Page 47 of Apple of My Eye
The line is still snaking out of our tent when the sun crests high in the sky. Betsy told me the farmers’ market winds down around 2 p.m. so the town can rest and prepare for the evening carnival, so I pop my head out to check and see how many more people we have to get through before we get a break. There’s a gaggle of girls in baggy jeans and T-shirts holding up the end of the line but thankfully things appear to be cooling down.
A blonde head catches my eye as I’m about to duck back into the tent. I’d know those braids anywhere—Eloise. I linger outside the tent hoping that Betsy can pick up the slack while I dawdle. That’s another thing I need to think through. Betsy and Joe will need help—more than just seasonal help. They’ll need someone to help them run the tent all year.
Eloise is slowing as she approaches our stand. I see someone behind her. A man with brown hair spiked with blond highlights in an Anderson Farm T-shirt emblazoned with a bright red apple.
Eloise comes to a jerky stop, taking a half-step before she sees me. When our eyes meet she doesn’t move even an inch closer. Her eyebrows furrow, her nose scrunching up in anger. Irritation flares through me, hot and strong. She has no right to be annoyed that I’m succeeding. We agreed this morning that business was business.
I walk towards her quickly, closing the distance between us in fifteen steps. Even when she’s angry she makes me smile, so I come to a stop in front of her, grinning. ‘You didn’t think I had it in me?’ I ask, elbowing her gently in the ribs. I don’t know what I’m expecting, but it isn’t what I get, which is Eloise huffing air out of her nose and turning around sharply.
‘Evan,’ she says, just as he catches up to where we’re standing. ‘We’re going.’
I close my mouth just in time to say, ‘Hi,’ to Evan but he’s already walking away. He gives me a wide-eyed look that sayssorry, manbefore he turns to follow Eloise.
I watch them go, growing angrier by the minute. Eloise seemed so cool about things earlier, so apologetic that she didn’t want the Parkers to be able to keep their farm. Now she’s acting like this is personal, like I designed this project to hurt her.
After Eloise dips her head into her tent I reluctantly turn back to Betsy. Thankfully when I get back, she’s laughing, trying to take a selfie with two teens who keep telling her how adorable she is. At least something is right in the world.
As soon as the line dies down to dawdlers, I ask Betsy if I can go help Hazel.
‘Sure, honey,’ she says with a wink, ‘Eloise sure is pretty, isn’t she?’
I give Betsy a stern look. ‘I’m just being a good neighbor.’
‘Mhmm.’
Eloise, Hazel, and Evan are packing up their tent when I walk over. Their folding chairs and table are already in the truck. I feel a pang of jealousy that Evan was the person who helped them pack up. But of course they don’t need me, they were doing this long before Evan or I got here. I spot boxes of unsold goods in the back of the truck and wince.
‘Hi.’ I wave. ‘Need any help?’
Hazel clears her throat. ‘I’m going to go drop off my pies,’ she says, scurrying out of the back of the tent and towards the neighboring stand.
‘How was your afternoon?’ I ask. I feel awkward now, like the charm I had all afternoon has drained out of me. ‘How did handing out the radish-growing kits go? Did the kids like them?’
‘Fine,’ Eloise says tersely.
Evan clears his throat. ‘I think I’m just going to get one more apple cider donut.’
Eloise’s cheeks redden as he walks away.
Evan stops at the door and turns. ‘Anyone .?.?. um .?.?. want anything?’
‘No thanks,’ I muster. It’s taking everything I can to not immediately wrap my arms around Eloise. She looks completely deflated.
‘You don’t need to help us,’ she says after Evan leaves. ‘You must have a lot to do.’ Her tone has a bite to it.
‘We’re all packed. Betsy’s grabbing some stuff from Hal’s. I’m happy to help.’ I absent-mindedly scratch the back of my neck. Eloise and I never feel this .?.?. stilted.
‘It’s OK. You’ve done enough already.’
It couldn’t be any more clear that Eloise isnotpaying me a compliment. ‘I think the business will be good for you too,’ I say in a soft voice, the same one I use with my mom when I don’t want her to be mad at me. ‘Even if it isn’t what you wanted, maybe more people coming to your farm will change things.’
‘You know what, Nick, it won’t work like you think it will. The Parkers don’t have the soil health to keep their farm going no matter how much you market their pet pigs. But that’s none of your business. It’s not like you’ll stick around here long enough to know what the impact of anything you’re doing actually is.’
I take a step back. ‘That’s not fair. I’m making a plan for them. They’ll be taken care of.’
‘A plan?’ Eloise throws her hands up in the air. ‘Farms don’t work withplans, that’s like Farming 101. Plans get ruined like that.’ She snaps her fingers in the air. ‘One drought, two days of too much rain, three days of an early frost.Planscan’t fix those things. Good farming can. I thought I explained that to you—’ she lets out an exasperated sigh ‘—but you clearly didn’t listen. This is why I should have never—’ She stops herself short, her cheeks reddening. ‘I should never have assumed you were different! Men only ever think about themselves!’
I feel myself bristle. This is bigger than me and I’m not sure if she’s talking about Linden or something else. Given the hurt in her voice, I think it might be more than Linden, it probably has to do with her parents wanting to sell their farm, but either way, it isn’tmyfault
