Pick Me (16 page)

A few minutes later, she followed him down a lush-looking row and kneeled beside him, the rich, wet scent of soil filling her lungs. She couldn’t deny how good it felt to be near him again, how right. She only hoped he felt the same.

“Is there a special way to pick them?” she asked.

“There is, as a matter of fact.” He reached under a plant and pulled an enormous, ripe berry into view, turning it gently in his hand, the strawberry still attached by the stem. “You have to be careful how you take it from the stem. You don’t want to pull from the fruit, because you’ll squish it with the pressure and heat of your fingers.”

Thea nodded, trying to stay focused on their task, but his words and his fingers as he massaged the plump curves of the berry led her thoughts to activities other than berry-picking.

“What you want to do,” he said, leaning closer to her, “is twist it and let the berry fall into your palm. Like this.”

Thea watched as he turned the stem and sure enough, the berry dropped in his hand. She’d never known strawberry picking could be so sexy. But then, she’d never picked strawberries with Calder Frye before.

“Your turn,” he said, pointing her to a ripe berry.

Thea reached down and gently twisted the stem, amazed at the weight of the fruit as it rolled into her palm, the warmth, the fullness. She raised it and drew in the scent of its sweetness.

“Help yourself,” he said, grinning. “The first one’s always on the house.”

She met his gaze as she slid the rounded end between her lips and took a bite, sinking into the soft fruit, the honeyed taste filling her mouth. Drawing the berry out, she stared at it in wonder. “This might be the best strawberry I’ve ever eaten in my whole life.”

“That good, huh?”

“Don’t believe me?” She held it toward him. “See for yourself.”

His hand closed over hers and he guided the berry between his teeth, biting deeply and watching her as he chewed and swallowed.

She pulled in a sharp breath, suddenly aware of a layer of sweat along her hairline, between her breasts.

He grinned. “If you keep feeding me our profits, Counselor, I’m going to have to fire you,” he said, his eyes still holding hers.

She smiled. “You can’t fire a volunteer.”

* * *

At eleven, Marie appeared with trays of sandwiches and pitchers of iced tea, and they all left their rows to dine and refresh under the shady roof of an oak tree near the barn. Thea joined the line, looking around to see where Calder was, hopeful that he’d want to sit with her.

She chose a picnic table and began to eat.

“Join you?” She looked up to see Calder standing with his plate.

Her cheeks flushed. “Absolutely.”

He sat down across from her and tugged off his cap, setting it on the bench and giving his damp hair a hard ruffling before he dug into his sandwich.

“How many pounds would you say we’ve picked so far?” she asked.

“Hard to say. A lot.”

“I never realized everything that went into picking,” she said. “All that you have to know.”

“It’s harder than it looks, isn’t it?

She shrugged, not sure she would agree. Despite the heat or the cramps in her knees and feet from kneeling, working alongside him had been the opposite of work.

She reached for her iced tea. “Then it’s going well out in San Francisco?”

“It’s a great hospital.”

“So you think you’ll stay?”

“I think I could be happy there for a while, yeah.”

He considered her a long moment, long enough that Thea looked away, taking up her sandwich. All the time they’d spent in the field that morning, teasing and tasting as they picked, they’d kept the larger subjects of their lives out of the conversation—his move, Dennis’ proposal. She wanted so badly to tell him she’d broken things off with Dennis, but what would have been the point? He’d just admitted he was going to stay on the west coast.

“How about you?” he asked. “Glad to be back in your house?”

“I am. But I do miss the bay.”

“Me, too,” he said. Thea wondered if he missed the same things she did. The same
people
. “How’s work going?”

“Work’s good,” she said. “Actually, I’ve started doing some pro bono work for a women’s shelter.”

“Really? That’s great.”

She smiled. “It has been. I’m even thinking about leaving the firm and going out on my own so I can take on cases that matter to me, cases I can really care about, for people who need my help.”

“Good for you.”

“It’s all your fault, you know,” she said with a teasing smile. “You and your damn noble heart. I couldn’t stop thinking about what you said that night at Awendaw.”

He grinned. “Then I guess my influence wasn’t all bad after all.”

Marie appeared and slid in beside Calder. “No rest for the pickers. The boss wants y’all back to work.”

“That’s Pete for you.” Calder chuckled, pulling his cap back on as he climbed out from the table with his empty plate and cup.

“Who’s talking about Pete?” Marie nodded toward their left where Willa was clapping to rouse all the still-eating Loveless men to their feet.

Thea laughed. “That’s
Willa
for you.”

* * *

They worked another hour, until the sun was too strong and the berries were in danger of softening to mush in their pint baskets.

Needing to wash her hands, Thea excused herself to use the sink in the store and nearly collided with Pete on her way inside.

“Oh, excuse me,” he said, stepping aside to let her through. “Hey, don’t be so quick to erase those marks. You’ve earned them.”

“I know,” she said, turning her hands to admire the shades of pink that stained her fingers and palms. “I think if people knew how hard it was picking strawberries, they wouldn’t waste so much when they cut off the tops.”

Pete smiled. “That’s the truth.”

Thea swore it was the first time she’d seen him smile since she’d met him. Maybe it was the relief of Marie’s delicious food, or maybe it was the soft light of the barn, but whatever the reason, Calder’s brother seemed decidedly more welcoming and approachable today than he had at dinner.

“I don’t mean to keep you,” he said, taking a careful step toward her, “but I wanted to thank you for this. For pitching in for all of us. You didn’t have to do that.”

“It’s really nothing,” she said. “Compared to what Calder does, the sacrifices he makes for people in need…Really, it’s the least we could do for neighbors in a bind.”

Pete’s gaze drifted past her to the field, his features softening, as if he could see Calder from where they stood. “He’s a good doctor.”

“He’s a good
man
,” Thea said.

“I know,” said Pete. “Too good, sometimes.”

“Tell me about it,” said Thea. “I’m the oldest of four sisters. I know how hard it can be to have to lead the pack. To feel like everyone after us gets it so much easier.”

His eyes flickered across her face, as if he were searching for something. After a moment, he looked away, down. “I never used to be this guy,” he said low. “This angry son of a bitch. I don’t know who this guy is but I’m sure as hell sick of looking at him in the mirror every morning.”

The admission escaped because he didn’t know her, Thea decided. That’s how it was, sometimes. You confessed the most to the person who knew you the least. It was easiest that way.

She smiled, suddenly feeling a fierce burst of sympathy for him. “Family’s never easy. We all have our bad days, believe me.”

The comment drew another smile from him, this one not as sad as its predecessor. “Seems like you and Call have gotten close. I’m sorry he’s not sticking around.”

“Me, too.”

When she returned outside, she saw the blue truck was missing—the Loveless boys had gone. When Connie came to ask her if it was okay if they left too, Thea nodded. “Just let me say goodbye to Calder first.”

He was in the store when she found him, unloading the pints from the flats and stacking the empties. When he saw her step inside, he stopped and clapped his hands clean, wiping off any leftover dirt and juice on his thighs. Thea followed the trail of his hands, reminded of the way they’d felt on her body weeks earlier. Had it really been that long ago?

“Hey,” he said.

She cleared her throat. “Hey, yourself.”

“Marie made some more iced tea if you’d like to stick around? I’m almost done here.”

“I’d love to, but Will and Connie are waiting for me in the truck.”

He smiled. “I really can’t thank you enough for all your help. For bringing everyone on board today.”

“Friends help friends,” she said.

“I guess they do.” He searched her eyes. “It’s really good seeing you again, Thea.”

“You too,” she said, immeasurably grateful when she heard the crunch of the truck’s tires nearing, signaling Willa’s arrival and her rescue from the ache in her stomach that had nothing to do with eating too many strawberries.

Chapter Fifteen

“Let
me get those for you.”

Calder swept up the pair of emptied pitchers from the tables before Marie could reach them and held the screen door open with his foot while she came inside the kitchen with a stack of paper plates. He followed her to the sink to wash the dirt and berry juice off his hands and tugged a dish towel from its hook on the fridge handle to dry them.

Man, what a day. A few hours ago they were sunk, about to lose one of the best harvests they’d had in years. Now they had a fortune in berries to sell. The Strawberry Festival would happen after all.

And it was all thanks to Thea. He wouldn’t deny it: it had felt good being back—and being back with her. Still, he had to remind himself: while they’d had a blast out there, picking and laughing, down in the dirt, it didn’t change the fact that she was marrying that Dennis guy.

Marie came up beside him, snapping the lid on a container of leftover sandwich wedges. “You and Thea looked awfully cozy out there,” she said. “I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen you smile the way you smiled at her today. I’m not sure I ever have, actually.”

“She’s getting married, Mare—remember?”

“Then where was her ring?”

“Probably safe at home where it wouldn’t get covered in strawberry juice,” Calder said.

“Maybe…” Marie’s eyes resumed their mischievous sparkle. “But from what I saw in that field, I’d say she’s far from spoken for.”

The screen creaked open, Pete stepped in. Marie cast a warm smile at Calder then crossed for the door, touching her husband on the arm as she excused herself to clear the rest of the picnic.

Calder leaned against the counter, his arms crossed. For the first time in he didn’t know how long, Pete wasn’t giving him a dirty look. Quite the opposite, his brother was looking at him with something close to fondness.

Calder wouldn’t squander it. “We did good out there, bro.”

“We did
great
,” said Pete.

“You should have called me.”

“I know. And I’m sorry. Your friends saved our ass.” Pete walked slowly over to where Calder stood. “I really appreciate you coming back. I know they couldn’t have been happy about that at the hospital.”

“I was glad to do it, Pete. I mean that.”

The ceiling creaked, both men glanced up, knowing the source of the sound. Their father was finally up and around.

Calder watched his brother’s features, seconds before so relaxed, tighten up again.

“It’s not your fault he drinks, Pete. He’s an alcoholic. He’s always been one. You know that better than anyone. And it’s nothing you or me or anybody can fix. The kind of help he needs, we can’t give him.”

Pete spun to face the counter and leaned against it. He squeezed his eyes shut.

“I promised her, Call,” he said low. “I promised Mom I’d take care of him. That she didn’t have to worry because I wouldn’t let him fall apart when she was gone.”

“It’s okay, Pete.”

“No, it’s not.” In the next instant, Calder could see his brother was crying. Despite clenching his eyes to keep them in, tears leaked out. Pete dragged his sleeve roughly over them and sniffed hard. “I
promised
her. And I screwed everything up before, so if I can’t do this one goddamn thing, what the hell good am I, huh?”

Calder felt like his heart had split open, his brother’s pain his own. He reached out and squeezed Pete’s shoulder. “You
have
taken care of him. In the best way possible. But if you really want to take care of Pop, Pete, you have to stop pretending he’s okay. It’s no good for anyone. Especially not Pop. Because all the love in the world isn’t enough to stop an alcoholic from drinking.”

Pete opened his wet eyes and turned from the counter. “It’s not just Pop…” He stared out at the view of the fields through the window. “It’s all of this. I don’t know if I want it. I look at Marie and I see everything she’s given up, and I don’t know if I can do it anymore.”