Stirred: A Love Story (24 page)

“It’s going to be great if you take a minute to get used to it. Change has never been his strength,” Kenna said, shaking her head at Sage.

“That’s not true. I’m progressive. I’m all for being kinder to the environment, but can you make this font bigger?”

Kenna took the device from her father and after a few touches handed it back.

He smiled and leaned over to kiss her. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

“You’re welcome. Now, promise you’re going to use it?”

“I am. I downloaded
Grapes of Wrath
. Libby and I are going to reread some of the classics.”

“That’s great. Are you two part of a book club?”

“Yeah, our own.” He winked at Sage, and she wasn’t sure if he was joking or trying to tell her something.

Refilling his soda water with lime, Sage told them both about her evening at the symphony and made them laugh with her story of getting completely turned around and lost. No matter how long Sage lived in Los Angeles, she still managed to find opportunities to go the wrong way.

“Will I see you up at the farm this weekend?” Herb asked.

“No, I’m afraid not. I’m going back up north to stay with my parents. I have a hot air balloon ride scheduled for Saturday.”

“That’s exciting. Is your whole family going?”

“Nope, only me.”

“Dad, you’ll learn Sage does all these incredibly interesting things all on her own,” Kenna said, smiling and then excusing herself when she heard a customer tell a server there were no more paper towels in the ladies’ room.

“Why?” Herb asked.

“Why a hot air balloon?”

“No, why do you do things on your own? Isn’t it more fun with a friend?”

“Sometimes, but I’ve been working on myself for a few years, and part of that is doing things on my own, being my own friend. Do you know what I mean?”

He nodded. “I sure do. You’re loving yourself.”

“Yes, I suppose I am.” She smiled.

“And you don’t want anyone getting in the way of that.”

Sage nodded and excused herself to cash out two guys who looked like they needed to get back to the office.

When she returned, Herb said, “I noticed Garrett’s flowers. You two did a nice job.”

Sage knew her face was beaming at the mention of his son’s name. She was learning to accept her reaction.

“Love is a wonderful thing, don’t you think?” Herb asked, taking another sip of his water.

“I do.”

“I’ve spent so many years with that boy, and I can tell you he never tries to steal your thunder. He’s spent his life letting other people shine.”

Sage felt her heart pulse. She wasn’t sure if he’d meant it the way it came out, but the statement was sad.
He’d spent his life letting other people shine.
The words trickled through her mind again as Garrett’s father gathered up his iPad and left a few bills on the bar.

“Thanks for stopping by,” she said.

“Always a pleasure talking with you, Sage. You might want to ask Garrett to go with you in that balloon. George and I can hold down the fort for a weekend.” He winked again and was gone.

Maybe she should.

He never tries to steal your thunder
. She heard the words long after Herb had left.
What did that mean? What about his thunder, Garrett’s light?

For the first time in what felt like a very long time, Sage wasn’t worried about herself or her anchors. She loved him and fearlessly wanted him on her adventures. It was time, she thought, clearing plates and wiping down her bar.

Sage took the remote and switched the music to Norah Jones.

The USDA inspector presented his badge and then grilled Garrett in his office for over two hours on policies and procedures. He’d review the information and get back to them with his decision about a formal investigation, that’s how he ended it. “Formal investigation” buzzed across Garrett’s splitting headache as he watched the black sedan drive away. Sinking down at his desk, he put his face in his hands, but then at the bite of anxiety, he stood and began pacing. Apparently, the USDA had received a complaint from a former employee. This was what happened when things got so fucking big, he told himself as he grabbed the paperwork the inspector had left and walked out of the building. Makenna had asked him to meet her at The Yard when he was done. It was nearly five o’clock, but she mentioned their dad was taking Paige to a movie, so she’d hang around until he showed up.

There weren’t many people at the bar when Garrett arrived and Sage called him over while he waited for Kenna, but his mind was on hearing from George. They were both racking their brains trying to figure out if they’d fired anyone recently who would hold a grudge. Garrett guessed a person fired from any job held a grudge, but there hadn’t been any recent drama, not that he could recall. Distracted, he took a seat and tried to listen to Sage, but his thoughts kept wandering. They’d grown too big, and that was part of the problem. He no longer knew everyone who worked for them. The days of meeting workers in the early morning hours and confirming duties on a dry-erase board were over. He didn’t look his team in the eye, know their stories, share coffee with them anymore. Things had changed. There was that damn word again—change, he thought, checking his phone for what felt like the hundredth time and wondering where the hell Kenna was.

“Yeah, so what do you think?”

“About what?” he asked, trying to tune back into Sage and not scream, “This is it, folks. Ryeland Farms is going to be brought to its knees by some disgruntled jackass!”

“Taking the weekend, hot air balloon, up north?”

“I thought you did this stuff on your own?”

“I do normally,” she said, her tone less enthusiastic as she put three open beers on a server’s tray.

“I’m. . . I don’t think I can get away.”

“Okay.”

“Yeah, there’s stuff going on and I. . . so no.”

“No,” she confirmed.

Garrett was instantly annoyed at the tone of her voice. Granted, he hadn’t told her the whole sordid shit storm heading toward him, toward his family, but he wasn’t in the mood for Sage and her get-out-and-experience-life campaign. That wasn’t his world, and anytime he did step away, things went wrong. He couldn’t afford for things to go wrong. The hum of the bar started to grate on him. He didn’t need this shit.
Where the fuck is Kenna?

“I need to go, but I’ll talk to you when you get back.” He stood and left as Kenna gestured to him and opened her laptop at the corner bar table.

Sage said nothing, and while he was grateful for her silence, he would later realize what Sage was offering and how badly he’d screwed it up. His family, their farm came first, and he’d face the consequences of that if necessary.

As Kenna began telling him things he already knew about the complaint that was filed two days ago, Garrett remembered his senior prom. He’d asked Michelle Miller. She’d been in his Spanish class, and her friend was going with a buddy of his. She had a crush on Garrett, or so he was told, so he agreed to go. It was May, which was harvest season for broccoli, cabbage, carrots, and citrus trees. They’d been busy and he’d forgotten to pick up his tux before the shop closed. He was sorry. That’s what he’d told her at four o’clock the day of prom. She went with her friends and Garrett remembered being annoyed that she hadn’t understood, that she never talked to him again. “It was a dance,” he told Kenna later that night while they ate dinner. After trying to explain to him the importance of that particular dance, Kenna shook her head and he left the table.

Later that night, lying in his bed, he might have known something was not right, that he wasn’t living the normal life of a kid his age, but he shook it off for two reasons—he didn’t care because he was doing what he loved, and he was so tired that he hadn’t had the energy to think about it for one more minute.

“So, George thinks it’s one of the older guys we hired in shipping. He kept taking smoke breaks and was always late. According to the final warning, he loaded three orders on the wrong truck and the driver had to go all the way across town. He didn’t get home until after seven and two of our restaurants were pissed. Richard fired him. It was clean.”

“But he didn’t file a claim for wrongful discharge, he filed with the AD?” Garrett asked.

Kenna nodded. “Yeah, I guess he figured that would hurt more. He’s clearly pissed off. You answered all of his questions; maybe they’ll schedule an inspection, maybe not. Either way they’ll see there’s no need for an investigation. George has been through inspections before. This isn’t a big—”

“Please don’t tell me this isn’t a big deal. It is a big deal. Who hired this guy?”

“I don’t think that matters. I looked at his application. He came from Highland Farms, no complaints. We followed procedure.”

He let out a deep breath. Garrett had never been a fan of “that’s how it is.” He liked things he could fix and because he was distracted playing relationship and not around to personally do what needed to get done, they’d now have an inspector up their ass.
Shit!

He stood and walked out.

Chapter Twenty-Four

S
age would look back on the argument and realize she should have let him go, but she’d felt foolish for asking and her pride was hurt. He was distracted and clearly upset, but pride was a powerful thing and she wanted to clarify she didn’t
need
him to go with her. I was silly, but at the same time, there was no reason she should feel uncomfortable asking him to go away with her, to do something other than watch movies and eat. They were in a relationship. That’s what people in love did—they shared parts of themselves, went to the airport occasionally.

Catching up with him in the parking lot after he stormed out on Kenna, she sensed as she approached his truck that he was ready for a fight. She wasn’t sure what happened back in the bar, but whatever it was, he didn’t need to be a complete ass. Maybe she was looking for a fight too, which was good because that’s exactly what she got.

“Garrett?”

“Jesus,” she heard him say under his breath as if she were some nagging woman. “Can we please talk about this later?” he asked, holding the door handle.

“Is something wrong? You’re pissed, I can see that, but I was simply trying to—”

“Okay, here’s the thing. I’m giving this relationship thing my best effort, but I have shit that I’m dealing with that has nothing to do with you.”

“Okay. Why don’t you talk to me about it then?”

He laughed over seething anger. “This isn’t going to be something you’ll find in one of your books, Sage. This is real life, my life, and all the pressure that goes along with that. I told you I couldn’t go with you on a hot air balloon ride. Work is my priority. What we do on the side—”

“Excuse me?”

“What?”

“What we do on the side?”

“Come on, Sage. I’m not getting into this. That’s not what I meant.”

“No, that’s exactly what you meant. And you know, I should be grateful for what I’m getting, right? Seeing as you’re Mr. Fantasy, I should be honored you’re even keeping me on the side.” Now she was seething too.

“You’re being ridiculous. And you’re the one who came up with the whole fantasy thing, spilling your heart all over my truck.”

“That’s right, I did and you’ve been going along and why not, you’re getting laid.” Garrett walked toward her and she jumped back. “This was good. I’m glad I talked to your father today. I’m glad I asked you to do something that would require you to step into my life for even a weekend. This is good information. Whatever this is”—she gestured between the two of them—“you’re free to go.”

Garrett shook his head in frustration tinged with what looked like exhaustion.

Sage laughed. “This was never going to work because we are not on equal footing.”

“Did you read that in one of your books?” he scoffed.

“And the minute things get interesting”—she ignored him and continued—“that you have to give of yourself, you default back to ‘Hey, I never wanted this,’ and you’re right. You didn’t. So, I’m done.”

Garrett looked at her for a few beats. She could see him start to sort through his feelings and then she saw it in his eyes the minute he shut down. Without another word, he got in his truck and left.