Page 72 of Hometown Girl

“Good. Once you’re done, you’ll want to water them all.” He stood, hands on hips and nodded. “You can do this. I’ll come back and check on you.”

She pulled on a pair of gardening gloves she’d found in the house, along with a floppy gardening hat. Sonya’s, most likely. Then she did exactly what Drew had shown her. She arranged her seeds in rows, not too close together, and covered them with the soil.

By the middle of the morning, the new crew had arrived. She watched as they met Drew in the main barn, where he gave them a rundown of their jobs. He’d hired them all last week after placing an ad in theWillow Grove Sentineland putting up a sign at Butler’s advertising exactly what they needed: able-bodied, skilled workers.

As Beth watched them filter in, she resisted the urge to tell him the best way to motivate these men. The truth was, she didn’t know if her methods would work with such a different group of people. She found her confidence lacking as she went back to planting her seeds.

After a few minutes, the men were out in the yard, working. That was fast. She stood and did a quick glance around the farm, impressed that everyone seemed to know exactly where they were going and what they were doing. While up, she stretched her aching muscles, then took a moment to admire the whole first bed, completely planted.

“You taking a break?” Drew called out to her from several yards away.

“Just stretching,”

“You look proud of yourself.” He smiled at her. He had a nice smile.

“Well, proud of us. I couldn’t have done this without you.”

“That doesn’t suit you, you know.”

“What doesn’t?”

“Doubting yourself.”

Hard to be sure of herself in such unknown territory. Before she could respond, an unfamiliar car—a silver Lexus—pulled into the parking lot.

Beth shielded her eyes from the sun.

“Expecting company?” Drew asked.

“No. You?”

The door of the Lexus opened, and the driver emerged. Beth’s heart sank. “Oh no.”

Dina Larson, with her long, wavy blond hair, got out of the car. She wore a pair of jeans, a cream-colored button-down shirt and a camel-colored suede jacket. Her heeled booties and checkered scarf made her look out of place at Fairwind Farm. She could’ve been a supermodel.

Beth wiped the sweat from her brow, spreading dirt across her forehead. She glanced down at her ripped jeans and old Cubs T-shirt. She was still wearing the floppy garden hat, and she looked—she was sure—like an absolute mess.

Dina waved as soon as she spotted them, then veered in their direction. She stumbled slightly as her heel sank into the grass.

“You know her?” Drew moved to Beth’s side.

“Unfortunately,” Beth said dryly.

That wasn’t quite fair. Dina Larson had been one of Beth’s friends—on the surface, anyway. They’d had so much in common and were in the same circle, and yet, there had always been a wide gap between them. That gap had only widened as they’d gone their separate ways.

Beth did her best to put herself back together, but she knew it was hopeless. She’d been working in the sun for hours, and under her hat, her sweaty hair had matted to her head in ways nothing but a shower could fix.

Dina stumbled again.

“She’s going to break her ankle wearing those shoes out here,” Drew said.

“Beth!” Dina called out with another overzealous wave. “Hey, stranger!”

“Dina, what are you doing here?” Beth tried to keep her tone light. Inside, her mind was reeling.

“I came to see you, of course.” Dina gave Drew a once-over. “Now I see why you’ve taken such a liking to farmwork.”

Beth glanced at Drew, who looked as uncomfortable as she felt.

---