Page 8 of Mountain Pine
I shrug, which is the only answer I’m willing togive. Admitting that I got up before the crack of dawn to pluck every yellow head I saw in the field I had to mow first thing this morning is not happening. It’ll make me look like a loser, especially since last week I did it with a headlamp on.
Plenty of things I do already make me look like a loser.
“Wow. These are fat and juicy ones.” Taylor scoops a bunch into her hands and inspects them. “And the leaves are such a great color.”
“They’re from a field that doesn’t use pesticides.” I take my baseball hat off and scratch my head. Damn, I stink. “Is it okay that I got them before the sun was fully up? I know timing is important for this kind of thing.”
“They’re perfect. Thank you!”
“No problem.”
She makes some kind of tea with these flowers and sells big batches to the local café too. But now that I’m looking at the fruits of my labor, it doesn’t seem like enough. “Do you need more?”
“I’ll get the rest myself.”
“I can help,” I offer before I’m able to stop my fat mouth from flapping.
She shakes her head. “I’ve got it. You’ve done plenty already. This is another great haul, Con.”
I’ll pluck more tomorrow morning.
Standing up, she brushes her hands off on her outfit, and I take note of the dress she’s in. It’s a white, knee-length sundress with black rubber muck boots.
Her hair’s down today, which is my favorite. It reminds me of sunflowers because the color changes from super pale in the summer to deep gold in winter. My hands always ache to run my fingers through it.Tug it. Pull her head back and—
“So… how’s work going?”
I’m ripped right out of my fantasy. “Same as always. Keeps me busy and out of trouble.”
She laughs as ifnothingcan keep me out of trouble. “Is the new kid driving you nuts yet?”
“He’s not terrible. Called out today, though.”
There’s a bit of silence between us I sometimes let get to my head. “Well… you good?”
“Yeah. Just doing my witchy shit,” she says, gesturing at the various stages of her drying racks and hung herbs. “Sindra put in a big order for rosemary oil, so I’m tackling that today.”
I love that we all take care of each other in this town. Sindra owns a soap shop that’s taken off and gone viral. She could order her ingredients from a bigger company, but she uses Taylor instead. It’s the only reason I’m willing to pay a premium on soap bars that make me smell like pine needles.
“Want to come over for a beer and a bonfire tonight?”
“I won’t be done with work until late.”
Taylor tilts her head. “Okay?”
Sometimes I’m not sure she fully understands how busy I am working for her father. If Nick’s perfected the art of running on two hours of sleep, then I’m a close second. A long day of working outside, combined with the heat and hard labor, means I’m dragging my sorry ass to bed as soon as I’m done my last job most nights.
“We’ll see,” I say because I can’t seem to tell this woman no. “I’m running late already. Not sure when I’ll be done because I have to plant a border of roses along the McNair property.”
She whistles because she knows that’s a lot of bushes.
I also have to load the trailer with them, all by myself. And it’ll most likely take me two trips to get them to the McNair’s.
Her father, Russel, isn’t an easy man to work for, which means there’s a lot of turn over. I’ve stayed the longest and am forever trying to keep up. Grow. Learn. He’s even paid for me to get some certifications after I brought up the idea of diversifying our services by offering water feature designs and aquascapes. He seemed open to stepping outside his regular services, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen or not. So far, it’s not. I think he just let me get certifications to shut me up for now.
But, hey, at least we hired a new kid to help. Who didn’t show up today because he’s sick. Probably because he went out drinking last night… according to his social media photo dump I saw this morning.
God, I’m exhausted.
