Page 5 of Sunset Tides
“Have a nice day,” he said, grabbing his jacket. “We’ll be in touch.”
Chapter Four
They walked through the tip of the apple orchards, past the distillery and on to the barn. Lucy stopped and pointed at the open barn door.
“Last chance if you’d like to muck a stall.”
Rob flashed what he surely thought was an award-winning smile. “Not today. Maybe next time.”
Lucy smiled back, though with less charm and more open disdain. It may have been closer to a sneer than a smile, but she couldn’t be bothered with worrying about these things. “Sure. The parking lot is right over there. I assume that’s your Audi out front?”
“Yes.” He paused. “Well, it’s not mine. It’s a rental. A company rental.”
“Right. Have a nice day, Rob.” She turned and walked toward the barn, slipping inside and watching from a window as he got into his car.
Lucy stared. He was just sitting there. She couldn’t make out what he was doing. Why wasn’t he leaving? Was he calling back to the New York office to tell his friends what suckers they were? To talk about the simple country bumpkins he was going to trick into some scheme?
She didn’t knowwhatthe scheme was, exactly, but it seemed like the most likely option. Lucy glared at him, not realizing her breath was fogging up the window. She wiped it clean just as he started his car and pulled out of the parking spot.
“Good riddance,” she muttered.
A bleat rang out behind her and Lucy jumped at the sound. She’d thought she was alone. Apparently one of the goats had found her. “Go back outside, bud. I don’t have anything for you.”
He looked up at her with his big eyes, his ears flopping as he walked closer. He was a stunner, and one of her favorites – an adorable little guy with white fur and black spots and speckles, always hopping and bleating and causing a scene. She watched as he jumped on top of an overturned bucket, balancing expertly, and calling out with another bleat.
Lucy laughed. There was nothing cuter than a baby goat. “Goofball.”
She left the barn and rushed back to Fiona’s trailer. Thankfully, the door wasn’t locked and Lucy barged in yelling, “I’m back!”
Fiona was still sitting at her desk. She looked up at Lucy and let out a heavy sigh. “I thought you were going to let me rest.”
“I got that guy out of your office for you.” She plopped down in a seat. “You’re welcome.”
Fiona shrugged. “He might be our best option.”
“How is that possible?Howdid the farm get into so much debt? I thought we were doing really well.”
“We have been doing really well,” Fiona said. “Better than ever, actually.”
“Then what happened?”
Fiona stood, walking to the mini refrigerator in the corner of the trailer. She pulled out a glass jug of fresh apple juice. “Would you like some?”
“No thanks.” Lucy paused. “Actually, yes please.” She couldn’t resist the stuff. That was one of the problems with working at Grindstone Farm – her sugar consumption had gone through the roof.
Fiona poured two glasses and handed one to Lucy. “You never had a chance to meet him, but the old owner of the farm was a guy named Harry.”
“I’ve seen his pictures. The guy that was always in overalls?”
Fiona nodded. “Yeah. He was great. His parents had owned the farm before him, but they’d just had the orchards. When he took over, he bought more land, added the distillery, and refurbished the barn. He practically had to rebuild it from the ground up.”
Lucy took a sip of juice. It was the perfect blend of sweet and tart. Nothing she got at the grocery store ever tasted anywhere near this good. The farm had forever ruined her for apple juice. “Did he have a gambling problem or something?”
“No, nothing like that.” Fiona sat down again. “He’d always joked that he planned to die working out on the farm, but it didn’t end up that way. Right after his seventy-eighth birthday, he was diagnosed with lung cancer.”
“Aw man.” The guy looked so pleasant in the pictures, almost like a caricature of what she imagined a sweet old farmer would be.
A pang of guilt drifted over Lucy. She shouldn’t have made that gambling joke about the poor guy.
