“I won’t.” He acted as though what he felt for Harper wasn’t any big deal. But after he’d said goodbye to his brother and was walking toward the parking lot, he couldn’t help checking his phone to see if he’d heard from her. He was so tempted to text her. He wanted to know how Axel had reacted to what he’d heard—if he’d been hard on her or if it had all blown over. He also wanted to know how Harper was feeling about what they’d done—if she regretted it.

He supposed he was even wondering if she wanted to do it again. Because he knew what he wanted. Whether it would ultimately run him into a brick wall or not, he’d take Harper back to bed in a heartbeat.

Carl was standing outside smoking pot when Tobias arrived home. Tobias would’ve ignored him—he preferred not to have any interaction with Carl—but Carl was once again loitering right outside Tobias’s door.

Feeling his muscles tense in aggravation as well as dislike, Tobias stepped out of his truck and shut the door a little harder than he’d intended.

“Bad day?” Carl blew the pungent smoke into the air.

Tobias had a funny feeling that Carl was being annoying on purpose. He knew that Tobias wouldn’t be happy to find him here. The orchard consisted of sixteen acres! There was no need for them to cross paths so often. Carl could go behind the garage or the barn, which was even farther away from the two houses, if he wanted to have a joint without his father seeing him.

“Not too bad,” Tobias replied with a shrug.

“You just come from work?”

“That’s right.”

“You’re a lucky man,” Carl said. “At least you can work.”

Tobias arched an eyebrow at him. “You’re saying you can’t?”

“Injured my back at my last job.” He smiled through the haze, giving Tobias the impression he didn’t really lament the injury. “I’m on disability.”

So that was how he’d been getting by. Public assistance also explained why Carl couldn’t quite manage on his own. Disability didn’t pay a great deal, not to people who weren’t earning much at the time they were injured.

“Where were you working when you got hurt?” Tobias expected him to say roofing or framing or some other occupation where back injuries were common. He was not expecting Carl to say what he did.

“At a gas station.”

“You hurt your back at a gas station?” Tobias didn’t bother hiding his skepticism.

Carl stared at his joint for a few seconds before letting the smoke curl out through his nose. “Yup. Freak accident. Slipped while mopping the floor. My back hasn’t been the same since.”