Page 14 of Pick Your Spot

He figured he’d either lure Burke in or piss him off completely with his next statement. It was always a toss-up. “The numbers are your department, Burke, but I’ll see what I can find. I’m here to get an overview. So far, I like what I see. Further, I think you’d like what I see. All of you.”

“What’s the best part?” Amber’s quiet voice broke the silence after his last sentence.

He grinned at the camera. “So much, but finding out about Jay has been the best. From what I’ve learned, he was a cranky old man who spouted ridiculous sayings and tried damn hard to hide a good heart.”

Lawson barked out a laugh. “Sounds like another old fart we all miss a whole lot.”

Everyone nodded. Well, Knox assumed Amber did, too. “Everything I’ve learned so far tells me the brothers were a lot alike. I’ve found a couple of surprises.” He held up the two books to the camera.

Jolie gasped, and his brothers’s eyes widened in surprise.

Amber spoke. “What is it? What are you showing?”

“Sorry, Amber. I’ve got two books on Abenaki history here. They’ve got folded corners, coffee stains, and messed up edges. They’ve been well used over the years.”

“Are they the same books that Fox had? There can’t be a huge number of books on Abenaki history.”

“The exact same books. And there’s more. There’s a huge dog that roams the land. A friendly white beast that prefers the outdoors to the inside. He’s a Great Pyrenees. Guess what Jay named him?”

They all shook their heads. Knox waited for a dramatic pause. “Fox. He named the dog Fox.”

More gasps. More surprise. Even better, more interest. He pushed his advantage, and held up the key ring. “I know you can’t see this either, Amber, but he kept his keys on a key chain with a fox on it. I didn’t really look at it until I got here.”

Lawson frowned. “I wish we knew what the hell happened between the two of them. They didn’t live that far apart, and they sound a lot alike. Why didn’t we know about Jay? What could have pulled them apart?”

“Damn good questions. I’m hoping to find some answers here.”

Jolie leaned into the camera, eyes misty. “I’ve got a big project I’m in the middle of supervising. But I’m going to arrange some time off after I wrap that up in a few weeks. I want to come up to Vermont to see everything. We need to figure out the mystery before we make final decisions about the property. I want to know more about Jay. And I want to see if we can figure out what happened between them.”

Even Burke’s eyes softened at that. Jolie was as sweet as she was enthusiastic. None of them would do anything to make her sad or upset. Without knowing it, his baby sister had just given him one of the things he wanted most.

Time.

Now, he had to figure out how best to use it.

Chapter5

In A Tight Spot

Thea woke to sunshine beaming through the window. She stretched with a smile. Mother Nature was going to cooperate with her plans. Gloomy, stormy days wouldn’t do anything to convince Knox that the farm was the best place in the world to live.

Well, maybe not best for everyone. Best for her. And maybe best for Knox and his family. She could see in his eyes that he was intrigued by the farm and the process of growing and selling apples. She was pretty sure he was also interested in her ideas.

Was she stretching the truth to believe that he was also interested and intrigued by her?

She’d have to be dead not to be interested in him. But it was more than the strong body and gorgeous cheekbones. He was kind and gentle. With the songbirds, with the trees when he’d touched them. With her.

When they’d first met, he’d kept a careful distance so she didn’t feel threatened. He’d respected her physical and emotional boundaries. He hadn’t pushed her to reveal anything she wasn’t ready to reveal.

He could have pushed for answers. Demanded to know why she was on his land. Kicked her off without even a question. That would have been within his right.

Instead, Knox had asked questions and really listened to the answers. He appeared to want the farm to be successful. From the little she knew, he was more interested in long-term success than making a quick buck by selling the place.

Not that a not-quite functional farm would bring in top dollar.

As she showered and dressed, Thea wondered about the rift between Jay and his brother Fox. Were there other siblings? And were their names from nature as well?

Jay had been proud of his indigenous heritage. He was Abenaki and had spent hours telling her about the culture and reading from his books.

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