When I Fall in Love (3 page)

Chapter 3

K
nock, knock.

Tayler pulled the covers over her head. She had to be dreaming about a crazy person knocking on the door.

Knock, knock.

What the hell?
She rolled over from one side to the other. Was she dreaming or was the place suddenly under construction?

“Tayler, it's time for breakfast.”
Knock, knock.
“Are you up?”

Was somebody calling her name? Was that Rollin? She threw the covers back and pushed her eye mask up into her bonnet.

“Tayler, breakfast in fifteen minutes—come on down. The truck leaves at seven a.m., and you don't want to miss it.”

What the hell!

Tayler sat up and reached for her robe. She wasn't hungry, and she wasn't going to breakfast.

She wrapped herself in her robe and went to open the door. She cracked the door and glanced up into Rollin's scowling face.

“Good morning. I see you're not up yet. Well, you might want to grab a shower and come on down. Breakfast will be served in the dining room and we're heading out at seven o'clock on the nose.”

“I'm sorry, but heading out where?”

“The vegetable garden first, then we'll swing by—”

“Hold up. I'll skip the garden tour this morning, if you don't mind. I'm on vacation. What time is it, anyway?” She looked behind her and didn't see one peek of light coming through the blinds. It was still dark out.

“It's five thirty a.m., and unless you don't plan to eat today, you need to be on the truck before seven a.m.”

“What truck?”

“Didn't Nicole tell you that this is a working farm? We go out each morning to pick food for lunch and dinner.”

“Wait a minute.” She shook her head. “This is what kind of a farm?”

Rollin shook his head. “Get dressed and come on down. I'll explain it to you. Looks like Nicole forgot to tell you a few things.”

He walked down the hall and left Tayler standing in the doorway watching his back. Once he disappeared down the steps, she closed the door and threw herself against it.

What the hell have I gotten myself into?

She staggered into the shower then made it downstairs well before seven. Everyone was still at the table eating when she walked into the room.

“Grab a plate, honey. You've got fifteen minutes before the truck leaves,” Rita informed Tayler.

The smell of bacon, pancakes and hot biscuits left Tayler speechless and looking around the room for a plate. She wasn't hungry and had intended to negotiate her way back into bed.

“Here's a plate.”

Tayler turned at the sound of Rollin's voice. He stood next to the buffet offering her a square blue-and-white plate.

“I suggest you eat something. Going out on the truck to pick your own food is part of the charm of staying on a working farm.”

He glanced down at Tayler's sneaker-clad feet. “Once you get out there, just follow Kevin's instructions and you'll be fine.”

After accepting the plate, Tayler glanced at her watch. “So, I now have about ten minutes to eat something and grab a cup of coffee.”

“Hot coffee's down there.” Rollin pointed to the end of the server table.

Tayler set her plate down and opted for a hot cup of coffee instead. A white carafe and a couple of cups sat around waiting for someone to try them. She poured herself a cup of what looked like liquid mud. Desperate for caffeine, she decided against her better judgment, and took a sip.

She almost dropped her cup, “What the hell is this?”

Rollin walked over to her. “It's called coffee. It's organic. A dark roast decaf. I whip it up for guests daily.”

She sat her cup down on the server and pressed her fingers against her lips. “Thank you but I'll pass on the...coffee.”

Every morning she stopped at Starbucks for a cup of blond-roast coffee. How was she supposed to function without her coffee?

“Herbal tea is better for you anyway,” Rollin said. “If you haven't tried it before Rita will show you our impressive collection.”

Tayler cleared her throat.
This fool expects me to go out and pick food at seven o'clock in the morning without a cup of coffee. He must be off his rocker.
“Do you know anywhere I can get a
good
cup of coffee?”

Rollin shook his head and laughed. “Try a cup of tea, or some orange juice. You've only got a little more than five minutes now.” He walked away.

There was no way she could wolf down breakfast in five minutes, so she grabbed a piece of toast and poured herself a glass of orange juice. Before she could finish, everyone was ready to go.

As much as she wanted to protest and drive into town for a cup of coffee, she conformed and walked out to the truck with everyone else. She was going to kick Nicole's ass for this one.

“First time?”

Tayler whipped her head around and looked into the blue eyes of a young boy who looked as if he was still in high school. His white skin, kissed by the sun, was almost as bronzed as hers.

He held out his hand. “I'm Kevin. Need some help up?”

“You're seriously taking us out on this rusted-out truck with no seats in the back?”

“Yep, unless you'd rather walk. It's about five miles back up the road.”

She held out her hand. “Kevin, I'm Tayler, and I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of each other.”

He grasped her hand and elbow to help her up onto the truck. “I'll be lookin' forward to it.”

The ride out was bumpy and rough. Tayler couldn't even enjoy the view, her butt hurt so badly. She held on for dear life and tried to avoid getting her new sneakers dirty.

Kevin led them through the fields and Tayler picked whatever she saw everybody else picking. She wasn't into this getting-back-to-nature stuff. The only thing she wanted to get back to was the house so she could get on her cell and cuss Nicole out.

“Barbara, think you've got enough green beans? Why not move on down and get some cucumbers. I like them in my salad.”

“Forrest, get your own cucumbers. We're trying to show Tayler here how to pick beans. I may not have lived in the county for a while now, but I'm still a country girl.”

Tayler compared the small amount of beans in her basket to the overflowing amount in Barbara's. She had to admit she needed the help.

“Honey, the truck's not gonna be out here all day, so you need to pick faster. Here, let me show you how. Sit that basket down. You need both hands.”

Tayler did as she was told, and in no time at all, her basket was overflowing as well.

“Thank you. This is the first time I've ever picked anything.”

“Fun, isn't it?”

Tayler glanced down at her dusty sneakers and dirty manicured nails.
Hell, no, this isn't fun.
“I guess, yeah.”

Barbara laughed. “Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it. Before you leave you'll be a pro at picking beans and anything else you want to eat. Once we leave, I guess Rita or Kevin will ride out with you every day.”

Tayler stopped in her tracks. “You have to do this every day?”

“Sure, that's what staying on an organic farm is all about. Everything's fresh right from the garden. Wait until dinner tonight—you'll see what I mean then.”

Barbara picked up her basket and started walking away.

“What if I'm not able to make it out here every morning?” Tayler asked. “Surely Rita will prepare something anyway.”

“Maybe, but why wouldn't you want to?” Barbara stopped and turned to face Tayler. “That's what people stay here for, the holistic experience. Isn't that why you're here?”

Holistic, as in back to nature, organic, oh, hell!
Tayler gave a slow nod of her head. “Sure, it's just some mornings I might be working, and I wondered how they'd handle that, you know. Let's say I miss the truck or something.”

“Don't worry, I'm sure Rollin won't let you starve,” Barbara responded with a laugh.

“He just might,” Tayler mumbled, remembering how rude he'd been to her.

“Honey, as pretty as you are, I wouldn't be surprised if Rollin doesn't offer to pick your food for you. I don't know him that well, but I saw the way he looked at you this morning.”

“What do you mean? How did he look at me?” Tayler asked, apprehensive about the answer.

“Let's just say I noticed him noticing you. That's all. Come on, let's go pick some blackberries—Rita promised me a cobbler after dinner.”

After a brief stop back at the truck for a bottle of water and a new basket, Tayler tried to talk Barbara into letting her wait by the truck, but she wouldn't hear of it.

“If you're going to be out here after we leave, you need to learn a thing or two,” she insisted. “Come on, city girl.”

With the sleeve of her shirt, Tayler wiped the sweat from her brow and followed Barbara along a path that lead to blackberry bushes. Hot, tired and ready for a bath, Tayler could barely muster up the energy to pick berries.

“Okay, honey, dig in. But be careful, they have thorns. And remember, the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice,” she said with a laugh. “Oh, I love that saying.”

Tayler chuckled and shook her head.

“No, seriously, though, the blacker and plumper the berry, the better. The red or purple ones aren't ripe yet, so leave them. And don't be afraid to get under there and find them berries. They're tough—you can't hurt anything.”

But my hands
, Tayler thought. Then, she realized the sooner they had enough berries, the sooner they would be out of there, so she held back the thorns with one hand and plucked off berries with the other.

A few minutes later, she moved down farther in search of more plump blackberries. She was starting to get the hang of it and had only been pricked by thorns twice. She crouched down when she saw a bunch of blackberries close to the ground. Careful this time, she pulled the thorns back with one hand and reached in with the other.

Suddenly, a long black snake slithered from the open path, headed in her direction.

“Ahh!” She screamed, jumped to her feet and ran as if her life depended upon it.

Before she could catch her breath, she ran into a brick wall named Rollin.

“Hey, what's going on?” he asked as he reached out and caught Tayler by the arm.

“A snake!” She flung her arms and looked back over her shoulder. “A snake attacked me back there. It crawled out from under the bushes and came right at me.” She shook her hands before brushing down her pant legs.

“Did it bite you?” he asked.

All she could do was shake her head.

“How big was it?” he asked, holding her now with one arm around her shoulders to steady her.

She took a deep breath. “I don't know, it wasn't too big, but it was a snake nonetheless. Yuck, I hate snakes.” She swatted at the crawling sensation going up her arm.

“What color was it?”

Now everything on her body itched, and Tayler pulled away long enough to shake her pant legs and notice the smirk on Rollin's face. “I think it was black, or...what's so funny? Are you laughing at me?”

“No, of course not,” he said as he pointed behind her. “Is that it?”

Without looking behind her, Tayler jumped and ran behind Rollin, and then glanced at the ground. She didn't see anything.

The roar of laughter caught her attention and she looked up at everyone in the truck bed having a good laugh at her expense.

Rollin chuckled and held his hands up, palms out. “I'm sorry, that was mean. I shouldn't have done it.”

Barbara called out, trying not to laugh, “Tayler, we're sorry, but it was only a small garden snake. It won't hurt you.”

With her arms crossed, Tayler glared at Barbara and the crew. “It was a snake, that's all I know, and I don't do snakes.”

“Occasionally, a little snake crawls under the bushes looking for a nice warm bed. Come show me where you saw it.” Rollin touched Tayler's elbow, edging her back down the path.

Arms crossed, she stood rooted to her spot. “I'm not going back down there. I told you, I don't do snakes.”

Kevin walked up. “Is she okay?” he asked Rollin.

“Yeah, she'll be fine.”

“It was probably a garden snake, like Mrs. Barbara said,” Kevin offered. “They're virtually harmless, and they do their best to avoid people. I don't see too many of them out here.”

Kevin and Rollin walked down the path in the direction of the snake. They poked around under bushes, but it didn't look as if either spotted the snake. Rollin picked up her basket of blackberries. She wondered what she was going to eat every day, since she wasn't about to come back out here to pick anything.

Back at the truck, Tayler sat on the edge of the bed, trying to get her hands to stop shaking. A snake! A damned snake! If anyone had told her they had snakes here, she would have stayed in Chicago.

Rollin and Kevin made their way back to the truck, laughing with each other. No doubt she was the topic of conversation.

“Glad I could make your day, fellas,” she said.

Rollin looked from Kevin back to her. “I'm sorry, we weren't talking about you. Here's your blackberries.” He set the basket next to her.

“Thank you.”

“I'm sorry your first morning turned out to be such a dramatic one. Guests usually don't encounter snakes this soon.”

“So it usually takes a few days before snakes show up?” she asked sarcastically.

“Oh, they're out here every day. You startled that one, that's all. Next time, make some noise and it'll slither away.”

“Next time! Oh, I don't plan on coming back out here. I'll eat all my meals in town if I have to.”

Rollin nodded. “That'll get pretty expensive.”