Knitted Hearts by Amber Kelly

Sonia

We are sitting in front of the fire, talking about the fall festival plans and watching Beau toss beanbags at the cornhole board while George and Sue nip at his ankles.

“Try to get it as close to the hole as possible, just like Daddy taught you with the horseshoes. Aim for the board, and the bag will slide,” Dallas calls out instructions as he swings with all his might.

The bag hits the back of the board, past the hole, and glides right off, landing behind it.

“Balls!” Beau yells and stomps across to retrieve the bags.

“What did he just say?” I ask.

Dallas rolls her eyes. “Balls. That’s what he says every time he gets frustrated. Guess where he heard it,” she says as her eyes slide to Elle.

“Don’t look at me. I keep having to reprimand the one yelling balls in my house too.”

“I swear, I’m going to kill your husband if he keeps teaching my son his debauchery.”

Foster was already here when I arrived, and the boys were in a cutthroat game of ax throwing, so I sat with the girls and haven’t approached him.

I keep sneaking glances in his direction, and I feel like I’m back in high school, sitting on the bleachers during a football game, hoping the cute boy who’s sitting a few rows down with his buddies will find his way over to say hello.

Charlotte mentioned adding a reading nook in the tasting room, so Elle is telling us about the new bookcases Walker built and installed in their loft when a body sits down on a stool beside me.

“What can make love to you like a tiger and wink at the same time?”

My attention is drawn from Charlotte and Elle’s conversation to Truett, who has seated himself beside me.

“Excuse me?” I ask.

“What can make love to you like a tiger and wink at the same time?” he asks a bit louder.

Both Charlotte and Elle turn to us in curiosity.

“I have no idea,” I answer.

Truett grins and winks at me. At least, I think that was a wink.

It takes me a minute to pick up what he is trying to put down.

“Oh my God, has that line ever worked for you?” I gasp.

“I don’t know … yet.” He raises his eyebrows and grins a wicked grin.

Charlotte bursts into a fit of giggles, and I try to keep my composure.

“Um, as impressive as your proposition sounds, I’m going to have to say, it’s not going to happen.” I try to let him down easy.

He frowns. “Was it the delivery?” he asks, and the question seems to be directed to the group in general.

“You should work on the wink. It’s a little awkward. It’s a slow, weird wink, and you use both eyes, so it’s more of a blink, but I’d give the line itself a solid six,” Charlotte replies.

He thinks about that for a moment, and then he nods. “I’ve always had a problem with executing a proper wink.”

“And, honey, if you’re going to attempt something so brazen, you have got to really stick the landing,” I add.

“Good to know. Thanks for the feedback, ladies,” he says as he stands.

Walker walks up behind him and wraps his arm around his neck to lead him away.

“Sorry, ladies, I got distracted from my wingman duties for five minutes, and this is what happens,” Walker calls over his shoulder.

“You need a new teacher, Truett,” Charlotte calls.

Walker throws his finger up behind his back.

“He’s cute,” Elle says.

“You are biased,” Charlotte quips.

“Not Walker. I mean, Truett. Too bad we don’t know any sweet, single—”

“Slightly desperate,” Charlotte interrupts.

Elle slugs her arm. “I was going to say, nice. He’s handsome at least.”

Charlotte shrugs.

“He’s funny too. I’m sure life with him would never be boring,” I add.

“So, why don’t you go out with him?” Charlotte asks.

I’m taking a sip of my cider, but it goes down the wrong way, and I start to cough.

“Me?” I squeak.

“Yes, you. You’re sweet, single, and nice,” Charlotte says.

“Um, he’s too young for me,” I answer.

“I thought he graduated with you guys. No?” she says as she gestures between Elle and me.

“He did. But he seems younger. He still lives with his momma, and he has Walker mentoring him,” I say.

“She has a point,” Elle agrees.

“What about his big brother? His eyes have been focused in this direction most of the night.”

Charlotte gives a little wave over my head, and I glance over my shoulder to see Foster standing with the guys. He’s grinning in our direction, and he raises his glass in acknowledgment of Charlotte’s wave.

I turn back around and widen my eyes at Charlotte.

“See,” she says.

“Stop, please,” I say through gritted teeth.

“He’s not too young. He looks to me like he’s all kinds of grown up and experienced.”

I close my eyes and decide to share.

“We had dinner the other night,” I tell them.

“We who?” Elle asks.

“Foster and I. He took me to that new Italian restaurant in town.”

“What?! You went on a date and didn’t tell us?” Elle gasps.

“I knew,” Bells brags.

“What?” Elle exclaims before scowling at me.

“She only knows because he was at the clinic the other day, and we adopted puppies together.”

“You adopted puppies together?” Elle asks.

“Not together, together, but at the same time,” I clarify.

“Yep. He adopted a boy puppy and named him Sue when she got George. I knew something was going on between the two of them, so I interrogated her as soon as I got home that night. But don’t worry; she didn’t tell me anything more than they’d had dinner,” Bells gripes.

“I can’t believe you’ve been holding out,” Elle says.

“I was going to tell you guys, but I wanted to see how it went first,” I explain.

“Uh-uh, that’s not how it works. We don’t hold back info to see how it goes,” Elle insists.

“Like you told the whole world about you and Walker when you two started your fling,” I accuse.

“You knew all about that from the beginning,” she reminds me.

“Right, but I didn’t!” Bells gripes.

Elle looks at her.

“You were away at school. I filled you in as soon as you came home,” she defends.

“You could have called me,” Bells persists.

“Hello, ladies, focus on the current situation,” Charlotte interrupts.

“Oh, yes, you and Foster,” Elle says, as she brings her eyes back to me.

“So, how was it? Tell us everything,” Charlotte prompts.

“We had dinner and drinks. We talked; it was nice.”

“That’s it?” she asks, clearly disappointed with my tale.

“It was a first date, Charlotte,” I reply.

“Well, it was a boring first date. I hope the second date is a little spicier,” she grumbles.

“I’m not looking for spice.”

“Everyone is looking for spice. Spice is what flavors the world. It makes everything taste better, hotter,” she insists.

“Look, I’ve always been impulsive. I jump into every relationship—Bells and Elle will tell you. Ricky moved in with me within weeks of our meeting and I married him ten months later. I’m done with diving headfirst into the deep end. From now on, I’m cautiously tiptoeing into the shallow end first,” I explain.

“Nobody is talking about moving him in, Sonia. Just dip into the water a bit to cool off your loins,” Charlotte says.

“You really know how to take a metaphor and twist it to your benefit,” Bells praises.

“It’s a gift.”

“Well, I agree with you. He’s been circling her since before Christmas. I don’t understand why she doesn’t take that cowboy for a spin,” Elle chimes in.

“I’m not even divorced yet,” I tell them.

“Oh, that’s just paperwork. You’ve been a free woman for almost a year,” Elle states.

“Well, he was married too. And his ex is a real piece of work. I just got untangled from a mess, and the last thing I need is to get caught up in his,” I hiss.

“Excuses. You’re scared,” Elle pushes.

“So what if I am? I think I should be allowed to lick my wounds for a while longer.”

“Why lick your own wounds when that sexy hunk of a man would be all too happy to lick them for you?” Charlotte asks.

“Charlotte,” I gasp.

“You are blushing, Sonia! You like him. You like him a lot,” Charlotte accuses.

“I have eyes,” I admit.

“Uh-huh, and so does he—and he is undressing you with his right now.” Bells gestures behind me with her head.

I glance back over my shoulder in spite of myself, and Foster laughs at something Payne says. His broad shoulders are shaking, and his head is thrown back. Dimples are peeking out above the days-old scruff on his strong jaw. His eyes are dancing and they are trained on me.

The look he gives me causes me to suck in a breath.

Charlotte leans in and whispers, “Told you.”

I turn back to them.

“I think I’m in trouble,” I mumble, and they all grin at me.

The boys throw a few more rounds of axes as we sit by the fire, chatting.

“Momma and I looked at a food truck in Aurora last week. It was slightly used but in excellent shape and it had a bathroom, none of the others I looked at online had that nice feature. They want fifty grand for it. Which, from the research I’ve done, is reasonable. Daddy and Jackie will ride out there and check the engine and all the electronics for us. If they give it a thumbs-up, on Monday, we’ll go to the bank to get the loan finalized and then to the insurance company to set up the vehicle registration and insurance,” Dallas explains.

“Do you think you could be up and running by Halloween? I want to do a big family-friendly grand-opening festival. We’ll even have stations that hand out candy, so kiddos can dress up and trick-or-treat,” Charlotte tells her.

Dallas shrugs. “I think so. As long as everything gets approved as far as permits and fire certificates go, I can figure out how to go mobile with our Point of Sale system. I already have a couple of high school students training at the bakery, begging for more hours.”

“Awesome. I haven’t talked to Payne about it yet, but I want to invest in a truck of our own as well, give the customers a variety. Maybe even add a tapas bar in the tasting room.”

“Oh, a tapas food truck!” I suggest.

The boys are making their way to us, and Walker stops in his tracks.

“A topless food truck? Damn, that’s an excellent idea. With your assets and yours, you’ll make Payne a fortune!” he says as he points between Charlotte and me.

“Tapas, dumbass,” Charlotte corrects.

He looks confused.

“They’re tiny plates with bite-sized portions of food, so you can try a bunch of different stuff,” I explain.

He wrinkles his nose. “The topless truck would make more money. Who the hell wants to buy a bite of something?”

“What are you guys talking about?” Payne asks as he takes a seat next to Charlotte.

“Well, I was thinking of taking the money Sophie and I made from selling our company and investing in the farm. I thought maybe we could add a food bar in the tasting room or get a food truck of our own. It can have food and cider outdoors for those hanging out and playing cornhole or pitching horseshoes or just enjoying the fire, so they don’t have to come inside to the tasting room to buy a beverage. It could potentially up the sales of the bottled cider.”

He nods as he considers it. “It’s a good idea. I’ll talk to Dad about it and figure out if it’s doable. If not, maybe it’s something we can add in a year or two.”

“Doable how? We already have the permits, and I’m sure we can easily staff it,” she asks.

“We’ve already sunk a ton of money into the build. I don’t want to get in over our heads.”

She turns in her seat to face him. “Did you miss the part where I said I wanted to invest?”

He cuts his eyes to her. “No.”

She huffs and looks back at us. “Payne won’t take my money. It pisses me off. This is my future too,” she informs us.

“I don’t want you to risk your nest egg,” he explains.

“It’s not a risk; it’s an investment in our dream, in our family’s future. And it’s my money, and I should get to spend it where I want to. And I want to spend it on this place.”

“And you should. I vote yes,” Dallas says, and then she points at Payne. “Don’t be a misogynistic pig. It’s not a good look on you. If Charlotte is going to be your wife and a part of this family, she has a right to use her money to build onto the place if she wants to. And I am a part of the family, so I get a say, and so does Momma.”

Payne sighs. He knows he’s just been overruled.