Page 10 of In Pursuit of the Truth

She’d said he was the first person she’d thought of at the time. That fact meant more to him than it probably should.

He held her gaze. “I want you to promise me you’ll call me again if anything else comes up. I don’t mind, Bailey. I hope you know that.”

A flood of emotions cascaded across her face, but she schooled her expression so quickly it left Nate wondering what it all meant. Instead, she simply nodded her head. Her attention dropped to the remainder of her sandwich, and he barely caught the whispered, “Promise.”

Nate truly hoped she would.

In the meantime, he had every intention of checking up on Kyle from Driver Real Estate. If realtors were going to use the land’s mineral rights as a reason for Bailey to sell, he wanted to know more about them.

Chapter Six

Bailey and the boys were surprised to find Pansy waiting for them at the barn when they got there the next morning. If Bailey had known how excited the goats would be when they were reunited, she would have taken a video of the reunion. As it was, the goats were standing next to each other as though they were afraid to let each other out of their sight.

Pansy must have either heard or smelled her sister. Other than acting like she was hungry, she didn’t look any worse for wear.

Bailey snapped a picture of the duo and sent it to Nate along with a text.

“Look who showed up this morning out of the blue.”

It didn’t take long before she received a reply.

“Wow. I’ll bet that was a surprise. Which goat is it?”

“Pansy. Not a scratch on her.”

“If only goats could talk.”

Bailey chuckled and typed out a response.

“Right? I’d love to know where she’s been the last twenty-four hours.”

Was Petunia out there somewhere, too? Bailey had just about subscribed to the idea that the goats had been stolen. Maybe they really had run off out of fear, and the only reason Poppy stuck around was because of her hurt leg.

“I’m glad she’s okay. I’ll bet the boys are relieved.”

She took another photo, this one zoomed out to show Seth and Jordan reaching through the fence to pet the goats, and sent it to Nate.

He responded with an emoji that had hearts for eyes.

Bailey started to type something else out but stopped herself. It was barely eight on a Saturday morning. She’d probably awakened him with her text in the first place. She cringed and hastily typed out,

“I’m sorry if I texted too early. Didn’t even think to look at the clock.”

She followed it with an embarrassed emoji.

“You’re good. Minnie and I have already been on a walk. Text anytime. I’m always happy to hear from you.”

The written words made her pulse jump, and thatbrought a frown to her face. She sent a thumbs up and jammed the phone into her back pocket.

“Come on, guys. We need to go check on the ducks.”

“I hate to say it, but you may need to hire another person or two this season.” Rachel tilted her head and fanned her face.

Even with the air conditioning going and several fans situated throughout the store, it still got warm when the space was filled with customers.

“I was thinking the same thing.” If the rest of the fall season was this busy, Bailey didn’t think she’d have much choice. “I’ll go over the budget this week.”

She’d add it to the list of things she needed to decide on when it came to the farm. With the kind of interest the place had gotten this year, expanding would be the smart move. It all felt so overwhelming, though. She and Joe had so many plans. Now, simply narrowing it all down to what exactly she should build on seemed like too much.

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