Sour Apples (11 page)

“I like the idea of saving the old ones. All right, next question: how are we going to plant all these trees? I can’t see the two of us digging a thousand holes by hand.”

“Backhoe’s the fastest way. First you run it along the lines where you want to plant, clear off the grass, then you can dig the holes with it. The two of us could handle the actual planting part—if you’re not afraid of some hard work?” Bree’s look challenged Meg.

“If we can do it ourselves, I’d rather not spend the money on hiring help this early. Do you know where we can find a backhoe for rent?”

“Maybe Seth can—” Bree began.

“Get us a deal?” Meg laughed. “As usual. Sure, I’ll ask him. Do we know what our timeline will be?”

“I can place the order today, if you’re good with it. We
can have the trees delivered by the end of the week, I’d guess.”

Meg waved a hand at Bree. “Make it so, Number One!” When Bree looked blankly at her, Meg mumbled, “Old
Star Trek
reference. Yes, do it. I’ll talk to Seth and see what paperwork we’ll need for the land lease. And about the backhoe.”

“Cool.” Bree’s glance shifted. “Looks like your company’s back.”

Meg followed her gaze and saw that Lauren’s car had pulled into the driveway. Meg checked her watch: it was after five. Where had the day gone? “I hope she’ll have time to sit still for a bit. I haven’t had a chance to really talk to her since she arrived.”

“Don’t let her talk you into anything,” Bree muttered. “You don’t have the time.”

Meg turned to look at Bree. “You don’t like her much, do you?”

“Me?” Bree shrugged. “She’s not my friend, she’s yours. I don’t want her interfering with our work schedule. You want to have some playtime with her some night, go ahead.”

Unlikely, Meg thought. “Are you going to leave the stakes in place?”

“Yeah, I want to get some more precise measurements before I put in the order, and it’ll be dark soon.”

“I’m going to go down and try to catch Lauren before she disappears again. See you for dinner?”

Bree nodded, and Meg headed to the house, where she found Lauren in the kitchen, rummaging through the refrigerator. Lauren backed out to greet Meg.

“There you are! I was wondering where you’d gotten to, since I saw your car was still here.”

“I was up laying out a new part of the orchard. Are you just passing through, or can you sit for a while? I feel like I’ve barely seen you since you got here.”

“I know! Luckily, Rick’s got a private event tonight, and he’s taking his wife. So I’m all yours for the evening.” Lauren
cocked an eyebrow at her. “Unless you have other plans? Like with that hunky neighbor of yours?” When Meg shook her head, Lauren said, “You can fill me in on what’s going on with you two over dinner. Want to go out?”

“If you recall, there aren’t a lot of choices in Granford. And I don’t feel like cleaning myself up to go over to Northampton or Amherst. You mind just staying in? It would give us a better chance to talk anyway.”

“As long as I don’t have to cook, suits me. Will your manager person be joining us?”

Meg fought down a flash of annoyance. “Please don’t dismiss Bree that easily. She’s young, but she knows far more about the business than I do, and I couldn’t function here without her. She’s also a smart woman—and, as she reminded me, a registered voter. I assume your campaign can’t afford to blow off the twenty-something vote?”

Lauren held up her hands in surrender. “You’re right, and I was being rude. I guess I’m more stressed out than I thought.”

Meg went over to the cabinet to contemplate the possibilities for dinner. “Why are you stressed?” she said over her shoulder. “You seem to be having fun.”

“Oh, I am, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that I’m new to this whole game, and we’ve got such a tight schedule. Most candidates get a year’s head start on us apparently.”

Meg opened the fridge and pulled out some ground meat. “So why did Rick jump into this race so late?”

“Boy, you really don’t follow politics, do you? There wasn’t an opening until now—incumbents usually win, you know, but for your district the incumbent just announced his plans to retire. Do you have anything to drink?”

“I did see something in the paper about that, but I guess I didn’t realize this was his district. There’s some wine open in the fridge, and I’ll be happy to join you. But I warn you, these days wine mainly puts me to sleep—I work hard, you know.”

Meg handed her the bottle, put two wineglasses on the table, and turned back to dinner—wondering why Lauren seemed so edgy.

Bree came in a few minutes later, but as soon as she spotted Lauren settled at the table she announced, “I think I’ll just grab a sandwich and get started on those orders. I’m sure you two want some alone time.”

Meg started to protest, but Lauren jumped in. “Bree, don’t let me drive you away. In fact, I’d love to talk to you sometime about how to reach out to college voters, if you’re willing.”

“Maybe. But right now I have to go buy a lot of apple trees.” Bree headed into the dining room, where the laptop computer lived.

Lauren looked at Meg. “She doesn’t like me much, does she?”

“It’s not that—she’s working really hard to make the orchard a success, and she resents you taking me away from it. So tell me—I’ve really been wanting to hear about how you extricated yourself from the bank and ended up working for Rick Sainsbury.”

Lauren took a sip of wine. “Well, since you asked…”

Two hours later the wine was gone, and Meg was feeling very relaxed. In contrast, Lauren had become more and more animated as the evening had progressed. They’d covered the implosion at their former employer and the dispersal of most of the people they had known. Meg was surprised that she didn’t feel much of anything about the changes. Lauren had been her only real friend on the job. No one else had even contacted her in the year since she’d left—and she had barely noticed. Her life in Boston seemed very distant now.

“So what made you decide to go into politics?” Meg asked.

“Well, it was kind of serendipitous, I guess. I’d just about made up my mind to ditch the bank. Yeah, I know—bad time to give up any job, but I knew I had enough in savings to tide me over for a while, and I didn’t want to wait around for the axe to fall, you know? Then I went to this party with a guy I was sort of seeing, and he introduced me to Rick.”

“Was he already running for something then, or did that come later?”

“Maybe he was thinking about it, but it didn’t come up then. When he did decide to jump in, he remembered me saying that I was looking for a change, and I was ready to make a move. And here we are.” Lauren drained her glass. “Seth’s involved in local politics, isn’t he?”

Meg had been wondering when Lauren would drag the conversation around to Seth. “He’s a selectman for Granford, but I don’t think he has any higher aspirations. He believes in contributing to the community, and he’s lived here all his life.”

“I can respect that. But Rick is a businessman—a successful one. He’s got the money and he fits the profile, so he thought he’d aim higher. And having a father-in-law who’s still remembered fondly around here doesn’t hurt. I know, it’s kind of a long shot for a newcomer, but he’s made the right friends. I’m sure even you know that there’s a lot of dissatisfaction with the status quo among voters these days, so we think there’s a real opportunity for a fresh face with some good ideas.” Lauren grinned. “And he’s got me!”

“Does it bother you that a lot of people today seem to vote
against
something rather than
for
something?” Meg asked, curious.

“They’re angry and they’re frustrated. Who can blame them? I’m sure you see that even on a local level.”

Meg remembered what Seth had told her about the complaints he fielded. “Yes, though on a smaller scale. Not enough money to pay for basic needs, like schools and roads, and no way to raise more given a declining population and falling tax revenues. It’s just simple math: demand far outweighs supply of funds, and that’s not going to change any time soon. I admire Seth for sticking with it. It’s not easy.”

“Washington is more of the same, only on a bigger
scale, from what I can tell already. But a lot of people seem to think that the old-guard politicians are hiding pots of money or spending it all on their pet projects, then flat-out lying about it. That’s why a new broom makes sense. Sorry, that’s not a good metaphor, but you know what I mean.”

“I do. So how do you compress an entire campaign into a few months? I thought these things took years.”

“That’s old school. With electronic media and instant communication, it’s a whole new world now. Why don’t you come see? There’s a small event in South Hadley tomorrow night, very low-key—a cocktail party at a professor’s house. You could come and get to know Rick, see him in action. Maybe bring Seth along?”

“I don’t think Seth would be interested.” Although Meg couldn’t explain more than that to Lauren, since she didn’t really know herself.

“You could at least ask him,” Lauren persisted.

“Sure, but I can’t promise. Why are you so eager to involve Seth?”

“Well, Rick and Seth went to high school together. It’s nice to renew old ties, don’t you think?”

Meg remembered the expression on Seth’s face—or rather, the deliberate lack of expression—when Meg had mentioned that Lauren was working for Rick. Lauren’s explanation wasn’t convincing. “I’ll ask, all right?”

“That’s all I can hope for. Thank you. Now, tell me: what’s going on between the two of you?”

Meg couldn’t help herself from smiling, even though she wasn’t sure how much she wanted to tell Lauren just yet. “We’re dating, kind of. Taking it one day at a time. You’ve got to understand, if it doesn’t work out, it could be messy—I mean, he’s literally working out of my backyard. And he’s involved in everything that goes on in Granford. So we’re taking things slow.”
Sort of.
“What about you? Are you seeing anyone?”

“When would I have the time? Turns out political campaigns take up all the attention you’ve got. There are events almost every night, and then you’re up at dawn for meetings, strategy sessions, and so on. And it’s only going to get worse as the election gets closer. Unless you share that obsession with someone—you know, like Carville and Matalin, say—you don’t have a chance to sustain a relationship. I’ll think about dating after the election.”

Meg wondered fleetingly if there was any chemistry between Rick and Lauren. From what little she’d seen of him, he was attractive and charismatic. And married. Still, was there another reason why he had hired political neophyte Lauren to fill an important campaign role? “Rick is certainly photogenic. Does his wife always travel with him?”

Lauren gave her a sharp look, as if guessing what she was thinking, but said neutrally, “Sometimes. Their kids are fairly young, and she’s busy at home. But you’ve seen her—she can play the game, thanks to years of watching dear old Dad do it. She’s a real asset. And she knows the players, again thanks to Dad.”

“So she and Rick are a real power couple, then.” Meg looked at the kitchen clock. “Good grief, is it that late? I’ve got a busy day tomorrow. Do you know how much longer you’ll be around?”

“You trying to get rid of me already?” Lauren joked.

“Of course not! It’s great to have a chance to talk with you. I just wondered if you’d have time to have dinner with Seth and maybe his mother, Lydia. We could go back to Gran’s.”

“Let me get back to you on that after the event tomorrow night. Please come, Meg. I think you’ll be impressed. And remember to invite Seth, too, okay?”

Seth again. Why? “Sure. I’ll talk to him tomorrow.” She stood up. “I’m going to head upstairs—I’ll be in and out of the bathroom fast, if you need it.”

“Thanks, Meg. And thanks for having me. I know I’m a lousy guest, but it’s been good to see you.”

Lauren was already gone when Meg came downstairs the next morning, although she’d left a scribbled note with the location of the event that night. Meg fed Lolly and was finishing her first cup of coffee when Bree tumbled down the back stairs, looking triumphant.

“Got ’em!” she said.

“What—the apple trees? Already?”

“Told you, the guy was ready to dump the whole lot. He’ll even deliver them tomorrow. You better find that backhoe, fast.”

“Yikes! I’ll talk to Seth. Lauren wanted me to ask him to this thing Rick is having tonight, anyway.”

“She gone already?” Bree sat down with her own coffee and a muffin.

“She said something about early meetings. Lauren has never been a morning person, but she seems really charged up about this. Are you okay with her apology?”

“Yeah, sure. It’s no big deal. I hope she listened, though. I bet Michael’s got some friends who would love to bend her ear, or the candidate’s.”

“Not Michael?”

“No, he doesn’t like PR crap—he’s more a behind-the-scenes type of guy. But he is plugged in to the local organic community.”

“Wait—you’re already thinking of ways to help?”

Bree spread butter on her muffin. “Only if this Sainsbury guy looks legit. Michael’s crowd won’t take any BS or vague generalities. If Rick Sainsbury is bogus, they’ll see through him fast.”