When I Fall in Love Read Online Free Page B

berries.
    â€œOkay, honey, dig in. But be careful, they have thorns. And remember, the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice,” she said with a laugh. “Oh, I love that saying.”
    Tayler chuckled and shook her head.
    â€œNo, seriously, though, the blacker and plumper the berry, the better. The red or purple ones aren’t ripe yet, so leave them. And don’t be afraid to get under there and find them berries. They’re tough—you can’t hurt anything.”
    But my hands , Tayler thought. Then, she realized the sooner they had enough berries, the sooner they would be out of there, so she held back the thorns with one hand and plucked off berries with the other.
    A few minutes later, she moved down farther in search of more plump blackberries. She was starting to get the hang of it and had only been pricked by thorns twice. She crouched down when she saw a bunch of blackberries close to the ground. Careful this time, she pulled the thorns back with one hand and reached in with the other.
    Suddenly, a long black snake slithered from the open path, headed in her direction.
    â€œAhh!” She screamed, jumped to her feet and ran as if her life depended upon it.
    Before she could catch her breath, she ran into a brick wall named Rollin.
    â€œHey, what’s going on?” he asked as he reached out and caught Tayler by the arm.
    â€œA snake!” She flung her arms and looked back over her shoulder. “A snake attacked me back there. It crawled out from under the bushes and came right at me.” She shook her hands before brushing down her pant legs.
    â€œDid it bite you?” he asked.
    All she could do was shake her head.
    â€œHow big was it?” he asked, holding her now with one arm around her shoulders to steady her.
    She took a deep breath. “I don’t know, it wasn’t too big, but it was a snake nonetheless. Yuck, I hate snakes.” She swatted at the crawling sensation going up her arm.
    â€œWhat color was it?”
    Now everything on her body itched, and Tayler pulled away long enough to shake her pant legs and notice the smirk on Rollin’s face. “I think it was black, or...what’s so funny? Are you laughing at me?”
    â€œNo, of course not,” he said as he pointed behind her. “Is that it?”
    Without looking behind her, Tayler jumped and ran behind Rollin, and then glanced at the ground. She didn’t see anything.
    The roar of laughter caught her attention and she looked up at everyone in the truck bed having a good laugh at her expense.
    Rollin chuckled and held his hands up, palms out. “I’m sorry, that was mean. I shouldn’t have done it.”
    Barbara called out, trying not to laugh, “Tayler, we’re sorry, but it was only a small garden snake. It won’t hurt you.”
    With her arms crossed, Tayler glared at Barbara and the crew. “It was a snake, that’s all I know, and I don’t do snakes.”
    â€œOccasionally, a little snake crawls under the bushes looking for a nice warm bed. Come show me where you saw it.” Rollin touched Tayler’s elbow, edging her back down the path.
    Arms crossed, she stood rooted to her spot. “I’m not going back down there. I told you, I don’t do snakes.”
    Kevin walked up. “Is she okay?” he asked Rollin.
    â€œYeah, she’ll be fine.”
    â€œIt was probably a garden snake, like Mrs. Barbara said,” Kevin offered. “They’re virtually harmless, and they do their best to avoid people. I don’t see too many of them out here.”
    Kevin and Rollin walked down the path in the direction of the snake. They poked around under bushes, but it didn’t look as if either spotted the snake. Rollin picked up her basket of blackberries. She wondered what she was going to eat every day, since she wasn’t about to come back out here to pick anything.
    Back at the truck, Tayler sat on the edge