“Neighborly of you,” Coop said.
“But you should know,” Jack went on. “I’m trying to check a few facts. If it turns out I jumped to all the wrong conclusions, an apology will be forthcoming.”
Coop was quiet for a second. “I won’t hold my breath.”
“How’d you hurt your hand? Back then?”
“No idea,” Coop said. “I hope I hurt it on the face of the son of a bitch who beat her. But the truth is, I have no idea.”
“Buddy,” Jack said. “You couldn’t have planned that any worse.”
“Tell me about it.”
“It was pointed out to me, in a very sincere and sarcastic way, that I am not without flaws. Let’s just hope to get it cleared up before you leave town.”
“How does it matter?” Coop asked.
Jack looked at Luke. “We have mutual friends who matter.” And with that he got back in his truck and drove away.
Chapter Fourteen
Maxie’s friends, Penny and Rosalie, arrived on Thursday afternoon. They brought very little luggage and a trunk full of sweets they’d spent the previous two days together baking at Rosalie’s Santa Rosa home. Both were widowed, gray-haired, of indeterminate ages and when the three silver-haired women were together, laughing and hugging and breaking out the wine, they called themselves the Merry Widows.
Nora loved them instantly.
“Guard yourself,” Tom whispered to her. “They’re sharp-tongued and relentless.”
Nora didn’t take him seriously at all. She loved being in the kitchen with them and her children took to them immediately—both were experienced grandmothers.
When Tom was not in the house, Penny asked, “When does that woman arrive?”
Nora’s ears perked up.
“Tomorrow afternoon,” Maxie said. “And be very cautious what you say around her. She can be hard to take, but Tom is very protective of her. Her husband was killed in Afghanistan in Tom’s command and he feels a certain—you know—responsibility for her. If you say anything critical or offend her, he might lose his head and marry her.”
“Us?” Penny said. “Critical?”
“Does she have a name other than Miss Picky Pants?” Rosalie asked.
Nora laughed suddenly. Miss what? she wondered.
“Darla,” Maxie said. “Darla Pritchard.”
“Is she good in the kitchen?” Penny wanted to know.
“I couldn’t tell you. All I’ve seen her do is read, change clothes several times a day and pick at her food. If Duke gets near her, she shies away so he won’t get dog hair on her.”
“But wait till you see her,” Nora said. The women all turned and looked at her. “She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
“My dear child,” Rosalie said, “have you looked in a mirror lately?”
“We should get out the old pictures,” Penny said. “Show this girl we were once hot young chicks.”
“Have you all been friends your whole lives?” Nora asked.
“We met when we were young mothers,” Maxie said. “Right here on the orchard. Rosalie and Penny came to pick apples. Rose lived in Garberville then, Penny in Willet. And we did the one thing people never do anymore—we wrote letters to each other. And got together once, maybe twice a year.”
“Maxie, did you live on the orchard all your life?”
Silence hung in the air for a moment, followed by laughter that only confused Nora.
“No, Nora—I came to the orchard when I was eighteen, looking for work. I was a dirt-poor farm girl from Idaho. I got stranded near here and this was the only place hiring.”
“How’d you get stranded here?” Nora asked.
“The usual way, darling. I was following a man. A logger. He was killed in a logjam and I had no way to get home, not that home had much to offer anyway. So—I asked for work here. The old man didn’t want to hire me, but his wife took me on. I started picking apples but ended up working in the house.”
“Like me?”
All three women hummed and laughed under their smothered chuckles.
“Like you,” she said. “Now, are you going to bring the children this weekend? Between the four of us here, we can make sure they’re watched every minute.”
“I thought I should ask Noah and his wife if they could help out, since I’ll be needed here all weekend. And on Sunday afternoon, my father will bring them. I’m so anxious for him to meet everyone.”
“And we’re all looking forward to meeting him. Tell Rosalie and Penny that story, darling—of how your father came back into your life recently.”
Nora gave them the quick version, trying not to make her mother look too terrible in the telling. It wasn’t long past that story that Tom came into the kitchen, ready for dinner and the family atmosphere resumed around the big kitchen table.
It was still drizzling on Friday and Tom and Junior pulled out tarps they’d erect as tents on the weekend if the weather didn’t improve. On Friday afternoon Darla arrived and as the Fridays before, it was like the arrival of royalty. Tom carried her luggage up the stairs while Maxie introduced her to everyone. The women had been sitting around the table fashioning sachets out of dried apples, cinnamon sticks and cloves. They’d be given out to anyone who wanted them over the weekend festival.
“It was a long drive,” she said after meeting all the women. “I’m going to change into something more comfortable.”
Maxie said nothing, though she peered at her friends from under lifted brows.
Momentarily Darla returned with a rather surprised look on her face. “There seems to be a child in my bedroom.”
“Oh!” Nora said, jumping to her feet. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize—”
“Is she asleep, Darla?” Maxie asked, cutting Nora off.
“On my bed,” Darla said, clearly shocked.
“Then perhaps you can change clothes in my bedroom,” Maxie suggested. “That’s Nora’s two-year-old, Berry. She’s napping. The baby is in a port-a-crib in Tom’s room. Also napping.”
“Will I be sharing my room with someone?” Darla asked uncomfortably.
“No, dear, Nora lives in town and will be going home after dinner. Tomorrow at naptime, I’ll put Berry on my bed. I told you, we have a full house and demanding schedule during the festival weekends. It’s pretty much every man for himself.”
And then Darla did something that positively stunned Nora. When Nora would have expected her to ask how she could help or pull up a chair to visit, she said, “I’ll grab a book and go to the other room to read. Will you tell me when the child no longer needs my room?”
“Certainly, dear,” Maxie said. Then with sarcasm Darla clearly did not hear, she asked, “Can I get you anything?”
“No, thank you. I’ll be fine.” And she left the kitchen.
* * *
Saturday dawned bright and clear, the sun burning off the morning mist early. Nora had arrived at the orchard to help set up, having left Adie at her house until the children woke. The plan had been for her to go into town and fetch Adie and the little girls after they’d had a chance to wake up and have breakfast, but Nora was not feeling right about it.
“Maxie,” she whispered, “I have a feeling my girls are going to be an imposition. It might not be too late for me to get help from Ellie Kincaid. Her daughter is nearly old enough to babysit and she loves playing with the girls.”
“I want them here,” Maxie said. “They are not the imposition.”
“We all want them to come,” Penny said. “And Adie looks forward to this. She’s counting on being here both days this weekend and next.”
“Are you absolutely sure?”
“Absolutely. Sure.”
Nora actually winced. Having the kids here both days would put her in the house often, checking on them to be sure they weren’t getting in the way. While that wasn’t ordinar
ily an issue, she couldn’t help feeling like a beat-up old shoe next to Darla.
On the upside, she didn’t have much time to indulge her feelings of inferiority—crowds began to descend on the orchard at once. The minute Nora got Adie and the little ones back, she was needed to hand out bushel baskets, help people with ladders, pull out crates and bags for them to take their apples home.
More and more familiar faces appeared, many of them clearly intending to stay for hours. She saw some boys throwing a Frisbee through the trees and others throwing one for the dogs. The wraparound porch on the big old house was full of people and Nora caught sight of Maxie and her friends holding court. Great thermoses of tea and lemonade were set up, gallons of fresh cider opened up and tables of baked goods stood in the yard. People spread blankets in the yard to sit on and lawn chairs were pulled out of truck beds. A couple of big grills were set up and Nora saw that it was the team from Jack’s bar serving up hamburgers and hot dogs while Rosalie and Penny were busily opening huge bags of chips.
Just the sight of Berry running with other small children at a town party, laughing and playing with growing confidence, filled Nora with joy. Fay spent a great deal of the morning in Nora’s backpack while Nora did everything from pour cider to bagging apples.
“Break time,” Tom said from behind her. And she felt the weight of the baby lifted from her shoulders. “Give me a hand here and I’ll wear the baby for a while.”
“Oh, Tom, I’m sure you’re too busy for that!”
“We’re all busy,” he said, handing her the backpack to hold while he shrugged into it, then laughed as baby Fay instantly had her little hands all over his head. “Are you having fun?” he asked Nora.
“I’ll let you know when I catch my breath! When you said it would be crowded, I had no idea it would be like this.”
“It’ll be like this all weekend and the next.”
And a little while later Nora noticed Fay’s little head lying on Tom’s shoulder as she slept while he continued to hand out bushel baskets.
Nora took a moment to grab Berry and fix her a hot dog. They sat together on the porch steps as far away from the crowd as Nora could get them, just long enough for Berry to devour a hot dog. She had no sooner taken the last bite when her little one escaped yet again, and this time headed for Reverend Kincaid’s family who had gathered on a blanket in the yard under the shade of an apple tree.
“Hey,” someone said.
Nora turned to see Darla sit down on the step beside her. “Hi. Are you enjoying the festival?”
“Oh, yes and no,” she said. “It’s very social, isn’t it? I’ve met some nice people, but two full days of apple picking? I can think of other things I’d rather be doing. And I get none of Tom while he’s all tied up with work.” She gave a nod toward the barn. “Apparently you figured out how to tie him down for a while.”
“Huh? Oh, you mean the baby? That was totally his idea. But what a great idea—my back was killing me and it looks like Fay’s getting her nap at the same time.”
“Where’s your husband?” Darla asked.
Okay, she wasn’t the first person to ask, Nora thought—but why did it feel like a jab? “No husband, Darla. Just me and the little ladies.”
“Oh, sorry—did your husband die, too?”
Nora just shook her head. “No, I wasn’t married. And before you ask, there’s no man in my life now, either.” Then with a guilty pang she added. “I’m very sorry for your loss. Maxie told me.”
“Thank you. Things have been so much better since Tom came into my life. Fate is pretty strange, isn’t it? One minute I’m a grieving widow and the next I’m falling in love with the man who was comforting me.”
Nora smiled at her while she fought envy. “That’s wonderful. Tom is such a good man.”
“Hmm, handsome, too. And look at him out there with the people! Everyone loves Tom—he’s a natural salesman.”
“I don’t usually see him in this capacity,” Nora admitted. “Around here we’re all just a bunch of farmers and pickers. This is hard work, running an orchard.”
“I kind of think of Tom the way I would a pro football player—the body can’t do that forever. At some point a person would have to find less physically taxing work.”
“Or hire the right helpers,” Nora said. “Maxie is still picking apples, though Tom has tried to keep her off ladders. It’s fun to watch the two of them sneaking around each other.”
“I can’t see Tom picking apples into his seventies. And I can’t see me living on an orchard. The nearest decent restaurant is almost an hour drive.”
“I guess you haven’t eaten at Jack’s,” Nora asked.
“That bar in town?” She made a face. “I’m not big on bar food. Kind of greasy.”
“Jack’s has a huge reputation,” Nora said. “I hear people come from all over the place. The cook, Preacher, is known for his comfort foods—meat loaf, brisket, stew, soups, breads…”
“I don’t do bread,” she said. She patted her flat tummy which was snug in a pair of expensive jeans. “I can’t stay in these size four jeans if I eat bread.”
“Do you and Tom eat out often?” Nora asked, because she’d seen Tom at the table. He clearly wasn’t worried about getting into his jeans.
“Around here? Not so much. But I’m sure that will change when the harvest is over and Tom comes to see me rather than me always traveling to the orchard. I’m only here to attend a course in Davis. I look forward to taking Tom to some of my favorite restaurants.”
But Nora was no longer thinking about eating out. “When your class is done, I assume you’re headed back home.”
“Of course—my home is in Denver.”
“But how will you see Tom then?”
Darla’s eyes held an unmistakable sparkle. “Can you keep a secret?”
“Sure,” Nora said. And she thought, from whom? She didn’t exactly have a lot of confidants.
Darla circled a knee with her arms, her fingers laced together. “We’ve talked about the future a little bit. Like the fact that Maxie deserves a restful, indulgent retirement. Someplace where she doesn’t have to work so hard or cook so much. Some sort of village for seniors where all the chores are done for her. Where she can relax and enjoy life more.”
“But Maxie loves the orchard,” Nora said, feeling a bit panicked at the very thought. “She loves to cook and garden and have tons of people around!”
“Please,” Darla said, laughing. She threw a hand wide. “This look relaxing to you?”
Nora swallowed. “Maxie loves this. I can’t imagine Tom without her here!”
“Who says Tom is staying here? Look at him out there.”
He was a pure pleasure to look at, laughing with men from the town, flirting with their wives while he bagged up apples, turning so they could admire the sleeping baby on his back. Everyone was going to be bone tired when this was over, but they’d be happy to have had all their friends together, their neighbors, their town, not to mention all the folks who came from much farther away every year.
“See how great he is? Tell me something—if he can sell apples with that little effort, imagine what he could do with a product that brings in tons of money.”
“They’re his apples,” Nora said quietly.
“Maybe not for long.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, we’ve talked about the possibilities of retiring Maxie, selling the orchard and settling in a city rather than the back woods. With Tom’s experience in business, his degree and his persuasiveness with people, he could do almost anything, but let me tell you—he’d be a natural in sales.”
Nora told herself there was absolutely no excuse for feeling like she’d been sucker punched. There was nothing between her and Tom except a friendship she was very grateful for. And he deserved to have a life—a wife, children, happiness. “So…you’re getti
ng married, then?”
“Well, we’re certainly not engaged.” She held out her hands, fingers splayed, demonstrating no ring. “But just between you and me, I think it’s only a matter of time.”
“Congratulations,” Nora said, hating the weakness in her voice.
“Thank you,” Darla said, straightening a bit. She was proud of that—being in love with Tom, counting the days until he asked her to marry him. “Well, look, I’m sure you have to get back to work and I have a little reading to do. And, I want to change clothes before evening.”
Nora bit her tongue against asking why. Instead she told a huge lie. “Nice talking with you, Darla.”
“You, too, Norma.”
“No, it’s Nora.”
“Oh,” she said on a laugh. “Right.”
* * *
Sunday at the orchard was a repeat of Saturday with lots of people turning out, and in most cases not the same people. The big difference for Nora was that her dad and Susan brought the little girls, watched them, napped them, fed them and did all that while meeting half the town.
“Sunday afternoon is my regular day to visit Nora and the girls,” she heard Jed tell someone. And, “Yes, you have it right—we were estranged for many years but by good fortune and Reverend Kincaid, reunited. Bitter divorce—I’m sure you’ve heard of such things.”
She just smiled to herself when she overheard him. He didn’t seem to have any shame or blame, just the facts. She admired that.
In the afternoon, people began to leave. First to go was Darla, her many suitcases carried to the red Caddy by Tom, a rather platonic kiss goodbye and off she went. A bit later Rosalie and Penny loaded up and departed and when Nora saw that, she bolted to their car to give them each a hug. “Will you be back?” she asked.