Free Family Trees by Kerstin March Page B

slipped the delicate silver chain from his fingers to hers. A warm blush rose up and spread across her cheeks. It’s your apple blush, Shel, Jeff had said after he kissed her for the first time, so many years ago. She withdrew her hand and pushed back the memory.
    â€œThanks. It was nice of you to come all the way out here to return this.” She removed her other work glove and held them between her knees while she secured the necklace around her neck. “It’s sentimental to me. It was a gift from my grandfather and I honestly don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost it.”
    â€œIt was no trouble,” he said, his face lit up in a smile.
    â€œWhere did you find it? And how did you know it was mine?”
    â€œI saw it on the sidewalk, right where you had been standing before you got into your truck. I had a hunch that it might be yours.”
    â€œPretty good hunch.” She heard a soft rustling through the orchard as a breeze passed through and cooled the back of her neck.
    â€œGuess you could say it was a bit of a Cinderella moment,” he said. “You know—pretty girl drops something as she rushes off, only to be found by the charming prince . . .”
    â€œCharming prince?” Come on—is this guy for real? she thought in disbelief. Tourist .
    â€œYour grandmother called me charming earlier, so I’m going with it,” he joked, displaying a boyish dimple in his left cheek that she hadn’t noticed before. “And before they have a chance to get to know each other better, she notices the time and drives off. . . .”
    â€œ. . . in an old pickup?” she interjected, appreciative that he’d gone out of his way to help her—again—but not about to succumb to his charms.
    â€œYes. In your case, a truck. And the poor guy is left with nothing more than the glass slipper.”
    â€œThe necklace.”
    â€œPrecisely.”
    â€œWell, I’ll have to agree with Gran. You are charming. And thoughtful to come all the way here, especially when you could have just given it to Boots.”
    â€œThat would have been far less interesting.”
    â€œPerhaps.” She laughed in spite of herself. “So. Thanks again. First this morning. And now this. But I should be getting back to work.” Shelby slipped the gloves back on her hands as Ryan retrieved her bucket of tree shoots and damaged apples.
    â€œRight, of course,” he said. “But let me ask you a question first.”
    â€œSure.”
    â€œWhat’s your boyfriend’s name?”
    â€œExcuse me?” She couldn’t have heard him correctly. He extended the bucket to her with an amused smirk on his face. Like a chess player who casually challenges his rook to her queen and whispers, “checkmate,” Ryan knew her game was over.
    â€œSimple enough question,” he continued. “Does he live nearby?”
    I’m not playing, she thought, putting up her guard again. She took the bucket from him and asked, “Aren’t your friends going to wonder where you are?”
    â€œNope. They’ll hardly notice I’m gone,” he said with confidence. “Is the guy a Badgers fan?”
    â€œWhat?”
    He pointed to her hat with the white W for Wisconsin embroidered on its front. “Your boyfriend. Did he go to Madison?”
    She raised her other hand to touch its frayed brim. “I went to Madison.” She placed the bucket in the flatbed of her truck with a heavy thud and turned back to the tree to retrieve the ladder. As she folded the ladder, its joints stiff from age and its metal rungs warm from the summer heat, she blocked out the sound of Ryan’s prying questions and recalled a happier time.
    It was fall and football and new beginnings. For the first time in her life she was away from home and the possibilities for her life seemed endless. Shelby and Jeff were freshmen dressed in red and white