“Okay, this is a good start,” Mom says, bobbing her head.
“You’ve actually met him,” I tell her. “He’s the guy who was working the register at the apple orchard.”
“Oh yeah! He was a sweet kid,” Mom says. “Very cute.”
“Jake is great,” Aunt Naomi adds. “He’s goofy and a bit irresponsible, but he’s a good egg.”
“He’s fine.” I shrug.
“You said you’d go to a dance with him,” Mom says. “You’venevergone to a dance. You must think he’s more than just ‘fine.’?”
“Okay, you’re all being weird about this,” I say, taking a step backward. “It’s just a dance, and we’re going as friends.”
Mom nods. “Well, I’m just glad you’re making friends anddoingthings.” She reaches up and softly runs her thumb over my cheek. “I just want to see you happy.”
“I know.” I bite my tongue. I don’t have it in me to fight right now, but I’m dying to tell her that if she really wanted to see me happy, she wouldn’t have made me leave New York. She would have let me stay with Dad. I’d be taking more challenging classes at a more impressive school, some other girl wouldn’t have my internship, and Dad wouldn’t have forgotten I exist.
“I really don’t think you two will just be friends for long,” Sloane says, giddy.
“Even if I liked him—which I don’t—I’m not here long enough to start anything with someone. Plus, my focus is still on getting into Columbia. Not on boys.”
Aunt Naomi turns and heads toward the kitchen, calling overher shoulder, “I got Chinese. Come eat and tell us all about how he asked you.”
Mom follows her, and just as I’m about to head to the kitchen, even though I’m stuffed from dinner with Jake, Sloane steps in front of me.
“Did you run into him there or did you text him to meet you?” she asks.
“Why does that matter?” She raises her eyebrows, looking at me expectantly. I sigh. “I texted him.”
She squeals and runs toward the kitchen. “I knew it!”
“You three are exhausting,” I mutter, laughing as I follow behind her.
I sit in the empty spot at the table with my second dinner in front of me, and I rehash my entire afternoon with Jake as if I’m talking with girlfriends. As ifwe’rethe town Gossip Girls.
And it feels… nice—even if they are excited for no reason.
Chapter Twelve
Mom turns down a narrow dirt road and drives nearly a mile before she reaches an archway that readsPEARSON PUMPKIN FARM. Clusters of maple and oak trees reflect off a small pond to the right of the entrance, and a field of tall cornstalks sits to the left. Soon the road opens up to a large asphalt parking lot, where Mom pulls into a spot.
It’s a balmy autumn day, and the sun sits high in a bright blue sky. The puffy white clouds look straight out of one of Mom’s paintings. As she leads me to a stand-alone brick building, we pass a concession stand selling coffee, apple cider, and caramel apples. The sweet smells mix deliciously with the earthy scent of the changing leaves. I wish I could somehow roll it into a fall-scented candle.
We walk into the small building and find Aunt Naomi talking with a couple of volunteers I recognize from around town. She lights up when she notices us. Once she sends them on their way, she greets us with hugs.
“Ellis, I assigned you to work with Cooper today. Is that okay?” Aunt Naomi asks.
Working with Cooper all day is going to make it really hard to ignore the awkward tension between us, but I don’t want to complicate things for Aunt Naomi, so I shrug and say, “Sure.”
“Great!” She looks at her phone. “He should be about to take the first group to the pumpkin patch if you want to head out to the trailers.”
She points me in the right direction, and I make my way over. I find Cooper leaning against a tree, wearing a simple black T-shirt and dark khaki pants with black Chucks, talking to Sterling, the pizza delivery kid. He laughs at something Sterling says, and I stop in my tracks.
Why do I love that sound so much? And why do I wish I were the one causing it?
“Hey, Ellis,” Sterling says, noticing me standing there watching the two of them.
I wave and finish making my way over. Nearby, a line of people are standing at a trailer filled with bales of hay. A trailer being pulled by… horses?
