and Ryker pays them more money that I’ve ever hoped to make in my life. He says taking good care of his employees is what makes them take such good care of him. And he’s right. As I see him greet the group of guys, they all smile and shake hands like they’re friends. I had no idea this many people were even around us, but I’m seeing today there’s a lot I don’t know.