On the morning of Founders Day, Jameson got up early, determined to do his part to make it a success.
The farm was hopping. Vendors were preparing their booths and activities: mini-zips, jump pads, face painting, private farm tours, goat yoga, tortoise races, and more. The creativity involved amazed him.
But that was all Luna. On top of being a great leader, she was creative, flexible, a problem solver, and held an open mind. She’d taken everyone’s ideas and made them happen. She was incredible.
Employees had the petting zoo pen in place and the barn doors wide open. The Humane Society had brought kittens and puppies available for adoption.
The farm animals watched the spectacle with brimming curiosity, their energy matching that of the people around them.
Jameson moved about assisting wherever he could. He secured pens, set up line management, and prepared the entry gate with money boxes so they could make change, then went over the protocol for how much money they could collect before they needed to call him to come empty the kitty and take the cash to the office safe for safekeeping.
After that, he stopped by the two food trucks, and Chef ambled over. “So. I might have a confession to make.”
Jameson couldn’t imagine what that might be. “Okay.”
“The other day you were using the back booth in my café as your office.”
“I was.”
“And you walked away for a minute, leaving your laptop open. I came by to give you a refill on your soda just as an email came through. Hey,” he said at Jameson’s look. “This is what I do, stalk her ex-boyfriends. I did tell you about what I did to the last guy’s phone. Anyway, the email was from your attorney.”
Well, hell.
“Yeah,” Chef said. “Want to explain?”
“You want me to explain a private email?”
Chef smiled. “I can see why you’re so efficient. You use that no-bullshit, I-could-kick-your-ass-if-I wanted-to voice and people back right off.”
“But not you.”
“Nope,” Chef said. “So let me make sure I’ve got this straight. You spent I don’t even know how many years with Silas the Grinch, working your very fine ass off, and yet you’re willing to give up your ownership, something you legitimately earned, to make sure Luna understands how you feel about her?”
“That and more,” Jameson said softly. “Not that I expect anyone to understand.”
“You’d be surprised. You forget that Luna and I go way back. She’s easy to fall in love with and nearly impossible to get over. So yeah, I understand perfectly.”
Jameson nodded and, from fifty feet away, his gaze met Luna’s. For a brief beat, he saw what no one else probably did: She hadn’t slept, and she was hurting.
He’d done that.
But then he stopped breathing because she was walking toward him. He continued to not breathe as she was stopped a bunch of times by people needing questions answered or just wanting to talk to her.
Then she was right in front of him, and because they were chronic idiots, they stood there staring at each other.
“I’ll just . . .” Chef gestured vaguely over his shoulder and then made himself scarce.
Luna was in her usual uniform of jeans, work boots, and Apple Ridge Farm jacket, hood down, hair up, eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses, and he sucked up the sight of her. “Hey,” he said softly.
“Hey,” she said just as softly. “Thanks for helping set up. I didn’t expect—I mean now that we’re not . . .”
“Sleeping together?” He raised a brow when she blushed. “You think that because you dumped me, I’d walk away from saving this place?”
She winced and looked away. “I’m sorry, that was thoughtless. I should have known you’d still want to help protect your half.”
He thought about what Chef had discovered on his laptop. He wanted to tell her, but had no idea how. “I want today to be a huge success, for the employees, and for you.”
“And what about you?” she asked.
He shrugged, trying to keep his expression even. He’d have thought he was used to being cut loose, that he’d be impervious to the pain, but he wasn’t that lucky. “It’s not about me. Never was.” He turned to go.
“Jameson?”
He looked back.
“I need to talk to you about something, but I want to do it in private. Do you have time when today’s over?”
He nodded, and she went back to running the show. He stayed still for a moment, knowing this was it. She was going to tell him it was okay to go back to his world early. Definitely for the best, he told himself, and then tried to believe it.
But the truth was, he loved the pace of life here, which was to say frenetic, wild, and crazy. The opposite of his usual cutthroat and vicious. And he didn’t want to leave.
Twenty minutes later, Luna gathered the entire staff in the courtyard. Standing on one of the planters, she announced that their think tank ideas had all started to bring in money, how grateful she was for their help, and that they couldn’t have pulled this off without each and every one of them.
People seemed genuinely touched by her words, and Jameson had to admit, he was as well. Then she asked anyone if they had last-minute questions.
Willow raised her hand, then walked up to Luna and handed her a check. “Here’s the money I’ve put aside for our B and B.”
Luna shook her head. “Willow—”
“Please accept it. It would mean so much to me to be able to add to the save-the-farm kitty.”
They hugged for a long moment, but what Willow had done started an avalanche of people walking one by one up to Luna and handing her checks, cash, and, in Shep’s case, an actual honest-to-God piggy bank that he had to pull to her in a little wagon because it was so heavy with change. Chef had money from his ex, proving he hadn’t been catfished. Stella had a check from one of her ex-husbands, the venture capitalist. Shayne, who’d stopped by to leave a big, shiny red fire truck for kids to see, also had a check from their firehouse fundraiser.
And for the second time that day, Jameson found himself stunned by these people putting everything on the line for a company they didn’t even have a stake in. Two months ago, he’d actually believed that he alone would have to save this place. He’d carried his laptop with his spreadsheets around, speaking a foreign language that no one was interested in. Still, he’d persevered, coming up with some viable solutions for how to save money. But mostly, the joke was entirely on him because Luna and her merry band of wonderful misfits were going to save themselves.
As if to prove it, they opened the front gate at 10:00 a.m. sharp to a long line of people waiting with eager smiles on their faces.
To Jameson’s shock and relief, hours later, the place was still packed. People had turned out in droves on droves. The farm was always a bustle of activity, but today took it to a whole new level, all of it managed by employees and volunteers consisting of members of the town council and their families, and friends of the farm.
Between the booths, stations, petting pens, crowd control, line control, you name it, it was a huge endeavor, and a successful one. The food trucks, one a handmade ice creamery, the other a burger and hot dog truck, also volunteering their time and food, all had lines. Milo was managing the photo booths, which were busy. So was Stella’s Place. She sat in front of the barn at a table, reading fortunes. She looked at him and winked. “You want to be next?”
“No thanks.” He already knew what his future held. And it wasn’t good.
Someone came up behind him and threw their arms around him.
Willow.
She was beaming. “Guess what?” She didn’t wait for his answer. “Just finished the magazine shoot and they weren’t here for just the botanical gardens—they came for me! Can you believe it? I’m the main focus of their piece! Me and my work!”
He had known it, and so had Luna. They’d agreed to keep it their little secret as a surprise for Willow. Her eyes went suspiciously shiny and she waved a hand in front of them. “Ignore me. I think I’m going to be crying for the next nine months. I’m just so happy!” And she flung her arms around him again and hugged him hard.
He was trying to gently untangle himself when Shayne came up and rescued him with an amused “Babe, you’re strangling the poor guy.”
She kissed Jameson on the cheek, then wrapped herself around her husband, beaming. “I’m going to throw up on you later.”
Shayne laughed. Willow grinned at him and then looked at Jameson. “So . . . you look fine, and you sound fine . . .”
“Uh, thank you?”
“It’s just that I’m really hoping it’s an act.”
“Why?”
“Because Luna needs you to love her. But if you do, you’d be devastated right now. So . . . which are you, devastated or fine?”
He looked into her eyes and saw worry and concern for her best friend, which was the only reason he answered about something so personal to him. “Door number one.”
She nodded. “Good, because she’s been through a lot. She needs you.”
He let out a choked laugh. “Pretty sure she doesn’t let herself need anyone, much less me.”
“Then you’re not paying attention.”
He met her gaze. “Okay, you’re right. I should’ve said she doesn’t want to need me.”
“Well, duh. Like I said, she’s been through a lot. Doesn’t trust her emotions. But be patient. She’s worth it.”
He knew that much to be true. What he didn’t know was how to make her want him.
He kept moving. Mostly because whenever he stopped, he became aware of the pain in the region of his heart. Incredibly aware of Luna also moving through the crowd, stopping to rescue the mayor from DZ, who was attempting to eat the woman’s hair. They were laughing, and he loved the way her entire face lit up when she laughed. He loved the way her eyes sparkled, the way she talked so animatedly with her hands, even when those hands were full of baby goat. He loved . . .
Damn.
He loved her.
As the day went on, the crowds never let up. He’d been pulling the cash in hourly, taking it to the office safe. He was walking down the main strip, halfway between the office and the front gate, heading back there to check on things, when he heard his name.
Turning, he came face-to-face with Luna. She strode right up to him, nearly toe-to-toe, then tilted her head back to look at his face. Or so he assumed, as her sunglasses were dark and mirrored.
He said nothing.
She said nothing.
They stared at each other for an uncomfortably long beat, but Jameson was getting used to being in uncomfortable situations. Finally, she blew out a breath. “You’re going to make me ask?”
“Ask what?”
“Omigod, don’t play with me right now. How much money did we make so far? Did we come close?”
He pulled off her mirrored sunglasses. “Better.”
She stared at him some more, then, as he’d hoped, she read him like a book and let out a big smile, giving him a tap on the chest that was maybe more of a shove. “We did it!” She looked around, seemed to realize they were surrounded by people, so she grabbed him by the hand and pulled him around to the back of the barn and pushed him up against the side of it.
He couldn’t help it, his heart stuttered. And maybe some other reactions happened as well. Nothing sexier than a woman taking what she wanted. Even if she’d kicked him to the curb.
She had her hands on his biceps and was looking at his mouth, like maybe she’d forgotten what she’d dragged him over here for, which gave him a dark sense of satisfaction. “If it’s breakup sex you’re after,” he murmured, “it’s probably best to wait until some of the people leave our general area.”
She rolled her eyes. “Say it.”
He smiled. “Adding in all the donations you got this morning, plus from the Founders Day till so far, we’ve made more this week than we have in any previous quarter in the farm’s history.”
“Oh,” she breathed, and then smiled. “Enough to make the balloon payment?”
“Enough to make the balloon payment and then some, which we can save for the slow months.”
With a whoop, she threw herself at him. He managed to catch her as she wrapped her legs around his waist, shoved her fingers into his hair, and kissed him, one long, hot, wet smooch that had him so dizzy it took him a moment to realize she’d let go of him.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I mean, I wanted to do that, but didn’t know how to ask.”
“Luna, you don’t ever have to ask for what you want with me. Or be afraid of wanting too much. Just take it. It’s yours.”
Her eyes went misty and she looked away for a minute, like whatever she was feeling was just too much for her to take. “I’ve been afraid you’d run once you saw how messed up I was inside. So I ran first.”
He gave her a ghost of a smile. “You do know you’re not the only one who’s messed up or afraid to believe, right?”
She studied him, then returned his small smile with one of her own. “Yeah. I think I’m getting there.” She swiped under her eyes, removing the few tears that had escaped. “How do guys get through shit without crying?”
“Easy. We bottle everything up until we die of stress-induced heart failure in our forties like real men.”
She laughed, and this time their silence didn’t feel nearly as awkward.
“Maybe my messed-up-ness sort of balances your messed-up-ness,” she said quietly, pulling out her phone, which had been going off steadily. She finally answered it, listened for a beat, then sighed. “I’ll be right there.” She gave Jameson an apologetic look. “I’m needed at the barn. You still free later to talk?”
“Yes.”
“Meet me at the office?”
He nodded, and then watched her walk off to keep doing all the billion little things she needed to do to keep everything running smoothly. For a hot minute she’d let him in and it’d been the best minute of his life. Just as falling for her had been the easiest thing he’d ever done.
He wasn’t going to regret that. Or how he’d found a place where he belonged, even if he was going to leave because he refused to put Luna through any more than she’d already been through.
He was about to go figure out who might need his help when his phone rang.
“Your circus made the local news,” Brett said in his dry voice. “There’s a reporter walking around getting footage of some baby goat named Dammit Ziggy, and some palm reader who was telling fortunes. I’ll be shocked if you don’t get an offer to be a reality show by the end of the day.”
“You want to know if we made enough money to pay you off,” Jameson said.
“No, actually. We want to know if you’re going to say yes to a reality show. There’s a shit-ton of money in those dumb things.”
Jameson rolled his eyes so hard he nearly saw his own brain. Luna would’ve been so proud. “Let me guess. You want a new deal.”
“Damn-A straight. Forget the balloon payment. We’ll rework and extend the loan.”
“For . . . ?”
“A piece of the TV deal.”
Over his dead body. “I’ll have to check with my partner and employees,” he said. “But expect the balloon payment to come in on time.”
“The employees?” Brett asked. “What the hell do we care what the employees think? I’ll need your answer by—”
Jameson disconnected.
He couldn’t have even said what he did for the rest of the day, but at the end, when all their guests were gone and everything had been broken down and put back together so that it was just the animals and employees again, he headed to the office building. Inside, he felt like a dead man walking as he made his way down the hallway. He stopped at Luna’s office, but it was empty.
“Down here!” he heard her call out.
He found her standing at the end of the hallway in front of the storage closet. She’d changed into leggings and a soft-looking sweater that clung to her sweet curves, looking like the best thing to ever happen to him.
“Thanks for coming,” she said.
Milo peeked out of the staff room. “Make sure you tell him that him being a part of this family isn’t predicated on you two being together.”
Chef stuck his head out too. “Agreed. We want to keep him.”
Willow’s face appeared next to Chef’s. “All of that,” she said. “Love you to the moon and back, can’t stress that enough, but we love him too.”
“Bleeeat,” Dammit Ziggy said in Stella’s arms.
“Clearly, DZ agrees,” Stella said.
Luna pinched the bridge of her nose. “Can we please have a moment here?”
Everyone nodded and retreated.
Luna drew a deep breath and looked at Jameson.
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I never should’ve kept what Silas wanted me to do from you—”
She shook her head. “You already apologized, and you’re forgiven. First, I want to thank you again for all you did today. We couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Today’s success was all you, Luna.”
“Wow,” Milo said from behind the staff room’s closed door. “That hurts.”
“Shh,” Stella whispered. “It’ll get good as soon as they get the pleasantries out of the way, and I don’t want to miss anything.”
“They don’t do anything good at work,” Chef said. “Luna won’t mix business with pleasure. Especially nekkid pleasure.”
An almost smile lit Luna’s eyes. Jameson had a much better poker face than she did, but even he had a hard time not smiling at the memory of them taking each other apart in the barn while being watched by a very curious Estelle.
“Oh my God,” Willow said. “I saw that smile, Luna! And you told me I couldn’t do it with Shayne while at work.”
“Everyone out of the building,” Luna said. She took a deep breath and looked at Jameson. “I’m sorry about them. That we even had this event today was because you taught me how to respect the bottom line. Then you gave me the courage to make it happen by simply believing in me, when, to be honest, I didn’t believe in myself.”
He drew a deep breath, feeling . . . well, everything. Because here it came. The “but.”
“Awkward,” Milo whispered.
“Oh my God, for the last time, OUT!” Luna yelled.
There was muttering, but the sounds of footsteps and then the front door to the building opening and shutting told him they were alone.
He didn’t know whether to be relieved or terrified.