Hearts Like Ours | Red View Romance #1

🍎 Thirteen

After that conversation, the last thing Dawson wanted was to sit down and eat dinner with Layla and his family, pretending like nothing was wrong. Like his blood wasn't still boiling. 

He opted instead to head over to the bar with Lee and Frank--two of the orchard hands who he'd been friends with since high school. They'd been working at McAden Orchard since before his parents retired, and it seemed to Dawson like they'd probably be there until it was time for them to retire themselves. 

Lee and his high school sweetheart Catherine had a baby girl on the way, and were settled in a nice house by the river, not too far from Dawson's parents. Frank was seeing a woman who worked at one of the wineries nearby, and it sounded like things were getting pretty serious. Between that and his volunteer work coaching the middle school softball team, plus the fact that his whole family still lived in Red View, Dawson got the feeling his roots were planted pretty deep.

Even surrounded by good company--good company who could've been spending the night with the women they loved--Dawson couldn't bring himself to do much other than nurse a beer and mindlessly watch the baseball game on the TV above the bartender. That only soured his mood even more, because he felt like an idiot for inviting his friends out only to act like such a buzzkill.

Frank and Lee questioned why his mood was so low, but he brushed it off and said he was tired, that maybe he was coming down with something. The truth was that all he could think about was what Layla said.

It took a hell of a lot of nerve. And it meant she was even smarter than he realized, because she was right on the money and he hadn't even known it himself until she said it.

He'd given up on love, and was trying to stop someone else from going down the lonely road instead of contemplating if he should get off of it. So there was the question that was now eating at him: should he? Should he stop letting heartbreak from years ago keep him away from commitment and the chance of getting hurt again?

Even the next morning, he was still aggravated that she could make him question his beliefs. That one simple sentence from her could send his mind spiraling. The scenic sunrise went practically unnoticed by him, even with its brilliant golds and pinks. When he was done surveying the grounds and moved on to organizing apples in the shed, not even the steady hum of the grading machine could drown out his thoughts.

After a frustrating thirty minutes he gave up hope and headed over to the store, hoping for some mindless conversation about Adam's latest fling while on his lunch break. Anything to get the argument and all the questions that came with it out of his head.

He was surprised to find Kenzie and his mother in the store as well, and was annoyed when he realized he wanted to ask how her workout had gone. He wanted to ask if Layla seemed tense, distracted, or half as confused as he was. Instead he greeted them with a nod and let Kenzie stroll over to him as he stopped at the register.

"Jack finally hired the new social media manager," she said. "She's coming to dinner, just so you know. Me and mom invited her."

"Great." Dawson's voice was filled with biting sarcasm as he turned to mindlessly organize some of the candies on display next to the register. "Are we gonna put her up in one of the guest rooms, too? You know, I'm getting pretty damn tired of there being so many people around here all the time."

He felt the harsh thud to his bicep as Kenzie smacked his arm, followed by the stern voice of his mother.

"Dawson McAden," she said it so he knew he was in trouble, and even at twenty-seven it made him squirm. "I think you'd better apologize."

He looked over, not sure why his mother was so offended by the statement until he finally noticed the lanky blonde woman standing next to her with downcast eyes and a red face.