Page 15 of Must Love Lavender and Little Lies
At that, I laughed and then rose. “All right. Let’s go.”
We spentthe rest of the day pretending that our world was not about to implode in a confusing sea of friendship, love, and deception. On top of that, I was starting to realize how uncomfortable I was with lying to Granik’s family. I truly liked them and didn’t want them to think badly of me. What if they found out the truth? They would hate me for lying.
I tried to focus on the good I was doing, on how horrible it would be if Granik suddenly found himself wed to a completestranger. Tradition or not, I couldn’t just let them force him into something he didn’t want, but still…
In the end, I was glad I had the plants to focus on. My hands were grubby, and my forehead was sweating, but I felt truly happy. When I finished the last row, I paused to stretch my back, then went to the barn door that faced the lavender fields.
The sun was starting to sink low on the horizon, casting colorful pastel shades across the skyline. I could smell the rich minerals of the freshly tilled earth, the lingering scent of lavender hiding below it all. By late summer, the fields would be a sea of purple. It was a beautiful sight, like no other, to behold.
Granik joined me, stepping close to me. He set his hand on my waist and pulled me toward him.
“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” he said softly.
“You are the most important person in the world to me.”
He chuckled lightly. “Want to go inside? I have some stew simmering in a crock.”
“When did you make stew?”
“You were so engrossed in the planting, you didn’t notice I’d left.”
“Iwasfocused.”
“If by focused you mean worrying…”
I shook my head. “What’s to worry about on night like this? Look,” I said, pointing. A pair of heart hares was creeping down the path, stopping to chew on some weeds growing at the end of the row. Their fur shimmered silver trimmed with pink light. “It really is spring,” I said, feeling wistful once more.
Granik’s stomach growled.
I laughed. “We’d best get you inside before you get cranky.”
“Cranky? Me?”
“When you’re hungry, it’s always a gamble.”
He chuckled nodded. “Alright, my fiancée. After you.”
“Ugh,” I said, rolling my eyes, then headed toward the house, a strange lightness settling on my heart.
After dinner,Granik walked me home. Pip scampered inside the cottage, exhausted from his adventure at the farm. And in truth, so was I. It had been a day.
“I’ll come by the shop tomorrow,” Granik told me. “We can strategize from there.”
“All right,” I replied tiredly. “Thank you for walking me home. I know it’s late.”
“The night air will do me good,” he said, then looked down at me, his golden-colored eyes meeting mine. “Are you sure about this? It’s not too late to say no.”
“I’m sure,” I said with a smile, then leaned in to hug him. At once, I was overcome with the scent of him. The feel of him in my arms made any lingering worries disappear. I loved my friend. I would do anything for him.
“Thank you, Junie.”
“You’re welcome,” I replied, then pulled back. From inside the house, Pip barked at me and then pranced in a circle. “I think I need to go. Someone’s hungry.”
Granik nodded. “Okay. Good night, then.”
“Good night,” I replied, but felt a weird pause. For the second night in a row, leaving Granik had felt…well, odd. There was something that hadn’t been there before. What was happening?
“Right. Good night.”
