An Apple a Slay by Louise Stevens

Author:Louise Stevens
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Louise Stevens

I sat on the tailgate of Dylan’s pickup truck, leaned back on my hands, and turned my face upwards to bask in the warmth the late afternoon sun provided. Next to me, Dylan did the same.

“This is something I never got to do during the workday when I was a VP of human resources in Los Angeles.” I snuck a peek at him, before turning back to admire the view, and the warmth came from within my heart as well as the sunshine. “Thanks.”

He glanced at me and his lips turned up in a quizzical manner. “For what? Letting you work at my orchard and deal with a steady influx of not-always-polite leaf peepers? You’re welcome.”

“I actually really appreciate the job, but I just meant thank you for sharing this experience with me.” Sitting up straight I waved my arm in an arc at the rows of apple trees, laden with red fruit, the hills beyond them, and the leaves glowing crimson and gold in the setting sun. “Wow. Just wow. I grew up seeing this every day, but didn’t really understand how fortunate I was to see it. Cities have their appeal too. I was happy in LA, but this is awe-inspiring.”

Dylan squinted into the light and bobbed his head. “You’re right. At this time of year, I tend to look out over the orchard and only see the work that needs to be done, but it is pretty amazing.”

“Speaking of coming back to Maple Hills, how did your meeting with Mallory and her boss go?”

He heaved a sigh. “It was a pain. They refuse to accept the fact I don’t want to sell my land.”

“Were they really pushy about it?”

“Sharpley-Smythe is too smooth to be overtly pushy, but he was relentless. And then I caught a little byplay between them, and Mallory started coming on to me.”

“You mean coming on strong with her sales pitch?” I asked, fairly certain it was not, in fact, what Dylan meant.

“Nope. Flirting. Totally inappropriate in any business meeting, but especially weird in this one.”

“Why?”

“Because before she started with the come-on, I was picking up on a vibe between them. Like their relationship might be more than business. You know what I mean?”

I swatted his bicep and exclaimed, “I do! I thought the same thing when they were in the store earlier.”

“It wasn’t anything specific, just a feeling I had,” Dylan said.

“And you’re right, it does make it more unseemly if he was encouraging his own girlfriend to flirt with you to seal the deal. What did he say to make you think that was what was happening?”

“He didn’t say anything. He just looked pointedly between us and when he caught Mallory’s eye, he jerked his head in my direction.” Dylan paused and then shook his head. “Not really a jerk, it was almost imperceptible, but I definitely picked up on it. And apparently, so did Mallory, because right afterwards, she went into vixen mode.”

“Yuck.”

“My thoughts exactly. Obviously, it didn’t work.”

“Trust me, I never thought for a moment it would.

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