Page 35 of You Had Me At Pumpkin Patch
‘Concrete?’ Rosie uttered the word like it was tinged with wickedness. This place was fast becoming part of her soul, and she was damned if she’d let anyone fill her lake with rock so they could build a fake cat factory.
‘The worst thing is,’ he said quietly, ‘they have a point. Just like you warned me. Farms should be productive; I know that. And Agnes’s husband was good to me. I should be doing better by them both.’ He blew out a long breath. ‘My cropshavealmost become a waste of space. What’s the point in my experiments if I churn out speciality pumpkins and do nothing with them? I’ve been selfish. My ancestors wouldn’t have squandered good produce like this.’
‘You’re not selfish.’ She squeezed his hand, noticing his fingers curl back around hers for a second. They both pulled away. ‘Look, you’re helping us now, aren’t you?’
He gave an almost imperceptible nod.
‘What are your experiments? If you don’t mind me asking.’
‘I do,’ he replied. ‘Mind you asking. I just came to give you my thoughts on these retreats.’
Well, you couldn’t blame a girl for trying.
‘Fair enough. Let’s look at these plans.’ Rosie busied herself with Zain’s notes, which to her surprise, were pretty impressive. It was as if he’d swallowed the encyclopedia on how to create the perfect wild retreat – whichobviouslyhe hadn’t. That sort of thing didn’t even exist. For someone who shunned a smartphone and presumably didn’t bother with Google, he’d compiled quite a list – even down to some quirky ways they could incorporate his pumpkins.
‘Are you saying you’re OK with these officially being pumpkin farm retreats?’ She held her breath.
‘Mmm.’
It was more of a growl than a‘woo hoo, let’s do this’– but it was beyond what Rosie could have hoped for.
‘Thank you.’ She kept it simple, conscious a gushing response might send him stomping off. ‘How did you come up with all this? It’s brilliant. Did you... go to the library?’ She could barely imagine his gruff exterior and muddy boots among the bunting and books.
He huffed. ‘I do have a brain, you know.’
‘Of course.’ Perhaps Zain was naturally good at this sort of thing. Some people used search engines and chatbots, but Zain didn’t need to. What other hidden talents did he have?
She put a hand on his bare forearm and immediately wished she hadn’t. It was warm and firm, and she had the sudden feeling that touching him might become addictive. She allowed herself a moment before pulling away. ‘This...’ She placed his list down next to her list collection, weighing its corners with pebbles too. ‘This might just save us.’
He shook his head. ‘You’re doing all the saving. It’s just a few extra thoughts from... well, me. Logistics. You’re the one with the details. Flowers in the loo. Stinky soaps. Making people feel special.’ He scratched the back of his neck. ‘Or whatever.’
Did she really make people feel special? Had her small gestures started to make him feel that way? Rosie had always been told it was rude to stare. Yet here she was, getting lost in Zain’s gaze for what seemed like the longest time, even though it could only have been a few heartbeats.
She cleared her throat, and they went back to looking at their lists. Though as their elbows touched as they rearranged paperwork on the grass, she heard his surprised intake of breath. Had he felt that spark too? As she accidentally caught his gaze, there was something in his deep, woody eyes that she hadn’t seen before. And his look made herfeelsomething. Like a swooshing. Once again, she kind of liked it, and would definitely put that in her book.
Rosie heard Luna making a low wolf-whistle sound from across the grass and could see from the corner of her eye that she was nudging Ellen and pointing at her and Zain. Rosie quickly pulled her gaze away from his and fiddled with her ponytail.
‘My experiments,’ he said hurriedly, as though he might change his mind. ‘We might as well be honest with each other, if we need to work together. At least if I tell you, you won’t need to go poking around.’
‘Honesty!’ she said breezily. ‘Always the best policy.’ Other than she wasn’t going to divulge that she was an impostor, that a woman called Bianca was trying to hunt her down with mean orange letters, or that at least one of her ex-boyfriends had been onCrimewatch.
‘I’m trying to bring back some all-but-lost varieties. I got hold of rare seeds from distant relatives.’ He shrugged, like he didn’t want to go into it. ‘My family history is complicated. I’ve also been cross-breeding, to make varieties of my own. Crops that are hardier, so they can grow better and stronger, even out of season. And some I’m just toying with, to see how quirky I can make them.’ His lips twitched into analmostsmile. ‘It all goes on, in those polytunnels.’
‘Could some of these experiments help us?’ said Rosie, the cogs in her brain turning. ‘It’s been bothering me that the pumpkin retreats might not work outside of autumn. Are you saying we could extend them to other seasons to?’
‘Possibly, in time. If I can get my head around people being here, in theory, we could involve visitors at different stages of the year – spring planting, summer growing, autumn harvest. I guess a pumpkin patch is for life, not just for autumn. And it’s better than the alternative.’ He gave a small shudder. ‘Hell, I could probably do with some help out there, if we’re going to getprofitable.’ He said the word as though he still didn’t like it. ‘We can move with the seasons too. Wildflower meadows, sunflowers... Those might attract people inandhelp with pollination. We can work it out as we go.’
Rosie grabbed his arm again. ‘You’re right. But first, the pumpkin retreats. Are you in on helping too?’
He sighed. ‘Happy to do what I need to, I guess.’
‘He’s happy,’ Rosie heard Bonnie whisper not quite quietly enough to Mags as the pair of them wandered over. ‘She’s put a spell on him.’
‘That’s one word for it,’ Mags not-so-whispered back.
Zain shot them a look and then stood, shaking himself down.
‘Why don’t you show me this field you’ve suggested for the retreat base camp?’ Rosie said quickly, jumping up with him. ‘We’ll size it up for the teepees. And I love your idea about treehouses.’
