Sunrise Point

orchard out from under me and put my grandmother in a home? That would work.”
    She was stunned silent for a second. Finally she said, “Oh. My. God! ”
    “So here’s what’s going to happen,” he said. “I’m going to shower while you gather your things together. Then I’ll carry all your luggage to your car for the last time, shake your hand or even give you a polite hug as I say, ‘Nice seeing you, drive safely.’ And then you’re going to leave and we’re both going to get on with our lives. Is there any part of that you don’t understand?”
    Another moment of silence. Then, “You are a beast. I had no idea. I barely escaped you!”
    “I’ll be about fifteen minutes,” he said. “You take your time.” And he left her.
    As he showered, he thought one alternative for her, if she wanted to make a dramatic exit, was to throw her stuff in a suitcase, lug her own damn luggage down the stairs and burn rubber out of the orchard. Junior was on hand to make sure the gate would be closed behind her.
    In the end, it didn’t happen that way, of course. Forty-five minutes later she found him in the kitchen and, true to form, all she carried was her small pocketbook. “I’m ready,” she said soberly.
    “Good,” he said. “I’ll be happy to get your luggage.”
    As he loaded the last of the luggage into her trunk, he saw Junior near the barn and gave him a sign, pointing to the gate. Junior took his quad down the lane and opened it. Then Tom held the door for her as she got into her shiny car. He held out his hand and she took it.
    “I’m sorry it didn’t work out, Tom,” she said. “I’m sorry I didn’t fit into your plans. I’m very disappointed, in fact.”
    He gave her hand a squeeze and said, “Drive carefully.” And he closed her door.
    Then he watched the most superficial, manipulative woman he’d ever known leave his orchard.
    * * *
    When there was a knock at Nora’s door, it took her a while to answer. She had Fay on her hip. And there stood Maxie, holding a large container of something. “Oh, Maxie, why are you here?” she asked.
    “A couple of reasons,” she said. “May I come in?”
    “Sure,” she said, standing back.
    Maxie went straight to the kitchen, just a few steps really, and put her soup on the counter. “I wanted to check on you, of course. And I brought you soup, though I really want you to come to the house for dinner tonight if you can… And I needed to leave the orchard—Tom was on a mission to send Darla away. I didn’t even want to be in the house.” She shook her head. “That girl…”
    “Oh, Maxie, she’s a beautiful girl!”
    “She was pushing herself on Tom and it should have been more than clear to her that he wasn’t ready for that. She’s the most annoying person I’ve met in years, but it’s not my business. I’m counting on Tom to do the right thing there.”
    “I just have to ask—what would the right thing be?” Nora asked.
    “Make sure she doesn’t trick him into more visits or whatever. He doesn’t like her.”
    “How can he not? She told me it was just a matter of time before they got married.”
    “I pray she was hallucinating when she said that. But—this is not up to me. Tom is intelligent. I have to believe in him. Now, darling, how are you? You had quite a scare!”
    “My God,” she said. “I’m still shaking. I kept my girls home from preschool and day care—I just need to be with them. When they nap later, I’m going to have a long, hot soak in the tub. I’m frazzled, I admit it. I climbed up my ladder and picked a dozen apples before one of those cubs took a swipe at me. They had been there the whole time.”
    “Ah, that’s what happened—you got between the treed cubs and the mother. You know they’d been in the orchard all night? Tom was out with Junior till three in the morning trying to find them and get them out. I’m sorry, Nora—this is our fault. You should be safe in our orchard.”
    “There’s only so much you can do. I’d say hunting till three in the morning is a worthy effort, wouldn’t you?” Then she let her eyes close just briefly as she remembered the sight of Tom coming through the trees, half dressed, looking a bit wild and warrior-like, holding that big gun. She hadn’t known about the tattoos on his chest and biceps. She opened her eyes. “Tom was amazing. He saved my life.”
    “Possibly. Those black bears are usually passive and don’t like to be around people, but