The woman who obviously eavesdropped on our conversation the last time I was here comes into the room. Her eyes fall on me for a few seconds before she moves in and takes a seat at a nearby table.
“No, I saw him last week.”
“And you didn’t come see me?” The pitch of Heather’s voice goes up. Dammit. She takes things too personally, and I know she has to be miserable in here. Knowing I was in the area but didn’t stop by stings, but it’s not like that.
“It’s a two-and-a-half-hour drive from here to Eastwood, and I was tired. Plus, I needed to get back for…for dinner.”
“You couldn’t come see me so you could fucking eat dinner? It better have been a damn good meal.”
“The food was good,” I admit. Though the company is even better. “What happened to your face?” I change the subject, knowing asking about her injuries will piss her off too, but at least she’ll be pissed off for a different reason.
“This is what happens when you try and stay out of trouble.” She motions to her face. “But it’s been handled.”
“Handled?”
Heather lets out an exasperated sigh. “It’s hard to explain unless you’ve been in here, okay?”
I nod. “Okay. I just want you to come home.”
“Do we even have a home anymore? Aren’t you living with some rich family in East-something-or-other.”
“Eastwood, and I told you, he’s a single dad and not rich.”
“So that’s your home. Where am I going to go?”
I shake my head. “I’ll figure it out.”
“What if I get out tomorrow?”
She won’t, so that’s not even a concern. “I’ll come get you.”
“And then what?”
“I’ll take you back with me.”
She lets out a snort of laughter. She’s angry at something else and is taking it out on me. “And I could stay in the house you’re living at?”
“No, I don’t think Wes would be okay with that,” I say honestly. “But we’d get you a hotel room until we could set up something more permanent.”
“We?”
“Yes, I know Wes would help me. He’s a good guy.”
Instead of coming back with a sassy comment, Heather smiles. “You really like this guy, don’t you?”
“I do like him, but not in the way you’re insinuating. He’s a good guy.”
“Yeah, you said that.”
Heat rushes through me. “Okay, yeah…he’s attractive, and if I wasn’t his son’s nanny, I’d make a move. Another move, since Jackson kind of cock-blocked us the first time.” I shake my head. “But he’s a good guy, Heather. One of the rare, really good ones. And I’m, well, not. I took the job as a nanny with the intentions of conning money out of him. I’m a horrible person.”
Heather laughs and reaches across the table, taking my hands. “Scar, don’t even say that. You’re not a horrible person. We’ve all done things we’re not proud of. And this orange jumpsuit proves it on my end.” She gives my hands a squeeze. “So what are you going to do about it?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing? That’s not my older sister talking.”
“He’s my boss. What if we hook up and then it’s weird? I live with him and his son.”
“But what if it’s not weird?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. He doesn’t strike me as the kind who would be okay with a fuck-buddy type of relationship. If we hooked up, things between us would go to the next level.”
“Isn’t that what you want?”
God yes. I’d love to be Weston’s girlfriend. To go out together and actually cuddle on the couch as we’re watching horror movies, staying up way too late and then crawling up to bed together. We’d be so tired but unable to keep our hands off each other, and we’d have sleepy, lazy sex that only couples who have reached a deep level of comfort have.
“I wouldn’t mind,” I tell my sister. “But then I’d have to disclose personal info, and I don’t know how he’d feel about me if he knew, well, everything.”
“That you’ve been conning people for years, Dad was a drunk, Mom died with a needle in her arm, and your baby sister is in jail?”
“Yeah. That.”
“Just brag about Jason a bit first.”
I give her a lopsided smile. “I already have. It doesn’t matter. He won’t understand where we came from, and more importantly, I’m not going to sleep with my boss.”
“You’re in love with him.”
“No. I don’t believe in love.” The words escape my lips and feel like a lie. I didn’t believe in love, but now I’m not so sure. Being in love meant having a heart, and I convinced myself mine stopped working long ago.
But now when I close my eyes and the world becomes still, I feel it fluttering back to life.
Chapter Twenty
Scarlet
“What about this one?” Jackson races forward to the biggest pumpkin he can find.
“I think that might be a little too heavy,” I laugh. It’s late Monday morning, and Jackson and I are at the pumpkin patch with Quinn, Archer, and Emma. “How about this one?” I point to a round, white pumpkin.
“It lost all its color!” Jackson’s eye widen in shock, making both Quinn and I laugh.
“It’s supposed to be like that,” Quinn explains, adjusting Emma in the baby carrier she’s wearing. “Ohh, a cat!”
“Don’t even think about it,” Archer says, slipping his arm around Quinn’s waist. “Pretty sure it belongs to the orchard.”
“I didn’t say I was going to take it.”
Archer gives her side a squeeze. They’re gag-worthy cute together, but Quinn is quickly becoming a friend, so it doesn’t bother me like it normally would. “I know the way your mind works.”
“Look at this one! It’s all bumpy!” Jackson laughs, looking at the pumpkin with a look of disgust on his face.
“You don’t like it?” I ask.
“It has warts!”
“It does?” I make a move to touch it, and Jackson grabs my hand, laughing.
“You’ll get warts too!”
I take Jackson’s hand and lead him to another row of pumpkins. He goes to a large, oval-shaped one that has to be heavy.
“I like this one!”
“I think it’s perfect,” I tell him.
Archer picks up the heavy pumpkin for us and puts it on the wagon he’s pulling. We make it through the rest of pumpkins, grabbing a few more little ones along the way. Jackson and I grabbed pumpkins from the store not long ago, but this is way more fun. I’ve never been to a pumpkin patch like this before. We go into a big barn to pay for our pumpkins and to get apple cider. The sun is out in full force today, making the fifty-degree air comfortable.
I’m having fun, and while I’m working, it doesn’t feel like it. I really care about Jackson, and seeing him light up and have fun makes me happy. We get our cider and take it outside, enjoying what could very likely be one of the last warm days this fall. Archer’s loading the pumpkins into the back of the SUV when Quinn’s phone rings.