Read Online The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen - Free Book Online

back. “I guess it just would have been a nice thing to do.”
    “I did the best I could,” she snapped. “And where were you when all this was happening? You coordinated everything with the landscaping by phone and email. You wouldn’t even do that in person.”
    “I didn’t know you wanted me here for the duration.” He paused, frowning at her reaction. “No one asked you to take on this project alone, Pax.” He’d been surprised by Paxton’s call last year, asking him to do thelandscaping, but he couldn’t say no. She’d wanted a large tree on the property, and after a lot of networking, Colin had found one being threatened by development nearby. But transplanting a tree that heavy and old had to be carefully choreographed. Everything had to be planned, down to the smallest detail. All year he’d been in touch weekly with the arborists they’d hired. And he’d taken off a month to oversee everything up until the grand opening of the Madam, which he’d considered a great sacrifice, because he hadn’t been home for that long in over a decade.
    Paxton threw her hands in the air. “The Blue Ridge Madam is the first thing anyone sees as they drive into town. It was an eyesore. It was either tear it down or restore it. That house is part of our town history. I did a good thing, even if I didn’t ask Willa Jackson to help.”
    “Calm down, Pax. What’s wrong?”
    She closed her eyes and sighed. “Nothing’s wrong. I just can’t ever seem to do enough.”
    “Enough for who? Mom and Dad? You have to get over that. You’re never going to be happy until you live your own life.”
    “Family is important, Colin. But that’s not something I’d expect you to understand.” She turned to leave. “Cover for me at dinner tonight, will you? Tell Mama and Daddy that I had to go finish up some work at the outreach center.”
    “Why?”
    She spun back around and said, “Can’t you do that for me? It’s not as if you’ve been around for the past ten years to do it.”
    She was right. “Is that where you’re really going?” he asked as she stepped back into the kitchen.
    “No.”

    Paxton drove to Sebastian’s house and pulled in front. His car wasn’t there. That’s when she remembered that he kept late hours on Thursdays at his office, which was the reason he’d had the time to go with her to visit her grandmother that morning. Now she had to see him twice in order to get through the day? She wondered how she survived before he came to town. Basically, she’d kept her stress to herself, sublimating it with red licorice or trying to work it out through her endless series of private lists.
    She buzzed down the windows in her car and cut the engine. She felt better just sitting here, looking at Shade Tree Cottage. Reaching over to her tote bag, she brought out a small notebook, one of dozens she carried around. Sometimes she used whatever she had on hand, a paper napkin or the back of an envelope. It all ended up in her bag. Most of her lists were about control, about breaking down her life into manageable pieces. But some of the lists were simply wishes. There was nothing more satisfying than putting what you wanted most onto paper. It gave substance to something that was before as thin as air. It made it one step closer to being real.
    She flipped to a clean sheet of paper and started a list about Sebastian. She had a lot of lists about him.Sebastian’s Favorite Things. If Sebastian and I Went on Vacation Together, Where Would We Go?
    Today she started:
R EASONS W HY S EBASTIAN M AKES M E F EEL B ETTER
He doesn’t care that I’m as tall as he is.
He doesn’t care that I weigh more.
He holds my hand through things and doesn’t think less of me for it.
He smells fantastic.
He’s all clean lines and perfect manners.
    “Do you do this often when I’m not here? Sit outside my house and work on your lists?”
    Paxton gave a start and turned to see Sebastian, his hands on top of her car as he leaned