Page 63 of One Kind Soul

They hit Cups Café next—police escort in tow—and Rada entertained them with tales about her last trip to India to see her family while they downed BLTs and chips. She told Nicole she’d been working at the Shepherd Farm and Orchard Store for years.

“Frank Shepherd knew a ton about farming,” she said. “The man turned that land into a cornucopia. What he lacked, however, was the charm in dealing with customers. Christian is both a good farmer and a charmer.”

“A charmer farmer,” Aliza said.

“Exactly.” Rada pointed at Aliza. “He creates this welcoming vibration that makes people feel as if they aren’t just visiting a farm and orchard to buy food, but they’re being invited to live the farm life for however long they stay. And his sleigh ride idea for the winter was brilliant. He brought in a ton of cash during a time where farms are usually pretty dormant.”

“Christian is always thinking and planning his next move,” Tessa said, giving Nicole a glance. “And he usually gets what he wants.”

Nicole scanned the café. “What he should want right now is catching Lynda.”

Tessa waved a hand. “Don’t let your sister steal this extra week with Christian from you. This week has the potential to change everything, Nicole.”

She couldn’t deny that. If she gave her heart completely to Christian over this week, she might have to let him keep it and that would involve making other big decisions about her life.

“It would be so nice to see Christian with a woman who’s right for him,” Rada said. “He dates nice girls, but they don’t see him.” She patted her chest where her heart was.

Nicole let that turn over in her mind while they finished eating. Did she see Christian? She certainly understood how important the farm was to him. His family meant everything to him too. Somehow she’d worked her way onto his list of things to care about, but did she deserve to be there? Couldn’t he do better?

You’ll never make anyone truly happy, Princess Uggers. You’re shit and you’ll always be shit.

Nicole squeezed her eyes shut, wanting to erase Lynda’s words from her memory. She wasn’t shit. Christian wouldn’t have protected shit from that van. He wouldn’t have kissed her like he had. He wouldn’t have made love to her.

He wouldn’t have wanted an extra week with her.

And despite the fact that her damn sister may have vandalized his property, he hadn’t wanted Nicole to leave.

She owed it to them both to see where this week led them. She’d keep an eye out for Lynda, but she’d also focus her attention on developing what she and Christian had started. She wouldn’t let Lynda win. Nicole had put her sister in jail once. She could do it again and this time she had help.

She had her hot cowboy farmer, his detective brother, her dancing best friend, her Zen yoga friend, and a whole host of other people in Maplehaven who would flush Lynda out into the open. Her sister’s abandoned jail cell wouldn’t stay empty for long.

“C’mon.” She stood. “Let’s get back to the farm and get that store looking better than it’s ever looked.”

The rest of the women around the table gathered up their trash and stuck by her as they paraded out of the café and loaded into Aliza’s car. Christian didn’t blame her for the store’s damage, but if she could help restore it, she was going to put her all into it.

She’d put her all into loving Christian Henley too. Starting with telling him how she felt.

Chapter Eleven

Christian rubbed his hands as the waitress placed his hamburger in front of him at Mountain View Pizza. He was hungry from hauling debris out to Ben’s and Jared’s trucks all morning. He was still pissed about the store, but together with his friends and family, they’d made a good dent in cleaning up. The store would be ready for the late spring opening he and Rada had planned.

“So how did you convince Nicole to stay another week?” Landon asked. “I tried getting Jackson to stick around after Donovan’s wedding, but he wouldn’t hear me.”

“Convincing Jackson to stick around is asking the impossible,” Donovan said. “I asked him too and he said there was a new dig site he was expected to go to in Brazil.”

“Brazil, Egypt, New Zealand, Iceland . . . is there a place that kid hasn’t gone to yet?” Christian shook his head. “I love the guy, but it’s as if he’s not related to us.”

“I know,” Landon said. “We all like to stay put.”

“Maybe one day he’ll get tired of being Dr. Archeologist,” Donovan said. “Then we’ll get him back.”

Ben and Jared joined them at their table.

“Hey, guys,” Christian said. “Order whatever you want. It’s on me as thanks for being our official garbage men today.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that, Christian,” Ben said.

Jared nodded. “You treat us right as employees and it’s in our best interests that the store be up and running.”