“Oh yah. We don’t use that.”
“And that’s why I get paid to do what I do. A lot of small businesses can’t be bothered to learn how to do it on their own, but it can make a huge difference in driving customers to your website and the brick-and-mortar business.” As he spoke, he started moving his arms. “For example, you cater to tourists. A lot of them like to take pictures and share them on Instagram or Facebook—so those are great places to have your business, especially so they can tag your orchard in their pictures and then other people can learn about you. And you could post photos of the apples as they grow. Customers love to see behind the scenes.”
“What do you think, Sanna?” Einars asked.
Isaac turned to face her and caught her eyes following his hands with every excited gesture.
“It could work. Anything is better than what we have—our website is ancient. Only Anders knows how to update it, and we haven’t put anything on our Facebook page since we posted the closing date last fall.”
“I could fix it. It really isn’t difficult. And I could teach you how to maintain it.”
Einars chewed his food, his eyes moving from Sanna to Isaac and back. Truthfully, Isaac really wanted to redo their website. He had been horrified when he’d come across it while researching the orchard before he took the job. The site was created in FrontPage and completely unusable on a smartphone. When he viewed it from his laptop, half the photos didn’t load and most of the links were broken. At least the address and phone number were easy to find, but that was the only positive. On principle, he couldn’t let them continue like this.
“I’ll do it for free as part of my employment—it won’t cost you anything. It pains me that much to let you continue as it is.”
A timer dinged before Einars could respond. Isaac noticed the other three had finished eating while he’d been talking business. Isaac looked into Sanna’s bold blue eyes and before she could look away, he said, “Please. Please let me do this for you.” He paused. “And your dad.”
She looked at her plate.
“I think it’s a good idea, Pa.”
From behind him, Isaac could hear Einars pull the dessert from the oven, flooding the room with the mouthwatering scent of warm cinnamon and apples. Isaac shoveled in the last few bites of potato, then helped Sanna collect the dinner plates, following her into the kitchen.
“Well, then I guess you’ll be fixing it—but orchard work needs to come first,” Einars said.
“Agreed.” Elated, Isaac thrust out his hand to shake on it.
In his pocket, his phone buzzed. Against his better judgment, he looked at it.
CALL ME NOW OR I’M TELLING THE POLICE TO TRACK YOUR PHONE!
He really needed to show his mom how to text without all caps.
“Can you all excuse me for a minute, I need to make a quick call.”
“You can use my room,” Einars said, pointing to the far right door on the wall.
Which meant Sanna’s bedroom was the room on the left. Isaac tried to look in, wondering what her room might reveal about her. Did she have a stuffed bear collection, cover her bed in pillows, or leave her dirty clothes strewn on the floor? He caught a glimpse of green and blue before he had to face forward or risk being obvious. Einars’s room was painted a soft gray with a cushy bed. Hand drawings of the orchard hung on the wall, intermingled with photos of Sanna with a tall blond man about the same age—that must be Anders. The room contained a bed, dresser, a side table, and a blue-gray rug covering the plank floors.
Once he closed the door, he made the call he’d been dreading for days.
“It’s about damn time,” his mom said with a huff.
“Mom, I’m—”
“You can’t disappear like that.” So it was going to be one of those calls where she talked and he listened. He deserved it. “I’ve been worried sick about you and Bass. People are asking when the funeral will be, what we should do with the remains? Where they should send memorial checks? We need to pick a cause. There are things that need to be done. Where are you?”
As her words rushed over him, all the distance he’d put between himself and the mess back at home shrunk to nothing. He’d run away, but reality could still find him here. He needed to get off the phone, and quick.
“You don’t need to worry. We’re fine—”
“How can you be fine? Bass must be devastated.” There was only one thing to do when she got like this. Talk louder.
“We’re fine and safe. We’re going to spend the rest of the summer in Wisconsin.”
“What’s in Wisconsin?”
“What we need. We’ll be back when we get back. Please cremate her. We’ll deal with the rest when we get home. I have to go. Love you.”
He hung up before she could say anything else. He took a few breaths to ease his nerves. He wanted to find that energized place he had been a few minutes ago, but the moment was gone. Before he had even left the room, his mom texted again.
DON’T HANG UP ON ME. I’D CALL BACK BUT I KNOW YOU WON’T PICK UP. NEXT TIME I WANT REAL ANSWERS. LOVE.
He shoved the phone back in his pocket and returned to the table as they were sitting down to warm plates of dessert.
“Sanna,” Einars was saying, “you won’t believe who I caught sneaking over the border and taking clippings from our trees early yesterday morning.”
Sanna shook her head. “Was it Mrs. Rundstrom? Again?”
Einars chuckled. “I was surprised she could move that fast in her fuzzy slippers and housecoat.”
“I’ll talk to Thad. They only need to ask.”
Isaac wasn’t following the conversation, still torn between the responsibilities back home and the bucolic peace he needed here. He took a breath, hoping no one had noticed, but of course Sanna had—her head tilted slightly to the left as she watched him. He forced a smile and hoped she bought it.
“This looks amazing, what is it?”
He was surprised when Bass answered instead of Einars.
“It’s caramel apple bread pudding with a cider sauce.”
Bass looked at Einars as he spoke and smiled when Einars nodded that he’d gotten it correct, Bass’s pride obvious on his glowing face. See? He wouldn’t have had this moment in San Jose—this was what they were here for—new experiences and new memories away from the complicated heartache. Some of Isaac’s guilt eased the more Bass’s smile widened.
“You helped make this?” Isaac said. He scooped up a large bite and his taste buds exploded with joy. Cinnamon apples and custardy bread pudding melded together with the creamy caramel sauce spiked with cider. It might be the perfect dessert. “Good job, Sharky.”
Sanna leaned toward Bass across the table and whispered loudly, “You did a better job than my dad normally does.”
She didn’t smile or wink to undermine the verity of her words or dumb it down, just issued the straight compliment. Isaac’s heart melted as Bass sat up taller in his chair. Maybe that wasn’t the only reason Isaac’s heart melted.