Page 64 of There's Pumpkin About You
“Teach me how to harvest. I want to help.”
Bash jumps, spinning around so quickly that he almost drops the pumpkin in his hands.
After dropping off the usual coffees for the day, for which Sam tried multiple times to slip a fifty into my pocket, I decided to see how Bash was getting on with the harvest. I’ve spent so much time focusing on how Gus is, that I never took the time to check up on his big brother. Bash is under a ton of stress, too, especially now that it’s up to him to harvest the rest of the pumpkins. I can see that it has Gus feeling down, feeling useless because he can’t help to do the physical jobs that this season has to offer. When he was on bed rest, I caught him twice trying to slip out the house to go and harvest whilst Bash was on a lunch break. I thought it was both sweet and slightly pathetic, mostly because he’s a grown man who was trying to sneak out his own house.
I’ve learned that Bash isn’t one to complain. He gets on with what he has to do and doesn’t say anything about it. I think there’s a lot more to Sebastian than meets the eye, but I also think that he’s just as stubborn as his brother and so he won’t show any of it unless he deems it absolutely necessary.
After carefully placing the harvested pumpkin into the crate, he turns to me with a strained smile. “You scared the crap out of me, Wren.”
“Sorry,” I apologize. “I didn’t know I was so light-footed.”
“You weigh all of eighty pounds, of course you’re light on your feet.”
“Not accurate, but I appreciate you purposefully guessing under to save your skin.” I laugh.
He gives the field a once-over. “You mentioned something about teaching you to harvest?”
“Yeah, I really want to help you. Gus can’t assist at the moment and even though I wouldn’t be nearly as fast as you guys, it’s got to help at least a little, right?”
He looks apprehensive as he scratches the back of his neck. “I don’t know, Wren. It’s a lot of heavy lifting. If anything happened to you, not only would I never forgive myself, but I also wouldn’t need to because Gus would murder me.”
“I promise I’ll take it easy, Bash. I’ll only pick up the ones that I can handle. Like I said to your brother, I’m stronger than I look.”
He still looks hesitant, green eyes bouncing around, looking everywhere but at me.
“Please?” I push.
He groans quietly, and I hear the multiple expletives he mumbles under his breath before he grinds out a reluctant, “Fine.”
I squeal as I throw myself at him, arms wrapping around lean shoulders. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
“It’s me who should be thanking you,” he laughs out.
“I just want to be as helpful as I can. You guys are literally saving my ass with the barn.”
He gestures for me to follow him, leading us to the end of the row he’s currently on. He stops just before the last pumpkin, stooping down in front of a medium-sized bright orange one. He motions towards the pumpkin.
“Try and lift it.”
I take a deep breath, realizing that maybe doing this in knee-high Timberland boots may not have been the best idea. I seriously need to invest in some normal-length boots.
I squat down and position my hands underneath the pumpkin, dirt lodging itself underneath my nails. Making sure to use my legs, not my back, I stand up and bring the squash closer to my torso. It’s heavy, but nothing I can’t handle, especially if there’s a crate next to me.
Bash assesses me, checking to see if my face gives away my struggle to hold onto the pumpkin. Satisfied that I’m not lifting more than I can handle, he motions for me to put it back down.
“Okay, fine, but if you come across any bigger than that, you leave them alone. Got it?”
I salute him. “Sir, yes, sir.”
He shakes his head with a smile.
“I’ll get in on this.”
We both turn to see Finn making his way towards us.
“You want to help, too?” I ask.
“Of course. The barn can handle one man less now that the exterior is complete. Put me to work, boss.”
