Page 11 of Believe in Caloosa Springs

“Tyler,” Mandy began sternly, putting a hand on each of his shoulders to ground him. “Take a deep breath. All the houses are exactly the same except for…?” She paused.

“Except for the two on the end with the full kitchens for food prep.”

“Right. Have any kitchen staff shown up yet?”

Tyler shrugged. “I haven’t asked who’s doing what. We should have had a sign-in sheet or something.”

Mandy opened her mouth to speak again and then just shook her head and walked past Tyler and up onto the porch. “I’ll take care of it.”

We both stood there in the driveway for a moment, watching Mandy disappear inside the house.

“Tyler,” Tyler said after a moment, extending his hand for a shake.

“Tian.”

“Nice to meet you. Sorry about all that.”

“No problem. It all sounds pretty stressful.”

“It is, and I’m not great with new people. I reckon that’s something I’m going to have to work on as we expand.”

“It sounds really exciting from what Mandy has told me over the years.”

“We couldn’t do it without her, that’s for sure. You’re her cousin, right? From California?”

“Las Vegas.”

“Vegas! That’s exciting. What made-“ Tyler stopped talking as the sound of tires hitting gravel made him turn towards the gate.

“Crap. I better go prop the gate open.” Tyler took two steps down the drive and stopped.

“Tyler,” Mandy called, seconds before emerging back onto the porch. “Where did you put all the house keys?”

“They are in the desk drawer in Pops’ office.”

Mandy shook her head, “Nope. Pops and I just searched it.”

“Aw, hell,” Tyler spat, glancing between Mandy and the car waiting to be let in.

“I can get the gate,” I offered.

Tyler fished a set of keys from his pocket. “Take the truck. Gate code is 082721.”

I took the keys and walked over to a beat-up old farm truck. It was unlocked, and I climbed inside, noticing the gear shift right off the bat.

“Son of a bitch,” I muttered under my breath. I pushed in the clutch and turned the key. If there was one thing I hated, it was proving my father right.

“Every man should know how to drive a stick. Never know when you are going to need the skill.”

“Fuck you, Edward,” I mumbled, shifting into first and pulling down the driveway.

Chapter Four

Porter

“Are you sure this is the right place?” I asked, trying to see through the large gaps in the security gate.

“The sign on the fence back there said Baker Farm,” Henry said, his sentence interrupted by a yawn.

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