Page 1 of Down Memory Lane
Chapter One
Felix
A bead of sweat dripped from Felix’s brow and landed on his equally damp forearm as he pushed the handcart stocked with cider growlers out to his black SUV. It was unseasonably warm this week in Applewood, with the temperature in the high seventies, and he was feeling the effects big time. Felix paused halfway into his journey, grabbed the hairband off his wrist, and tied his shoulder-length hair up into a bun, once again pondering why he had been keeping his hair longer.
It annoyed the shit out of him most days. Flyaway hairs were constantly getting tangled in his long eyelashes, sticking to his forehead whenever he got warm enough to sweat even the slightest bit, and it was just generally a pain in the ass to maintain. Wiping the moisture from his brow, Felix stowed any irritation at his hair and went back to the business of loading up his car with the latest batch of hard apple cider that had been aging in his little mill at the orchard for nearly six months.
Cider was not only part of Felix’s business, but making it was something he genuinely enjoyed doing. It was a hobby that had been born out of sheer boredom as a young teen, but had evolved into something that he found endlessly fascinating. His eldest brother Aiden had already moved away from home, Beckett was training to be a firefighter, Travis kept to himself most of the time, and Nate was always so involved in extracurricular activities at school that Felix really had no one to hang out with while at home.
With nothing to do, Felix turned to the one thing that was always there, the apple orchard. After discovering that the crabapple trees produced fruit that was less desirable for eating but still useful, he started experimenting with cider making. Selling it at the small storefront at the orchard and at farmers markets on weekends became a fun way to pass the time before eventually growing into a lucrative venture. With a little help from his parents, Felix was able to make the down payment on a local bar and turn it into what was now known as Branch and Brew. Most people in Applewood referred to his business as a brewery despite knowing that he actually fermented his cider in a small outbuilding on Kemp Family Farms, but Felix didn’t care what they called it as long as they were supporting him.
Other than sometimes feeling a little left behind by his brothers, he considered his life growing up on the apple orchard perfect. Felix’s parents were more loving and attentive than any others he’d met during his twenty-six years, the large farm provided plenty of space to run or play hide-and-seek with his brothers when they were younger, and there was never a shortage of apples to snack on when he got hungry. Even now that he was a grown man, with the time and money to venture further out into the world, Felix spent the bulk of his time there. He got his apples from the crab trees as well as a few others he’d planted himself years ago near the back of the farm, produced his cider in an outbuilding before transferring it to the bar, and lived in the small apartment above the barn with his best friend, Autumn.
A grin pulled at the sides of his mouth as Felix started transferring growlers from the handcart to his vehicle. It wasn’t unusual for him to smile at the thought or mention of his best friend, but lately, that smile was accompanied by ideas he hadn’t really considered much in the past, ideas that included dating the woman he’d known most of his life and had started to fall in love with.
“Hey, Fe.” The smile that had formed at the thought of his best friend grew exponentially at the musical sound of her voice. Turning, Felix smiled as Autumn’s pink hair, slightly fading and in need of a touch up he would happily help her with, bobbed up and down in the trademark top bun she sported while working in her studio. Her sneakered feet skid to a stop just before she smacked into his chest, an occurrence that wouldn’t have been at all unwelcome. “You forgot your thermometer thingy.”
Felix’s smile shifted to one of indulgence as she passed the thin glass tool he used to measure the sugar density of his ciders over to him. “For the millionth time, Auts, it’s a hygrometer.” He lightly poked the tool into her side, smiling when she squeaked a little. “You’d think after all this time you would remember.”
Autumn bobbed her shoulder, nearly displacing the strap of her potter’s apron. “You know I’m not good with science-y stuff.”
That was an understatement. Growing up in a small town meant that you knew just about everyone around and they knew you, but that didn’t necessarily mean that you were friendly with them. Felix had been in most of the same classes as Autumn since she moved to Applewood in fifth grade, but it wasn’t until their Freshman year of high school that the two had really bonded.
Science was always a subject that came easily to Felix. Biology, Chemistry, and even Physics were all classes that he was able to breeze through. Autumn, on the other hand, was fairly hopeless when it came to any of them. When they were paired up as lab partners that first year, she relied on him for a lot of help with their coursework. Afternoons spent on lab write-ups morphed into ones spent hanging out and bonding over a mutual love of Taylor Swift music, a preference for puffed cheese snacks over their crunchy counterpart, and a love of their hometown.
People sometimes asked Felix if he regretted staying in Applewood over going to college, but his answer was always a resounding “No!” He loved his family and his business, so leaving his hometown was something he’d never really entertained. Why leave when everything he needed was right there? The only thing that could make his life better was someone special to share it with, something he’d considered more over the past year or so, hence the changing feelings toward his friend.
Felix put the tool in his pocket and pushed a strand of pink hair that had fallen into Autumn’s eyes behind her ear. “I think you’re better at remembering things that you give yourself credit for.”
“Maybe.” Another shoulder bob was accompanied by a smile Felix had grown to love more with each passing day, one he couldn’t stop himself from staring at as she stood in front of him. They settled into a comfortable silence, smiling at one another like a couple of fools for God knows how long before Autumn dragged her lower lip between her teeth. “Um, I should probably get back to it.”
Felix nodded dumbly. He had work to do as well, but suddenly it seemed far less important than merely standing there with her, existing in the same space and time for as long as possible. Instead of voicing that, however, he merely gestured to his now empty cart. “Me too.”
“Okay then.” Autumn remained still a moment longer before she wrapped her arms around his middle in a hug. The closeness wasn’t unusual, they’d been friends for years and hugged plenty of times, fallen asleep leaning against each other on the couch, even slept in the same bed, but lately, they lingered in each other’s grasp, as if their bodies were soaking up as much of the other as possible. When Autumn’s lips brushed his cheek, Felix couldn’t help but hope that the romantic feelings he now had toward his friend were reciprocated. “See you at home.”
Once again, all Felix could do was nod as he watched her walk away, a gentle breeze lifting that loose strand of her hair and once again putting it in her eyes. The delicate fingers she used to craft her pottery raised to her face where she brushed it aside, and he tracked every movement, fascinated by even the most mundane actions because it was Autumn who was doing them. The dating pool Applewood provided was small and shallow, but wasn’t a lack of options that had his feelings toward Autumn changing. They had always been there, lying in wait for when the time was right for the two of them.
Whenever one of them had been single, the other was dating someone semi-seriously. That was how it went for a long time up until last year when a unique opportunity presented itself in the form of them both being able to spend time together as singles. Hanging out was a lot like it always had been, but without a boyfriend or girlfriend to add to the mix and create third-wheel awkwardness, something shifted. Felix found that he and Autumn were snuggling more closely on the couch as they watched a movie, had more conversations about what they wanted their futures to look like, and had taken a lot more trips together.
Before, a road trip to Seattle or Portland for the weekend wasn’t out of the realm of possibility, but just last month they’d spent two weeks driving through all of California, even heading over to Arizona for a few days to visit Autumn’s parents. Visiting so many new places with his best friend was great, but it felt like something more, like they were creating memories to tell their future children someday, children they would make together. Felix couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but it was like they were looking at each other differently.
Their eyes lingered on one another for longer than they used to, their hands brushed and fingers tangled occasionally as if they were testing the waters of hand holding. Autumn had spent a lot more time hanging out with him at Branch and Brew than she used to. Felix could chalk that up to her having nothing to do, but she was just about the happiest, friendliest person he’d ever met. Autumn had no shortage of people she could spend her time with, but more and more she’d been choosing to spend the majority of it with him.
The sharp crack of a branch breaking to his right shook Felix out of his Autumn-centered reverie and drew his attention over to Travis. The man was broad shouldered and barrel-chested, the sight of his thick arm muscles poking out from under his shirt sleeves causing Felix to reflexively check out his own. He was two inches taller than Travis.Yes,Felix had measured andyes,it was very important that everyone knew that, but those two inches were enough to make Felix look lanky, like he had been stretched out just a shade too long.
Both men used manual labor for most of their exercise, but where Felix remained lithe and had a runner’s build, Travis looked like he could bench press one of the apple trees out back and not even break a sweat. Felix had always had a hard time putting on muscle, but it never really bothered him except on the odd occasion where he was already feeling a little off-kilter, and his new feelings for Autumn had definitely accomplished that.
Travis pointed at the series of growlers in the back of the car. “New batch?” he asked the moment he was next to Felix.
Felix nodded, not bothering to wait for more than that from his least talkative brother. “Yup. Taking these over to the bar so I can use them for my new cocktail. I’m going to add some chile liqueur and a few other ingredients to this mix and call it ‘Spring Fever.’” Felix smiled at his older brother. “What do you think?”
Travis pursed his lips and grunted. “Sounds fine.” More than two words from Travis was usually reserved for times of serious discussion, of which they’d had few, but Felix appreciated his brother’s curtness. He was a straight shooter, so his saying it sounded fine was the equivalent of gushing over it. Travis looked around the side of the farm for a moment, looking a little out of sorts. “Need any help?”
Felix raised a brow at his brother as he slammed the hatchback of his car. “You want to come to the bar with me? Willingly?” Travis hardly ever left the farm except for when he had to or when Felix dragged his unsocial ass out to trivia night with the promise to get him a pair of earplugs and not try to set him up with any women. The first was due to his sensory processing disorder and hate of any noise above sixty decibels, the second was anyone’s guess.
As far as Felix knew, Travis had never dated or hooked up with anyone since...well, ever actually. At one point he has suspected his brother might be asexual, but borrowing his laptop, he’d seen enough of Travis’s browser history to know that he was at least interested enough to look at porn. Someone really should teach him about how to use an incognito search, but that wouldn’t be Felix. He had something else at the top of his to-do list, getting his best friend to be more than that.
Travis shrugged, and scratched his beard. It was another thing Felix was slightly jealous of. He had stubble on occasion, but he couldn’t grow a beard to save his life. “Dunno. Need to get out more. Thought you might need a hand.” Shrugging, Travis turned to leave, but Felix was able to snag the collar of his shirt and draw him back.
