Page 26 of Pick Your Spot

One day.

Knox wandered the main room, opening cupboards and desk drawers at random, trying to learn more about the farm and the man who’d left it to them.

In the room where Jay’s worn recliner proved he’d spent a lot of hours, he found a small box tucked into the old trunk Jay had used as a coffee table.

When Knox lifted the lid, he grinned. Old polaroid photographs. Exactly the kind of thing he’d hoped to find.

He closed the trunk and sat on the leather sofa. There were a handful of the old square photos and he placed them on the trunk.

In the first one, two young boys held a couple of fishing rods that had to be almost twice their height. The boys each held a tiny perch as they posed in front of a small lake.

Apparently Fox and Jay weren’t twins because one looked to be about a year older than the other. Maybe four and five years old. The family resemblance was strong and the picture could easily have been of Knox and Lawson or of Burke and Lawson.

Knox had to blink away the moisture gathering in his eyes. Here was the kind of family photo that showed the two had been brothers. Better, they’d been friends.

Knox could see their good relationship in the way they had their arms looped around the other’s shoulders. The fishing rods were gripped in those hands while they held up the fish with the other.

“What tore you two apart?”

The next photo showed a close up of one boy and his fish. The third showed the other.

Which was Fox? He could imagine either boy growing up into the grandfather Knox loved. There wasn’t any writing on the backs to help him.

The other pictures showed more of what had to have been a very good day for the two boys.

Wrestling in the grass.

Standing beside the canoe they’d probably been in when they’d caught their prizes.

The older brother sitting with his back against a tree while the other napped beside him.

No other people to give Knox more context. Had Knox’s great-grandfather taken these photos?

He studied the photos for more clues but didn’t find anything more than two brothers having a great day. He was glad to know they’d at least had a good relationship when they were kids. Whatever had torn them apart had come later.

Knox wished he’d asked Fox more questions when he’d had the chance. What had his great-grandparents been like? How had life changed from the time Fox was a kid?

Surely, if he’d asked more, he would have found at least a hint that Fox hadn’t been an only child. Then he might have had a chance to help them fix what had been broken.

Knox snapped pictures of the photos and sent them to his siblings with a text to the family chat explaining where he’d found them.

The responses were fast and fascinated. They were as curious as he was about this mystery.

Knox was going to use that to lure them all here. And to ensure their own bond was never broken.

For Thea, the days passed in a blur. It had been two weeks since the awkward moment in her cabin. To her relief, she and Knox had been back on even terms since then.

They spent part of their days together where she took him through the property and taught him about the farm and caring for the trees. She worked the compost on her own and he worked on the finances. She was glad that wasn’t her job.

He’d had meetings with lawyers and accountants, learning more about the business end of the farm. Jay had never shared any of that with her.

Her bank account grew as not only did Knox ensure she was paid, but he’d increased her wage. Apparently his family had been in agreement that Jay hadn’t paid her enough. They’d also agreed with Knox that she could keep that cabin as hers for as long as they owned the farm and they’d transferred Jay’s old truck to her name.

It was more than she could have expected. All she wanted.

Okay, maybe not everything, but it was really good. She felt secure in her current situation and knew that even if they sold the farm, she had options.

Her number one choice would be for the Malssum family to keep the farm and her. She wanted to see Jay’s dream come to life.

---