Page 59 of Pick Your Spot

Thea pulled off her helmet. “You guys talk, I’m going to water the compost.”

Knox pulled off his own and watched her walk away. Ford laughed. “You’ve got it bad, Annie.”

He grinned at the camera. “You’ve got that right. So, when are you coming?”

Thea watered and stirred the compost while Knox and Ford finished up their conversation. In her opinion, the tour had been successful. It had given Ford a real look at the place, and a chance to ask questions. She wondered if they should do the same for Knox’s family.

Was she ready to meet them? Even virtually, it was a daunting proposition.

The Malssums owned the property together and would make decisions together. That was a tough enough position for her. Added to that, she was in love with Knox. Not that she’d told him that yet.

Would his family consider her good enough for their brother? She owned nothing of substance except for the truck they’d transferred into her name. There was some money in her bank account, but not a lot. Certainly not compared to most other women in their thirties. Would they think she was using Knox? With her job entwined with the property, she could imagine they might.

Again, she reminded herself they were Knox’s family. If he’d become such an amazing adult, chances were good his siblings were the same. All she could do was be herself.

She’d never been able to live any other way.

Knox’s arms wrapped around her middle, making her smile. Being herself was easy around him. She’d hope it was as simple with his family.

He kissed her neck, and she dropped the shovel to lean back into him. “Thanks for the tour. We’ve got Dodge intrigued. He’s disappointed about not finding a place in his family’s business. For his sake, I wish that was different, but it’s working in our favor. And I truly believe he’d be happy here.”

She shook off her gloves and turned in his arms. “You’re such a good man, Knox. You wouldn’t push him to leave if he was happy. You’re looking out for his interest.”

He grinned and shrugged. “My own, too. He’s my best friend. I’d love to have him here, as well as my family. And you.”

She smiled. “You’ve got me, already.”

“And I’m gong to work my butt off to keep you. And to get them all here. So, what’s next on the To Do list?”

Thea’s phone rang, and she blew out a breath of frustration. “It has to be him again, I never get calls.”

Sure enough, Asshole Andy showed up on the screen. “I forgot to delete him after we listened to the last message.”

She opened her screen and found she had another missed call from Triple-A.

Knox frowned at her phone. “This asshole needs to get the message.”

She agreed. “Maybe he won’t leave a message this time. I hoped he’d give up when I didn’t respond last time.”

Knox pulled out his own phone. “If he does leave a message, do you mind if I record it?”

He obviously thought Andy might be dangerous but Thea had never seen evidence of it. “If you want. After I see if he leaves a message this time, I’m blocking him.”

The message icon blinked. With a sigh, she put the voicemail on speaker.

Hello, Thea. You must have missed my other call. It would be much easier to finalize details if you would call me back. I’ve set up a series of meetings with farmers for next week. Two per day. If you send me your email address, I’ll send along the information. I tried your previous email, but didn’t receive a response. You’ll have a twenty-five percent salary increase and added responsibility. As my assistant, you’ll be in charge of the other consultants.

The sooner you arrive, the better. We need to speak face-to-face. It is imperative that you call me immediately. I’ll see you soon.

Thea wanted to throw her phone in frustration. “He’s delusional. I told him no, and I was clear about it. Did you get the recording? Do you have everything you need?”

Knox grunted. “I got this one. Let me record the other one, too.”

After that was done, she blocked the number. The tension that had been running around in her settled. “Done. Much better.”

“Was he always like this?”

She shrugged. “I didn’t have all that much to do with him. He ran the business and had maybe a half-dozen of us working as soil consultants at any one time. We covered a large area, and I rarely spoke to him unless there was an issue or we had a new client.”

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