Dawson McAden had a busy morning, and he liked it that way.

He liked when his mind was juggling a million things at once, figuring out next weeks schedule, prepping the store for opening, ordering fertilizers and sorting out sapling deliveries. When the brain was busy, he found it was easy to forget all the things he didn't want to think about. It made it easier to focus on the present and try not to remember the past.

His legs were heavy with a satisfying ache from the long walk back to the shop after checking the Gala apples that were just on the verge of harvest. There were some things in life he knew he could rely on, and that feeling was one of them, along with the trees and their yearly schedule. The older he got, the more he was beginning to realize there was a lot of good to be said about the expected.

What he didn't expect was to round the corner of the barn just in time to watch a long-legged redhead step out of her Mini Cooper. He slowed to a stop to watch as a breeze rolled past, carrying the sweet scent of apples with it and toying with her hair. She closed her eyes and raised her face to the sun, basking in the senses.

She made a pretty picture, hair the same auburn color as some of the apples he'd harvested that morning, the slightest hint of a smile on her full lips. And as the obvious tension fell from her shoulders, he couldn't shake the thought that it was like watching a flower bloom.

Because he wasn't used to the soft feeling that threatened to swallow him, and because he had no desire to acknowledge it, he forced himself to interrupt. "Layla Foster?"

She flinched, turned towards the sound of his voice with wide green eyes. "Yes? Yes," she said again, more firmly. "Sorry, I was just..."

He walked over, waving away her embarrassment. She wasn't the first to have that reaction to the orchard's aroma, but he'd be lying if he said he could remember anyone who'd held his attention that long just by sniffing air. "I know. It smells good."

The smile returned with a sheepish laugh. "A lot better than the city. And a lot better than the gym."

He grinned at the quick humor, sticking out a hand. "I'm Dawson McAden. One of Kenzie's brothers."

"Nice meeting you," she shook his hand, and beneath the professional firmness was an unmistakable fragility that caught him by surprise. She didn't look fragile—she was taller than average, and the short sleeves of her shirt showed off the toned arms of her athletic body. And her eyes, a cool jade, still hadn't stopped surveying him.

Yes, the fragility was unexpected. So was the warmth that spread over him at the contact. This was Kenzie and Marshall's new trainer? The next two weeks suddenly seemed a lot more interesting. "You too."

"Layla!" The voice of his sister broke his entrancement and urged their hands apart. Kenzie came speed-walking out of the barn with a thousand-watt smile on her face, immediately embracing Layla in a hug. "It's so good to finally meet you!"

Layla's eyes went wide again before she hugged back. "You too," she pulled away to continue, "How are you?"

"I'm great! Excited--Me and Marsh are so ready for you to kick our butts."

The smile that came across her face at those words was brighter than the ones before. "That's what I like to hear."

With a gasp, Kenzie reached for Layla's left hand. If Dawson was disappointed to see the giant rock on her ring finger, he tried to ignore it. But his curiosity about her made it impossible to ignore the way her smile faltered while his sister fawned over the diamonds. Not exactly the reaction one would expect—especially not when he'd been surrounded by wedding excitement for the past month and half and was only used to witnessing bursts of elation at the very mention of the subject.

"Your ring is gorgeous! Did your husband pick it out? Marshall asked just about every woman we know to help him pick out mine—it's a miracle no one spilled the beans."

"I think my fiancé had some help from his mother."

"I should've known—A man could never pick out a ring that beautiful." Kenzie tossed a look in Dawson's direction. "No offense."

"Lucky for you, I don't think most men would take offense to that."

"I didn't know you were engaged, too! This is so exciting—what's he like? When's the wedding? How'd you meet?"

"Kenzie." Dawson held up a hand to slow her down, both for Layla's sake and his own. He wasn't exactly eager to get caught in the middle of bridal talk.

A flush of color rose to her round cheeks. "Right. I'm sorry, I've been a total scatterbrain this past month. It's the wedding, you know?"

He turned to Layla, who was failing to suppress a smile at his sister's hyperactivity. "I hope you're hungry. My parents are here cooking up some kind of a feast in the kitchen."

"All of which is from the recipe book you sent over," Kenzie was quick to add.

"I've gotta finish up a few things before we eat, but let Kenz show you around while dinner's still cooking." He left them with a smile, heading into the store as Kenzie enthused about giving Layla the grand tour. With the way things around the orchard had been changing lately, sometimes Dawson felt like he needed a grand tour of his own. His brother Jack had a plan to draw in more business to the orchard, mostly through weddings—the idea had been sparked by Kenzie's upcoming ceremony, and it was driving Dawson down the path to insanity.

Not only did it have Jack wound up even more than usual, but it meant the place they'd grown up was turning into something else entirely. The store building, once plain and simple, had now been refurbished to look like something out of a magazine. The wooden walls and floors were stained darker to match the new shelving, and the roof he used to have to patch up with Cliff after every summer storm was now a skylight that illuminated the space and made it look twice as large.

Across the pond, where he and his siblings had spent countless hours swimming and splashing and getting on each other's nerves as kids, there was now a large log cabin where the wedding party could get ready for the ceremony, changing into fancy dresses and stuffy suits. The paths that ran through the grounds had been tended to so that they were no longer covered with overgrown grass or tainted with stray branches.

The rickety old barn they'd turned into a twins-only clubhouse when they were ten was now gone. Torn down and replaced with a fancy new "barn," one with tables, chairs, and a dancefloor instead of horse stalls and haybales. Now, Jack was looking to hire someone to revamp their website and manage social media accounts to promote the business. In the past year, somehow things had gotten a lot more complicated than growing and selling apples.

Despite all the expenses, Jack was making it work. Dawson wasn't a numbers guy, but whenever he got a glimpse at them, he could see that his brother's plan was panning out. It wasn't as if he could say things were changing for the worse, that much was clear, but it annoyed him enough anyway that they were changing.

His cousin Adam, who was sitting on a stool behind the cash register at the other side of the room, perked up as soon as he stepped through the doorway. "Dawson!"

Dawson walked over, giving a polite nod to a family that was perusing the selection of preserves they had in one of the aisles. "What's up?"

Adam jutted his chiseled chin toward where Dawson had just come in. "Is that the trainer?"

Dawson turned back for a second to look outside, where Kenzie was gesturing to the store and saying something to Layla—probably explaining about the remodel. "That's her," he confirmed, watching as she nodded along.

"She's hot."

He gave Adam a don't even think about it look. "She's engaged."

At twenty-seven, he was two years older than his cousin—but since they'd grown up together the attempt at authority wasn't very convincing, as evidenced by the laugh he got in response. "Well jeez, don't bite my head off for not knowing."

Dawson was used to Adam flirting with nearly every woman who came through the store, so he wasn't surprised—but unlike usual, he felt his jaw clench at the very thought. Thanks to Adam's blond-haired, green-eyed, Disney prince looks, most women flirted back. The idea of Layla doing so had him shifting on his feet. "Besides, Kenzie would kick your ass if you started putting the moves on her new friend. And I thought you were seeing whatsherface."

Adam's lip curled, and he finally stopped letting his gaze flicker back to the doorway. "Candice."

"Trouble in paradise?" Again, no surprise there. He wasn't sure Adam had ever had a relationship that lasted more than a month.

"Paradise became hell real fast. You know, sometimes I think you're smart, not tying yourself down to anyone. But every time I try to do a one-night stand, I end up roped into dates and flowers and feelings."

"Yeah, you're a real romantic, Adam. Just don't forget to tell Kenz the name of your new date, or you'll have to explain who Candice is when she sees the name-tag on the table next to yours. I don't want you getting champagne dumped over your head to ruin the night."

"I might just go solo, to be honest."

Dawson raised an eyebrow. "You? Alone? I think the earth might stop spinning."

Adam shrugged his shoulders. "There's a lot of women at weddings, is all I'm saying. It might not be such a bad idea."

"The last time you went stag to anything, we were in high school. Forgive me for saying I'll believe it when I see it."

"You're forgiven." He turned his attention to the approaching family, flashing that killer smile of his at the young woman holding an apple-scented candle in one hand and a jar of jam in the other. "You guys all set? Find everything okay?"

Dawson stepped away to let them check out, figuring it was time to get back to work. With all the money Jack was putting towards remodeling, there wasn't a lot to spare for manpower. His workload had doubled in the past few months, but he wasn't complaining—there wasn't anywhere else he wanted his attention focused.

He let his gaze drift back to the open entrance to look at Layla once more, then headed out the back door.

How's October going for you guys? 🍂 Mine has been a little crazy lol--very frazzling. But lots of good stuff has happened, too! 🧡 And I'm looking forward to nanowrimo, the holidays, and of course, the wattys results! 

I hope you liked meeting Dawson and learning more about the orchard! 🥰 This is definitely my favorite setting that I've written before--which is good, since we'll be spending a lot of time here in the series lol 😆