Chapter 13
Stormy Weather
An unexpected storm threatens the orchard. Elara and Liam work together through the night to protect the crops, their teamwork solidifying their bond.
The sky had been a bruised purple all afternoon, the kind of color that promised more than just rain. Elara watched from the kitchen window of the bakery, her hands dusted with flour, a faint unease settling in her stomach. The air felt heavy, charged with an unspoken tension, much like the days leading up to Liam’s confession. She’d been trying to push that memory away, focusing instead on the delicate scent of the strawberry and peach tarts that were flying off the shelves. The "Miga, Miel y Huerto" sign, the one Liam had helped her paint, gleamed proudly in the sunlight. It felt like a lifetime ago, and yet, the echoes of that confrontation still sometimes made her breath catch.
A sudden gust of wind rattled the windowpanes, and a sheet of rain, thick and furious, plastered itself against the glass. The afternoon light dimmed as if a giant hand had drawn a curtain across the sun. Liam had been out at the orchard, checking the irrigation system after the recent dry spell. He’d promised to be back before the worst of it, but the storm seemed to have arrived with a vengeance, far sooner and with a ferocity she hadn’t anticipated.
“Oh, no,” she murmured, wiping her hands on her apron. The thought of the delicate strawberry blossoms, so recently unfurled, battered by hail or lashed by wind, sent a pang of anxiety through her. The peach trees, heavy with nascent fruit, were particularly vulnerable.
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