Page 83 of Apple of My Eye
I click out of my messages in a hurry and stow my phone in my pocket. ‘It worked, though.’
‘Sure did. Our busiest season yet.’
‘Not that it matters,’ I sigh.
‘Eloise,’ Dad says sternly, his reading glasses perched on the bridge of his nose like they are every morning when he reads the paper, ‘it does matter.’
I shrug and pick up my coffee. Suddenly the room feels too small for my thoughts. I head to the front porch. Mom isn’t far behind me, settling onto the front stoop next to me without saying a word. We both watch the morning fog baking off the grass as the sun rises.
‘It’s not like you to be so short with your father,’ she says.
Tears sting my eyes. ‘I’m just tired.’
Mom sighs. ‘Is this about Nick, JJ, or that offer from Scott’s Orchards?’
‘There’s so much going on.’
Mom nods. ‘I know, sweetheart.’
I pick the simplest topic first. ‘I’m happy. And relieved. And I know JJ will be so happy,’ I sniffle, my sadness at the prospect of losing JJ hitting me like a ton of bricks, ‘but he’s one of my best friends.’
‘Oh, honey.’ Mom rubs a gentle hand on my back. ‘The family that met him last weekend at U-Pick, I think they’ll be a really good fit. Their daughter is the age you were when you got JJ. And they live on a big farm too. It’s not so far, you can visit.’
‘I know,’ I say glumly.
She stares out at the fields. ‘I know it’s hard to say goodbye.’
‘I don’t want him to think I don’t love him anymore.’
‘Sometimes doing the uncomfortable thing, the scary thing, sometimes that is how to love somebody best.’
I pinch the bridge of my nose. We both know she’s right. ‘How did you know about Scott’s?’ I ask her.
Mom harrumphs. ‘You think you heard about it from Amie and nobody else did? That girl never hushes up.’
‘Yeah, you’re right,’ I mumble. ‘I just can’t believe it.’
‘We don’t know if they actually signed it.’
I fix my gaze on her. ‘Mom,’ I say, ‘there’s no way they didn’t. If they haven’t already, there’s no way they won’t. Scott’s? Come on. They probably offered them more than was fair.’
‘Did you hearanyof the details from Amie?’
‘No.’
Mom sips her coffee and sighs. The sun is creeping past the horizon now, a soft orange and yellow cascading over the hills. ‘Scott’s put in only a half offer. The Parkers would still manage it, Scott’s would just bring in some folks to help.’
I’m stunned into silence. That isn’t what I expected. ‘Oh.’
‘I was surprised too. I thought they would want to get all out.’
My response comes flying out of my mouth before I can stop it. ‘You mean like you guys did? Like you guys do?’
‘That isn’t fair,’ Mom says, but her shoulders slacken with resignation. ‘Selling just might be our best option. You know that.’
I pick at a piece of wood peeling up from the deck, tearing it away from the front step.
‘I still can’t believe Nick went on a date with her.’ Mom deftly changes the subject, jostling me with her shoulder. ‘She never hushed up about that either.’
