Page 53 of Pick Your Spot

That made her laugh. “You’re doing an excellent job of it. This is amazing.”

He frowned slightly but their attention was turned when a man with white hair stopped at their table and stuck out his hand to Knox. “I’m guessing you’re the young geezer who’s looking for advice.”

He cackled at his own joke as Knox shook his hand. Then Stan smiled at her. “Hello, Thea. Nice to see you again.”

Knox grinned. “You’ve got to be Stan Phail. Troy mentioned he was going to text you, but I didn’t expect you to pop up like magic.”

The older man laughed. “I was in Phail General picking up some parts for my lawn mower, and he told me you were heading here. Thought I’d introduce myself.”

Knox waved at a chair. “I’m glad you did. Would you care to join us?”

“Don’t mind if I do.”

Branna delivered their food and grinned at Stan. “Finagled your way into an invite, did you? One Falcon Blonde coming up.”

Knox pushed the appetizers into the middle of the table. “Help yourself, Stan.”

He waved off the food. “I don’t want to horn in on your date, so I’ll just have my beer and head home. I’d like to come out and see what you’re doing with the orchard. Jay managed to get a prime piece of land there. That orchard thrived for decades. I hope you can bring it back to life for him.”

Thea’s eyes misted. She hoped they could do Jay proud as well.

Chapter16

Captain's Pick

Knox sent a text to Ford.Call me when you’re on your break. I have a plan.

His buddy was working with his family’s construction business and Knox knew he wasn’t thrilled with the job. He loved construction but he disliked being the youngest of the brothers. He had a younger sister but she had no interest in the construction business.

Because he’d spent two tours in the army, Ford’s brothers considered him less experienced than the rest in the business. Possibly true but Ford could fix anything with next to nothing for tools and supplies. In any other company, he’d be a foreman or higher. But not with his family’s business.

Knox hoped all of that would work in his favor. His buddy would be invaluable at the farm. And he missed him.

Knox considered Ford family. They’d spent years together, moving from one hell hole to the next, helping innocent villagers and taking down scum buckets whenever they could. He figured his buddy could be happy on the farm. Happier than he was with so little control over his job.

After talking with Stan the previous day, Knox was feeling more confident in his knowledge base. The man had spent a few hours wandering the farm with them. He’d known with just a glance which trees were in good shape and which areas needed help.

Knox had made up a map of the property on his phone, and he’d numbered each section of the farm. Then he’d made a shit-ton of notes listing Stan’s suggestions for the next-steps for each area.

Stan was completely intrigued with Thea’s suggestions to improve the soil and was eager to see the Worminator once it was delivered. And once they figured out how to build and operate it. He hoped Ford would be on board soon. They could use his help with that one.

And with so much more.

Knox opened his laptop and checked out his spreadsheets. There were so many. All filled with tasks. After Stan’s visit, he spent the morning adding to them and trying to prioritize the information.

Stan promised to return with his friends the following week, allowing Knox some time to refine his lists and add to the never-ending list of things he needed to learn.

Research was good, but practical experience was better.

He organized his lists into sections. Healthy trees. Not so healthy trees. Compost. Pond. Machinery. Harvest barn. Equipment barn. Farmhouse. Selling products. B&B. That last one was questionable.

Amber still hadn’t replaced her phone and he struggled to get a read on what his sister was really thinking. She’d always kept her feelings inside but he’d learned to read her eyes at least some of the time.

Hoping she was on board, he kept that list active, but it wouldn’t be the priority. Farm first.

Burke would probably say profit first and he wouldn’t be wrong. Without a way to make at least some profit, there wasn’t much point in keeping the farm at all. But he wanted to. Wanted it more than he’d wanted almost anything in his life.

Except Thea. She was at the top of his priority list. Which made him grin. He’d always assumed he’d get married and have kids. But it had been in a hazy someday kind of way. Now, he had a face attached to that dream, and it no longer felt vague or fuzzy. He wanted that imagined future with a passion he’d never expected to feel.

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