Offices and Orchards (A New Adult Sweet Romance)

Chapter 15

From Harvest Hills, it was just under two hours to drive to her grandfather's residence. Before coming to Harvest Hills, Autumn had told herself she would try and go see Grandpa once a month. Since she had not made it there during orientation, she was overdue for a visit. Besides, she missed Grandpa! All set, she said to herself, as she scooped her wallet and keys into her bag.
Autumn unlocked the door to her car before sliding behind the wheel. Slipping the key into the ignition, she gave it a turn. A clicking sound, followed by the engine turning over but not starting was all that happened. She tried again. This time, there was a clicking sound followed by a loud, grinding noise that made her clench her teeth, but the engine still did not turn over. A third time, the clicking sound for as long as she had the key turned in the ignition and then nothing. She pulled the key out, afraid that she was going to do more harm than good. Autumn thumped her head down against the steering wheel a few times in exasperation.
Reaching into her bag, she pulled her keys out, to go back up to her place. Who was she going to call? She did not yet have a mechanic in Harvest Hills. She had AAA membership, so maybe they could come and start the car – it could be the battery that was problematic after all. Or....Can I? Should I? she asked herself.
About thirty minutes later, there was a knock on her side window that made her jump. Harvey stood there, smiling. She opened the door. "What's wrong with it?" He asked standing over Autumn with one hand on the door and the other on the roof of her Corolla. "No idea. It was fine on Friday," she mumbled. "What do you think?" She turned on the car so that he could hear the clicking sound. Harvey laughed. "Don't ask me! I have no clue. I've only been driving just as long as you! Maybe the battery?" She looked at the time and groaned.
"What's wrong now?"
"I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm supposed to go to visit my grandfather today."
Harvey shrugged, "I'll take you."
She looked up at him, a puzzled look on her face. "It's two hours from here."
He grinned, "Then I guess I'll have to meet him."
"Are you sure? You're not busy today?" She couldn't help notice her excitement at the prospect of having more time with him.
"I mean, I was going to head back up to the orchard today, but a better option has come up," he held out a hand for her to take. She contemplated his offer. It was sweet of him to want to help, but she was hesitant that he was going to be meeting a close member of her family after only one date. Had it only been one date? It did feel like longer. "Thank you so much, I'm sure Grandpa will love the extra company."
He opened his car door for her, helping her inside before he slipped into his seat. "We'll stop by my place first. I did promise him vegetables, didn't I?" Harvey said as they turned out of the parking structure. She knew that she was gazing at him, her thoughts of appreciation and affection probably written all over her face. He did not seem to be able to stop smiling either, his eyes sliding in her direction every minute or two.
They pulled up to Harvey's house and Autumn was once again struck by how cozy his place looked. When they got to the kitchen, Harvey pulled out a brown paper bag and they walked to the garden together. As they looked around, she heard him heave a sigh. It sounded content. "So, what does your grandfather like?"
"I'm not really sure, let's get him a mix of the ripe stuff,"
"We'll have to remember to ask him for next time," Next time? He was thinking of visiting Grandpa with her again? No, he must have just meant that she could take some veggies to him on her next visit.
"Let's do tomatoes, bell peppers and a lettuce," he knelt to grab the lettuce. "You go choose a few tomatoes," Autumn pulled five plump, firm, red tomatoes off of the vine. Each time, she breathed in the smell. "Freshly-picked tomatoes is one of my favourite smells in the whole world. And the sea of course."
"It's nice, isn't it?" he replied, "Mine is a freshly-picked apple, of course. How about cucumbers?"
"Sure, He'll love them." They walked back into the kitchen before they washed the vegetables off and Harvey produced a wicker basket from a cabinet which he handed to Autumn. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "I want it to look nice for your Grandpa,"
"I'm sure he'll notice," she smirked, going to work arranging the vegetables in the basket nicely, admiring her work when she had finished.
"We're missing one thing."
"I think it looks perfect,"
"You don't think we have enough apples to share with your grandpa?"
"What a good idea!"
"I'll grab a bunch of the leftover galas from last week: they've been in the fridge and should be good for about another week,"
When they were done packing everything up, they headed back out to the car.
"It's kind of a long drive from here," Autumn said as they started off, "but I told myself that I would try to get out to see him once a month. A couple of hours isn't too bad, especially when the scenery is as nice as it is," She'd never taken anyone to meet any of her family before.
"Of course it's going to be nice, when you're sitting next to me," his comment made her cheeks turned the colour of the galas. Harvey reached a hand out for her to take and she slid her fingers through his. Intertwining her fingers with his. She had never held hands with someone like that before, had always wondered what it felt like. It was nice. She hoped her skin felt soft and dry.
Harvey thought he saw a look of something, maybe worry flash across her face. "Everything ok?" He ventured. There was a layer of nervousness in his belly, holding hands with Autumn was the main reason for it. "Yes!" Her voice all breathy.
Open road spanned before them, only a few cars shared the space. They flipped through the radio stations, singing along to songs they knew, changing the stations when they did not. Harvey knew words to all the Spice Girls and some of the popular rap songs. But he also knew AC/DC and Foo Fighters. Autumn could not remember the last time that she'd laughed so hard as when he started singing a Céline Dion power ballad. When No Doubt Just a Girl came on, they both sung along together, like old friends who did not care what they sounded like to the other.
"Gosh, I love No Doubt so much,"
"You know, I never would have pegged you for a ska fan."
"I'm not, really, just these guys."
"Why?"
"Why do I like No Doubt? Oh goodness where do I begin." Gwen Stefani the ultimate California girl, was everything Autumn was not: confident, unapologetic, strong, determined, raw. She had everything Autumn wanted, attitude, style, talent, experience, attitude, sex appeal. And the songs, oh the songs were just great songs that made Autumn's favourite time of year feel even better. Granted she did not understand what lots of the songs were even about, but they were catchy and fun and she just felt a deep connection with them, even if she was not a hundred percent sure why.
"I just think that they are good summer songs that I'll still like listening to when I'm much older," was the answer she gave, too insecure to really share her real feelings with Harvey.
They drove past the stately trees lining the road up to the ornate buildings of the Beauregard Assisted Living Centre just after noon. After parking the car, Autumn gathered up her handbag, Harvey grabbed the basket, and they headed inside the building to sign in at reception. She stopped briefly to chat with the receptionist before heading to her Grandpa's room. "Just a heads up, Grandpa can seem a little gruff: he's just going to test you out a bit at first, but he'll warm up quickly," she raised a hand to knock.
Autumn pushed open the door to reveal a little suite with views over the gardens of the estate with a river in the distance. "Grandpa!" she called out, running over to give him a tight hug. Grandpa still had some white hair around the crown of his head, with a few long strands combed over on top. He wore belted, pleated khaki shorts, pulled up far too high and a white tucked-in polo neck. He also had white socks and tennis shoes on. He looked just like a Grandpa.
"Autumn. You brought a friend, I see," Autumn had been thinking about how she should introduce Harvey. Was it too soon to say that they were dating? They weren't really. They were just co-workers, but would Harvey want her to say that they were friends or boyfriend and girlfriend? No, too soon for that. She had not been sure. Grandpa had solved that issue for her.
"Yes, Grandpa, this is Harvey, I work with him, he drove me here because my car broke down."
Harvey came over to shake Grandpa's hand noticing Grandpa was in a wheelchair. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Here, we bought some vegetables from my garden for you," he shifted the basket in front of him to show Grandpa. "I'll put them on the counter over here?"
"Let me take a look at them first." He took the basket onto his lap. " I'll make a soup and salad for my dinner tonight. Thank you very much."
"There's a few apples in there too for you Grandpa, Harvey's family own some orchards,"
"They look like Galas!"
"You are indeed right sir. Autumn helped me pick them last weekend,"
"Oh in that case, they'll need to be eaten soon, or at least refrigerated,"
"Right again sir," Harvey gave Autumn a little look, which Autumn returned with her face in a question mark.
"You know about apples Grandpa?"
"Not much my dear, just one of those things I loved as a child, apple picking," Autumn and Harvey both stuck out their bottom lips, turning the edges of their mouth down and nodding their heads to show they were impressed.
"I think you and Harvey will get along quite well then," she stated, as if it was fact. Autumn swore she saw a little grin flash across Grandpa's face.
"What's important is that you both do, Autumn," Grandpa said. Harvey nodded in agreement.
"I'll pop the veggies over here, and the apples in the fridge then, shall I?"
"Please do, and thank you very much,"
All the rooms at Beauregard were studio-style, with a small living room, dining table and kitchen area in one space, and then a bedroom, bathroom and storage cupboard in the other. Meals were taken in an in-house restaurant on the ground floor, but the kitchen was adequate for simple cooking if the residents wanted to. There was also a communal kitchen which contained slightly more facilities for baking or larger meals. Laundry service was twice a week so that the residents did not require a washing machine, or to worry about doing it. The television set sat on a small desk that had been moved from Grandpa's house. That was one of the benefits of this place, residents could bring their own furniture if they wanted. In addition to the desk, Grandpa had brought artwork, a large wooden mirror which was on the wall behind the couch and the couch itself, which was a comfortable pull-out bed that Autumn had used before Grandpa lived in his house. "Can I get you anything to drink?" Harvey asked from the kitchen, just three steps away.
"I'll have the usual, Autumn," This meant that they would drink sparkling water with a piece of lemon. "I'll get it," Autumn walked to the kitchen. "Would you like some sparkling water with lemon too, Harvey?"
"Yes, please,"
"Harvey's garden is kind of similar to your old one," she got the drinks ready on a tray. "Cookies too Grandpa?"
"You know where they are."
"Do you want to go into the garden Grandpa? It's such a nice day out."
"That's a wonderful idea. I'm ready to go."
"Off we go then. I'll push Grandpa, can you grab the tray?" Autumn said to Harvey.
Once they were sat outside in the gardens, Grandpa got down to business.
"So, how did you two meet?"
"We are both interning for the same company," Harvey said.
"Ah yes, you said so. My memory these days,"
"I liked her when I first met her," Harvey blurted out, even though he hadn't been asked the question.
"You did not! You gave me a hard time the minute you opened your mouth to speak to me." Autumn's protests fell on two sets of deaf ears.
"I thought she was really pretty the first day I saw her."
"I met Grandma at college. We had to work on a project in one of our classes and we were certainly not fond of each other, at least not to begin with."
"That sounds familiar," Harvey flashed Autumn a knowing look.
"I never knew that, Grandpa." Autumn added. "Was it an engineering class? Grandpa was a metallurgical engineer," she turned her head to tell Harvey.
"Yes it was. Your grandmother was an intelligent lady, Autumn."
"So that's where Autumn gets it from."
"Oh yes, Harvey, you have a good one on your hands here. So how's it all going in Harvest Hills?"
Autumn told Grandpa about her new position and new town and how difficult the internship was, but how much she was enjoying it. Grandpa was always interested to hear about the going-ons of her life, and he was one of the best listeners. So that Autumn could have some time alone with Grandpa, Harvey offered to take the tray back to the room. They watched him walk back along the path in silence, taking up the conversation again when he was out of earshot.
"So that's Harvey," Grandpa would never ask questions about Autumn's love life, but he certainly would listen if she wanted to tell him something. "He seems nice,"
"Yes, he does today, but other times, I'm not so sure," she cocked her head to the side, her eyes still following his movements.
"You mean at work?"
"Yes. It's total mixed signals. He's kind and sweet when we're together, but at work we just don't get along. He's a bit of a know-it-all, and condescending."
"You both don't want others to know I guess?"
"Well, there's nothing to tell at the moment."
"Well you just make sure you get along and you treat each other nicely,"
"Of course, G-pa."
"And take care of yourself, Autumn. It's coming up soon, so I guess I'll see you soon." Grandpa said, before they headed back to the apartment. Autumn sighed, slumping as if a ton of bricks had just been placed onto her shoulders. "Of course, Grandpa," He was referring to the anniversary, when they would all go to his grave at the cemetery together as a family, and remember Autumn's father. They made eye contact, recognizing the sadness in each other's eyes.
Harvey watched as his crush, no, Autumn was more than that, his beautiful newfound friend rolled her Grandfather down the path towards the apartment. Outside of work, she was so sweet, and she was so smart and hard-working, and just so beautiful. She was amazing. But she hadn't let her guard down to him yet. She wasn't yet ready to be vulnerable. He was seeing glimpses of it, and he just had a feeling about this girl. He hadn't been this excited about a girl for a long time, if ever.