My Kind Of Christmas Part 53

"Good! That means not too many people have seen it."

"Nora, think of the little girls," he said. "You don't want to be too tired to take care of them."

"Oh, Noah. It's nice of you to be concerned. I'll go ask Adie if she can watch them for a little while so I can go to the orchard to apply. She always says yes, she loves them so much. I'll be back in ten minutes. If you're sure you don't mind giving me a lift... I don't want to take advantage."

He just shook his head and chuckled. "Bound and determined, aren't you? You remind me of someone...."

"Oh?"

"Someone just as unstoppable as you. I fell in love with her on the spot, I think."

"Ellie?" she asked. "Mrs. Kincaid?"

"Yes, Mrs. Kincaid," he said with a laugh. "You have no idea how much you two have in common. But we'll save that for another time. Hurry up and check in with Adie and I'll take you to the Cavanaugh orchard."

"Thanks!" she said with a wide smile, das.h.i.+ng out of the church and down the street as quickly as she could.

It would never occur to Nora that she had anything in common with the pastor's wife. Ellie Kincaid was so beautiful, so confident and the kindest person she'd ever known. And by the way Noah looked at his wife, he adored her. It was kind of fun to see the preacher was a regular man; he gazed at his wife with hunger in his eyes, as if he couldn't wait to get her alone. They weren't just a handsome couple, but also obviously a man and woman very deeply in love.

Nora went straight to Adie Clemens's door.

"Just bring me some diapers and formula," Adie said. "And good luck."

"If I get the job and have to work full-time, do you think you can help me out a little bit?"

"I'll do whatever I can," Adie said. "Maybe between me, Martha Hutchkins and other neighbors, we can get you covered."

"I hate to ask everyone around here to take care of me...." But, hate it or not, she didn't have many choices. She'd landed here with the girls and hardly any belongings right before last Christmas-just one old couch, a mattress that sat on the floor and the clothes on their backs. It was Adie who alerted Reverend Kincaid that Nora and her family were in need, and the first gesture of help came in the form of a Christmas food basket. Through the generosity of her neighbors and the town, a few necessary items had been added to their household-an old refrigerator, a rug for the floor, sheets and towels, clothes for the children. The church had regular rummage sales and Mrs. Kincaid skimmed the used clothing to help dress Nora, as well. Her neighbor three doors down, Leslie, invited Nora to use her washer and dryer while she was at work and Martha offered her laundry, as well. She'd never be able to repay all these kindnesses, but at least she could work to make her own way.

Picking apples? Well, as she'd told Noah, she'd do just about anything.

Noah drove a beat-up old pickup truck that Nora thought might be older than she was, and it definitely didn't have much in the way of shocks. As they bounced along the road out to highway 36, Nora had the thought that walking probably wouldn't be as hard on her spine. But as they trundled along, she became increasingly intimidated by the distance, farther than she expected. She wasn't sure how long it might take to walk it. She'd have to get the mile count from Noah once they arrived. If the odometer actually worked in this old heap of tin.

They turned off 36 and drove down a road, through a gate that stood open and down a tree-lined lane. Nora became distracted by the sheer beauty. There was something so pure and homespun about row after row of perfectly s.p.a.ced apple trees, the fruit in various stages of ripening hanging from the boughs, some still small-apple-green while others wore a slight blush of red. And at the end of what seemed a long driveway through the orchard stood a big house-a white fairy-tale house with red shutters and a red front door and a wonderful wraparound porch with chairs separated by small tables. She couldn't even imagine the luxury of relaxing on such a porch at the end of a long day. At wide s.p.a.ces in the road there were large bins, probably for collecting apples. They pa.s.sed by a forklift tucked into a row of trees and a bit farther down the road, a tractor.

As the house grew closer Nora noticed that there were two large buildings behind it-either barns or very large storage sheds or... Ah, the housing for machinery and farm equipment, she realized, looking into some large open doors. One of the buildings bore the sign Cavanaugh Apples.

For a girl who grew up in a small house on a busy street in Berkeley, she looked at this house, land and operation in both fascination and envy. A person would be very lucky to grow up in such a place.

There was a collection of pickup trucks and four men standing outside a door at the end of one of the buildings.

"Nora?"

She turned toward Reverend Kincaid's voice.

"You probably should get going. While you go talk to Tom Cavanaugh, I'm going to pay a visit to Maxie, the lady of the house. She's almost always in the kitchen or on the porch."

"Where should I go?" she asked, suddenly far less sure of herself.

He pointed toward the short line of men. "Looks like that's the place."

"Right," she said. She got out of the truck, jumped down, but before she closed the door she peered back inside. "Reverend Kincaid, if I need a recommendation, will you give me one?"

She saw him frown again; she knew he was worried about how in the world she'd manage a job like this. Then his frown melted into a smile and he said, "Of course, Nora."

Noah pulled away from her to park on the drive near the house and she went to stand with the men. "Are you applying for the picking job?" she asked.

All four turned toward her. Only one nodded. Feeling a sense of compet.i.tion, she a.s.sessed them. One was an old guy, and old was relative-he was balding, what was left of his hair was wispy and thin, but he stood straight and tall and appeared to have wide, strong shoulders. One was a teenager, around sixteen years old, good-looking and buff. One was a short Mexican man in his twenties, healthy and hearty, and the fourth looked as if he could be his father. "Am I in the right place to apply?"

The older man frowned, the teenager grinned, the older Mexican man looked her up and down and gave her the impression he was merely judging her ability by her size, which was small. And the man who could be his son said, "This is the place. You ever pick before?"

She shook her head.

"Want some advice? Maybe you should tell him you have."

"Why? Is it hard to learn?"

The men chuckled together. "Hard to do," the teenager said. "I'll show you the ropes if you get hired." Then he looked her over from her head to her feet, but his appraisal was a little more personal. "You sure you're up to it?"

She sucked in a breath. She'd do anything to take care of her girls. Mel Sheridan and Reverend Kincaid had helped her get some county a.s.sistance-food stamps and Medicaid-but that wasn't enough to live on. She'd been getting by on that plus part-time jobs at the clinic and the new school's summer program, but it was very part-time, given her small children.

She wanted to earn her own money. There just hadn't been much opportunity.

"I'm stronger than I look," she informed him. "I am. I can't lie about my experience, though. I have this..." This deal I made with G.o.d, she thought dismally. Nora was trying so hard to rectify past mistakes, she wasn't about to make more along the way. "When I make a commitment, I'm good for it. I'll take any advice I can get, though. Did you guys see the notice in the church?"

"We pick every year," the teenager said. "I've been picking since junior high. Jerome has been picking for a hundred years," he said, indicating the older man. "Eduardo and Juan live down in the valley and the apples here pay better than the vegetables. Juan's wife has her own little business-they're doing pretty good these days, right, Juan?"

The older Mexican gentleman nodded solemnly. Proudly.

"Tom usually works around the grove-it's usually Mrs. Cavanaugh and her foreman, Junior, who handle the hiring." The boy put out his hand. "I'm Buddy Holson, by the way."

She took the hand with a smile. "Nora," she said. "Nice to meet you."

The latch to the door finally unlocked; the door opened a crack. Jerome went in first. He came out just a moment later and then Eduardo and Juan entered together. They were out in a second.

"We've all worked here before," Buddy explained. "Everything is on file for the regulars. Good luck."

"Thanks," she said. "Hope to see you around."

"You bet. Me, too," he said, giving his hat a little touch. And Nora realized, he probably thought she was much younger than she was. It would never occur to him she was actually a single mother. "You must live around here."

"Virgin River," she said.

"I'm in Clear River. I better go in-see you around." And he disappeared inside, but was back out in just seconds, slipping a piece of paper into his pocket. With a handsome parting smile and another touch to his hat, he headed for the last pickup parked there.

Nora took a deep breath and pulled open the door. The man behind the desk looked up at her and she froze momentarily. For no particular reason, she'd been expecting a much older man-the husband of the Mrs. Cavanaugh who usually managed the hiring. But this was a young man. And so handsome that he almost took her breath away. He had wide shoulders, a tanned face, brown hair, expressive brows and the kind of dark brown eyes that would glitter in the sun. His features might be ordinary, but put together so perfectly, he was hot. A hunk with that dangerous wholesome look about him-the look that had trapped her in the past. Her face probably flushed before going completely pale. She had had bad luck with such men and had no reason to a.s.sume her luck had changed.

"Can I help you?" he asked.