Hearts Like Ours | Red View Romance #1

🍏 Twelve

It was a beautiful day outside, all traces of yesterday's heatwave long gone. It had simmered down into weather that was now carrying a hint of fall. A steady, gentle breeze trailed into the house, swaying the pale curtains hanging on the kitchen windows. Absently, Layla wondered what it was like for Dawson to work outside every day, enjoying the days like today but having to bare Virginia's bitter winters and muggy summers.

Layla eyed the supplies splayed out over the countertop and the island in the center of the kitchen, and Kenzie in her bright red apron. "This looks... complicated."

Kenzie grinned, waving the thought away. "The process is pretty simple, really." She gestured around the room to different stations as she spoke, "We chop up the apples, boil them, and add that to the melted wax with some cinnamon. Then we dye the wax red and pour it into these," she picked up one of the small glass jars that had wicks glued inside, "and let them set for a day."

She let Layla take care of chopping the apples. Thanks to her time in the sorting shed, she knew these bruised apples were probably from the batches that Dawson sifted through. Their flaws didn't matter now as she cut them into tiny pieces, tossing them into the pot that was simmering on the stove and filling the kitchen to the brim with the scent of apples.

Kenzie watched the wax, stirring it and keeping an eye on the temperature. "How was dinner at Rushing Waters?"

"Nice," Layla answered. "I read on the menu they get a lot of their ingredients from the surrounding farms and orchards. Anything from you guys?"

"Some. They do a lot of apple desserts in the fall, so that's when we really start to do business with them. The first date I went on with Marshall, he took me there. We ended up sharing an apple crumble for dessert, and I told him we could've just saved our money if I'd forced Dawson to make us something at home."

Layla smiled at the story. "How long have you two known each other?"

"Oh, since high school. He was my best friend before we started dating. He had a crush on me for years, but I never knew about it. I never imagined he—or any guy, really—could think of me that way, you know? So I never let myself think of him that way until he confessed."

Layla wasn't sure what would make Kenzie think that men wouldn't be interested in her. She was radiant, and probably the friendliest person Layla'd ever met. Everything she did was laced with positivity—even the painful extra reps of their workouts and the stressful task of planning her wedding. From what she'd seen, there was nothing that Kenzie couldn't tackle with a smile.

"We've been together now for four years. We've talked about marriage since pretty early on, but he wanted everything to be just right, and I didn't mind waiting. I knew I wanted to wait awhile before starting a family, anyway. But his business is really solid now, and we can afford to build our dream house, so I guess we both realized there was no reason to put it off anymore. He proposed after we had another date at Rushing Waters. So it's a special place for us in more ways than one."

"You guys work well together," Layla commented, dropping more apple chunks into the pot next to her. "It was something I worried about when I was thinking about starting the boot camp—some couples really don't do well with this sort of thing. They start to think they're competing against each other, rather than working together."

"Do you train a lot of couples?"

"Not that many, but some. A few fashion models and their boyfriends, who are all trying to make it in one thing or another. Some of the movie stars I train bring in their girlfriends every now and then. Just to try and show off to them, I think."

Kenzie giggled, still stirring the wax. "I can imagine they don't all seem so glamorous when you've seen them exercising day after day."

"You're right about that. Plus, you get to know some of them more than you'd like to. It's always nicer working with people who haven't let all the fame go to their head—or even better, the clients who aren't famous. You and Marshall offered me a place to stay, and you thank me after every workout. It's a lot different than how I get treated back home."