It seemed to be Ashton and Rachel.
Rachel spoke in a delicate voice. “Mr. Fuller, you didn’t have to come with me. This orchard is not that far away, so I’m fine being alone. It’s better if you stay with Mr. Oberick and keep him company.”
Ashton replied softly, “It’s fine. The paths are slippery so it’s not that safe for you to come alone.”
Rachel then broke out into a light smile as her eyes shone brightly, probably because Ashton’s words had been very warming to hear.
Feeling as though I was a third wheel, I prepared to leave.
However, Ashton suddenly called on me. “Ms. Stovall, have you finished picking the fruits?”
Stunned, I looked into my empty plastic bag and laughed. “Not yet. Aren’t you picking some with Ms. Zimmer? I don’t think Mr. Oberick needs that many, so I’ll just leave first!”
“Since you’re already here and the weather is so hot, why don’t you pick a few more back and share them with the rest?” said Rachel, as she deliberately moved closer to Ashton, as if she were afraid that I would not be able to see how close they were.
I nodded and replied indifferently, “Sure, I’ll pick some then!”
As I walked around the orchard, I managed to find a pear tree that looked rather healthy and was at the right height for me to reach.
Rachel had been following me around as if she were a ghost haunting me. When I plucked a pear and placed it in my bag, she picked one too. She then wiped it clean for a long time before taking a bite. She scrunched up her face as she said, “It’s really sour. Who’s going to eat them if you bring it back? What a waste of these fruits!”
I just stood there as I was lost for words. Then, I looked at her and said, “Someone else will eat them. If it’s too sour for you, go pick your own!”
Ignoring her, I then found another tree. However, Rachel continued to shout, “These fruits seem good, Ms. Stovall. Why don’t you climb up to pick them!”
I looked to where she pointed and pressed my lips together, speechless. The tree was a few meters tall, so naturally, it got a lot of sunlight. However, it was not that simple to pluck fruits from a tree that tall.
“I can’t climb trees!” I replied, not planning to carry on the conversation any further.
“Seriously?” She looked at me with a shocked expression and continued, “Mr. Fuller told me that you grew up in the countryside. Don’t tell me you can’t even climb such a small tree?”
However, the man in question was nowhere in sight. Frowning, I looked at her and said, “Did Ashton tell you that?”
Rachel nodded as if it was something to be expected. “Yeah, he told me so much about his past!”
I then gave her a nod and hummed in reply before ignoring her.
Seeing that I was about to leave, Rachel moved to block my way. “The fruits on this tree are definitely sweet. Why can’t you just climb up to pluck a few? You’re so selfish. Who’s going to eat all those sour fruits that you picked?”
I huffed, feeling slightly irritated, then looked at her and said, “You have hands and feet too. Why don’t you climb up and pick them? Since you think it’s so easy, go ahead! I’m not stopping you!”
What a crazy woman!
“Scarlett, you’re… really selfish!” Rachel was so furious that she could not find words to refute me and could only curse at me in anger.
However, I was not in the mood to continue talking to her. I just wanted to pick some fruits and go back.
Just then, Ashton came back with a bag of fruits. He looked at us and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“You’re back, Mr. Fuller!” said Rachel, as she strutted to Ashton and continued, “Look at the pears on this tree! They look so big and juicy even from afar. I bet they’re delicious.”
He nodded. “It’s a little tall though, so it won’t be easy to climb.”
Rachel nodded and acted pitiful as she replied, “I’d previously heard that Ms. Stovall liked to climb trees, so I wanted her to give it a try.”
I was lost for words as I always got the feeling that the two of them seemed a little crazy.
Paying no attention to them, I was preparing to leave before Ashton looked at me and raised his eyebrow, then said, “The pear tree in the yard at R Province is taller than this. Summer always said that you climbed it to pick the pears every year. Why don’t you try it!”
Damn it!
I frowned and replied, “Climb it yourself. It’s getting late so I should go back. I still have a lot of work to finish.”
He replied with an air of leisure, “Looks like you don’t really care much about Mr. Murphy’s instructions to cooperate with us.”
Holding my breath, I glared at both of them, unable to get a word out.
I then placed the bag down then looked up at the tree, which was about three or four meters tall. I could not help but exhale in annoyance.
It was not actually that difficult. In the past in R Province, John had said that since I was so small and thin, I would not crush the tree when I climbed it to pick its fruits.
From then on, he liked to trick me into picking the fruits that he could not reach, while he just stood on the ground and waited with a basket in his hands. According to him, even if I did not pick the fruit and had fallen, he would still be there to catch me.
Since I was lucky, I had never actually fallen from a tree since I was a kid. Then, as I grew up, it became rarer for me to climb trees.
During the period when I had brought Summer back to R Province, I planted a pear tree in the yard. It grew very tall and whenever she wanted to eat one, I would climb up and pick one for her.
