Second Chance at the Orchard Inn, page 6
Interesting.
That was one way to describe it.
Chapter 7
A sea of purple and green greeted Aurora as she got out of the car at Edge of the World Farm. The soothing scent of lavender covered her like a favorite cozy blanket, the sights and sounds of the farm taking her back through time, back to an early summer evening after her junior year of high school.
A crown of lavender had circled her head. She and Jude smelled of sunscreen and a late afternoon spent wandering the lavender fields. She’d been officially dating Jude for almost two months, and he’d insisted on bringing her to his family’s farm.
He’d shown her to the biggest field of lavender she’d ever seen. Rolling waves of flowers, the breeze making them rise and fall.
“I want to kiss you,” he’d said.
“I want you to.”
His lips were firm but inviting. Warm and wanting. She wanted so much. Like nothing she’d ever known. No one else existed. Only the two of them and their ocean of flowers. Her heart so light, she could’ve floated away with him.
“Aurora!” Bonnie exclaimed, pulling her into the present by almost knocking her down with an embrace. “Cece! I can’t believe it. Oh my god you both look amazing. I was basically a kid last time I saw y’all. How are you so gorgeous?” She said everything fast enough for it to be one run-on sentence.
Aurora’s gaze met Jude’s as she hugged his baby sister, and Aurora quickly looked away.
Jude’s mom, Linda, and a young woman she didn’t recognize walked out the front of the farm’s store.
“Aurora.” Linda opened her arms. “How long has it been?”
“Too long.” Aurora’s throat tightened.
“I’m Meredith.” The new-to-Aurora lady waved.
Perhaps she was Jude’s girlfriend. And, if so, good for them. Aurora should have no opinions on the matter.
“Meredith is a good friend of mine. She works here sometimes,” Bonnie clarified, as if reading her thoughts.
“Nice to meet you.”
“It’s really nice to see you again.” Linda gave Aurora a smile, melting away some of the anxiety.
Jude’s mom had been a second mom to her during her senior year of high school. Between the stress of life after her father left, and the inability to find some kind of common ground with her mom, Aurora had grown to feel like the odd sister out.
She’d often butted heads with her mom about culinary school and her future, and their relationship had become argumentative and tense. Aurora felt like more of a chore than a child, but with Linda, she could simply exist.
“It’s good to see you, too, Cece.” Linda gave her sister a squeeze. “I know I’ve seen you at the booth from time to time, but it’s been a while since you came out here.”
“Yeah.” Cece smiled, nervously tucking her hair behind her ear.
“I need to have you girls over for dinner sometime. Or something. It’s been so long, and I don’t want to seem inhospitable or like we can’t, you know—”
“Mom.” Bonnie patted her mom on the shoulder to stop her jittery jabbering.
This situation was new ground for all of them, and everyone was a bit uncomfortable—except for maybe Bonnie.
“We can talk about maybe doing dinner later,” Bonnie offered.
Linda loved to cook for her kids. She was an old-school comfort-food cook, a feeder of souls. Her big Sunday dinners were legendary, and Aurora had had a standing invitation when she dated Jude.
Being from Mississippi, Linda’s generous use of seasonings and spices had secretly inspired some of Aurora’s most popular dishes. The Jones family loved a good shrimp boil and fish fry, too, and Aurora would eat a Cajun shrimp boil until her nose ran and she was too full to move. She’d created something similar at the restaurant and it’d been a huge hit. The entire dish was basically an ode to Linda Jones.
She didn’t want Jude’s family to be uneasy around her, any more than she wanted to be uneasy with them. The time had come to make whatever amends she could.
“I think that’s a great idea, Bon.” Aurora used the family nickname intentionally. “It’s really good to see you all. I’m sorry it’s been so long.”
When Aurora and Jude ended things, she’d lost her connection with his family. His family was an extension of her own, and she’d missed them more than she’d thought possible.
Her first few months of school in Colorado were some of the most difficult of her life. She’d been homesick and heartsick, missing her sisters and Jude’s family and everything she knew. But leaving her hometown was a must after their breakup, and eventually, she’d found her way.
Burying herself in culinary school had helped.
“Ahh!” A squeal of delight came out the front door of the store. “Aurora.” Jenna ran down the store’s porch steps, holding Wyatt tight in his baby wrap. “You showed up!”
“You didn’t think I would?”
Jenna shrugged off the question as they made their way toward the store, coming face-to-face with Jude.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey.”
A beat of dead silence passed.
Jude shifted on his feet. “I’m glad you could make it out here today.”
“Me too.” Aurora nodded. “It’s been a long time.”
More silence, and Aurora wanted to jump out of her skin. Being this close to him, having no choice but to look him in the eyes, was too much. She wanted to avoid his gaze, but that’d be weak. She could do this. She could stand here, everything too quiet except for the sound of their breathing.
“You still wear that honeysuckle perfume, huh?” he asked, shocking Aurora to her core by noticing, let alone commenting.
You’re still devastatingly handsome, huh? She’d never say it, but she needed to say something. She opened her mouth and “It works the best with my body chemistry” came out.
Aurora cringed inwardly. Body chemistry? She didn’t need to talk about chemistry with this man.
“Y’all back up and let the girl breathe.” John Jones’s gravelly voice saved her from embarrassment. It was a first.
“Hello, Mr. Jones.” Aurora’s smile felt tight on her face as she stared at the man still standing on the porch.
While Jude’s mom had always been Linda, Jude’s dad remained Mr. Jones.
“Aurora. How are you?” Mr. Jones dipped his head.
Mr. Jones was not her biggest fan. While Jude had always insisted otherwise, Aurora knew the man saw her as an unnecessary distraction at first, and a downright dream-wrecker in the end.
“Okay, okay. Enough gum flapping, everybody.” Jenna graciously broke the moment of tension. “I invited Aurora and Cece here because I want to show them around.”
“You give the tour,” Mr. Jones announced. “Everyone else can get back to work.”
Jenna gave Aurora an exasperated look. “Come on in.” Jenna corralled Aurora and Cece through the front of the store and toward the back. “We’ll start back here before they get into loading boxes again. Big shipping day today.”
She guided them through the door to the workroom, past long tables of fresh-cut lavender, dried lavender, and other aromatic herbs that Aurora didn’t have time to inspect.
“Wow, look at all this stuff. You guys are really busy,” Cece commented.
“More and more so every year.”
“Is it just the lavender industry in general or something different that your farm is doing?” Aurora asked.
Jenna stopped once they reached the depths of the back room, surrounded by boxes and fragrant lavender. She patted Wyatt while bouncing slightly. “I’d say both. The whole herbal remedy industry has taken off in the last decade, along with people making their own soaps and candles and stuff, but we’ve also done some new things business-wise to help catalyze client growth.”
“Catalyze client growth. Listen to you.” Aurora smiled.
“Well, after Jude finished ag business school, I thought I’d do the same. It’s helped to have our background and then the business education. College wasn’t for Bonnie, but she’s so creative and free-thinking. She has all kinds of ideas, while Jude and I have the skills to make it happen.”
“We’re kind of the same.” Cece nodded. “I’m more creative while Beth is all business and detail-oriented.”
“And a task master,” Aurora added.
“But the combination works,” her sister finished.
Jenna picked up some dried lavender. “Exactly. I guess Jude is our task master. He’s so organized and diligent. Like this stuff.” She waved the dried lavender around. “It’s our edible lavender. Bonnie said we needed to broaden our sales to retail and small businesses, because now lavender teas and lattes are a huge thing. More people want edible lavender, so Jude ran the numbers and we started offering four-ounce packets on our website. They sell like hot cakes!”
“Wow.” Aurora was intrigued. She hadn’t used lavender in her cooking lately, but maybe she should branch out.
“Have you ever had a lavender honey latte?” Jenna asked.
“No, but it sounds divine.”
“It’s so good, and I don’t even like lattes. The smell is incredible and it’s this soothing warm beverage that also caffeinates you.”
“And now I want one.” Cece laughed.
“Right? I’ve actually thought about adding a little coffee bar to the shop, specializing in lavender teas and coffees, but…” Jenna shrugged. “We just don’t have the manpower.”
“You could hire some people,” Aurora suggested.
Jenna’s laugh was dry as day-old toast. “That costs money, adds liability to the books, and it’d mean non-family members all up in our business. John Jones is not about to hire a bunch of strangers or listen to our next, great idea. We’re lucky we got to hire Meredith, and that’s only because she and Bon are so close.”
Aurora couldn’t believe she was about to bring him into the conversation, but it couldn’t be helped. “Maybe when Jude takes over, you can explore these ideas?” That’d always been his plan, even when he was seventeen. Someday, he would lead the family farm. “He’s forward-thinking. Would he be up for the idea?”
“Oh yeah. Jude is right there with me and Bonnie when it comes to ideas and plans. He’d love to expand. Unfortunately, it’s not up to just us. Dad has the final say in everything and I don’t see him letting Jude take over any time soon.”
“Really?” Aurora pinched her lips closed. She didn’t mean to sound so surprised, but Mr. Jones had to be well into his seventies. It seemed like a reasonable time to start letting go a bit and enjoying the fruits of his labor.
“Really. Listen”—Jenna lowered her voice—“Jude is more than qualified and prepared to run things, but he refuses to push or go against Dad on this. I think he tried one time and…well, they didn’t speak for weeks afterward. Suffice it to say, that convo didn’t go well. Don’t tell him I told you that though, okay?”
Aurora was unlikely to have the kind of conversation with Jude where they confided in each other about anything.
“Okay,” she said anyway.
Their dad was bound to retire sooner than later, but maybe even then he’d prevent them from going in new directions. The notion wasn’t completely alien to Aurora.
When she’d first told her mother and sisters about going to culinary school instead of traditional college, like Beth had chosen, her sisters were excited and supportive.
Their mom, Anita, however, was skeptical. Judgmental.
She’d insisted she was merely concerned for Aurora’s future and prospects, but they all knew the truth. Anita wanted her daughters to stay close to home and have grounded, secure futures. Jobs in accounting and business, and husbands with money who would never lie and abandon them. Never leave them struggling financially and heartbroken, like their dear old dad.
Aurora shook off the shadow of her thoughts. “I bet, in time, the three of you could convince your father to try something new. Probably not a lot of new things, but pick one project and really get behind it. He’d be hard-pressed to say no to all three of you if you come together.”
“Y’know, it’s funny that you say that. We do have one idea we’re all for, and I’d like to get your thoughts on it.” Jenna sniffed the air. “But first, someone here needs a little tending to, if you know what I mean.”
Aurora was intrigued by what Jenna wanted her thoughts on, but a dirty diaper took priority over almost everything. “Okay. You take care of Wyatt and we can talk in a bit?”
Jenna sniffed some more. “Yes. Let me grab Bonnie, and she can finish showing you around back here. I didn’t even make it past the edible lavender.”
Jenna left, and Bonnie returned in her place, still the same bubbly personality and dimples as when they were kids.
“How far did y’all get? Just the lavender tea packets?”
“And talks of lavender lattes,” Cece said.
Meredith joined them, smiling as brightly as Bonnie.
Cece gave Aurora a look. How close to the family was this Meredith? And how awkward was it going to be when Bonnie inevitably blurted out personal details from the past?
“Oh, don’t worry.” Bonnie looked back and forth between the two sisters. “I already told Meredith about you being Jude’s ex. The ex.” She added big wide eyes for effect.
Heat rushed to Aurora’s face as Cece gave a nervous chuckle.
“Jeez, Bonnie.” Meredith poked her in the side.
“What? Too blunt?”
“Way too blunt.” Meredith shook her head.
“Sorry.”
“No, it’s okay.” Aurora shrugged it off with a chuckle. “I mean, it’s true.”
“Yeah, see?” Bonnie flicked her hand in the air good-naturedly. “Tiptoeing around it takes too long. Now, back to the tour. Over here is some more dried lavender, and here is the ornamental lavender that we’ve done for eons.” She dragged out the last word. “But I’m trying to get us into some new markets.”
“Like?”
“I think we should get into a subscription service type thing. Have just a quarterly box, or even only annually, add in some of our other herbs and spices, delivered right to your door. Voilà!”
“I think that’s a great idea.”
“Right?” Bonnie’s face lit up. “And if that went well, we could partner with vegetable farmers and do seasonable boxes. People love seasonable boxes.” Bonnie flicked the open top of an empty box and Jude chose that moment to join them. “Dad hated the idea though,” Bonnie added. “So that’s as far as I got.”
She lowered her voice and grumbled in a good impression of her father. “Our family has worked this land since before the Depression. We don’t need some gimmick to be successful. We just keep doing what we’ve always done.”
“Bonnie.” Jude shook his head.
“And then he made you agree with him, even though you want us to branch out too. As much or more than I do.”
Jude’s gaze touched Aurora’s, then darted away.
For as long as she could remember, he’d had plans and new ideas for the farm. Even as a teenager, he’d talked about running the farm after his dad. He’d thought about growing wildflowers in addition to lavender, expanding into herb gardens.
But Jude didn’t go against his father, on anything.
“I know, but your impression of him makes him sound like Colonel Sanders.”
Bonnie’s mouth gaped in offense.
“It is pretty bad,” Meredith agreed. “Mr. Jones is more Sam Shepard than Colonel Sanders.”
“He’s more like…” Jude cleared his throat and, in a raspy baritone, said, “We keep doing what we’ve always done.”
“That was not Sam Shepard.” Aurora laughed at Jude’s expression before she could catch herself. “It’s not.”
“I wasn’t doing Sam.” He grinned. “I was doing John Jones. Badly.”
Aurora returned his smile, until she caught Bonnie studying her.
“Bonnie? Bonnie,” Linda called as she found them in the back of the store. “Come on. I need your help with something.”
“But it’s just getting good here.”
Linda stared hard at her youngest child.
Meredith followed her cue. “Come on, let’s give your mom a hand, and then maybe grab a snack. I’m starving.”
“Fine.” Bonnie dragged her feet as she followed her mom and Meredith. “Y’all can enjoy the fields without me, I guess.”
Once they were out of the back room, only Cece, Aurora, and Jude were left. The three of them stared at one another for a moment. This was too intimate a tour group for Aurora’s liking. She’d need a way to get out of this.
“We can just go out the back if y’all want,” Jude offered. “Circle around to check out the new herb section before the lavender. It’s up to you.”
“Actually, I just got a text from Beth.” Cece held up her phone as if it were state’s evidence. “There’s an issue with the Williams wedding, so, I’ve got to go.”
Aurora checked her phone. “She didn’t text me. We can go—”
“No, no,” Cece spoke over her. “It’s about their photographer. And the, um, the bridal pictures at the inn. That’s a me issue…thing. You stay here. I’ll go deal with this and I can come back later and get you.”
Her sister was the worst actress ever.
“I can leave now, and we’ll see the fields some other time,” Aurora offered.
“No. Stay! You’ve earned a break from the inn anyway.” Cece turned and hurried away.
Aurora watched her leave. Cece was already halfway to the front of the store, making the quickest of getaways. “I’ll be back later. Bye!”
And like that, Aurora was stuck at the farm.
If she made a big deal about not staying here with Jude, it would be weird and rude. She’d come across like she couldn’t stand being alone with him, and then it’d be a whole thing.
If she stayed, it’d still be weird, but surely, they could survive.
“Bye. I guess.” Aurora lifted her hand helplessly.
“Wow,” Jude said from behind her. “We just got set up.”
“In the worst setup job of all time.”
