CHAPTER TEN
Honey
I’m still smiling the next morning as I sip my coffee and stir my oatmeal. I had more fun last night with Mac than I can remember having in years. He didn’t mind my competitiveness. In fact, he seemed to enjoy it. The more I growled and swore like a potter who’s just opened their kiln to a pile of exploded ceramics, the more he laughed, delighted by my need to be the better guitar player and, later, to win every board game we played.
It annoyed me at first, to be laughed at when I was so frustrated, but eventually, it made me laugh too and to take the games less seriously. I’m pretty sure he let me win more than once, but he seemed so happy to give me those wins. I couldn’t bear to yell at him for taking the fun out of the game.
I’d been mean enough telling him the kiss was a mistake. It was a supremely stellar kiss, better than getting the clay to spin just right on the wheel, and I wanted, more than anything, to fall into him and never come up for air.
That’s what I did with Dell and that was clearly a stunningly poor choice. I can’t make the same mistake again. I already know the pain of losing Mac or discovering he’s a raging asshole at heart would hurt more than it did with Dell.
Because despite knowing that Mac’s lying about his profession and my deep suspicion, which was only reinforced by the way he shoved me out of his office, that he’s into something criminal, I’m drawn to him.
I cannot let myself fall for another bad boy.
Plus, I can’t lose myself in a man right now. I need to pull my sisters away from their own men for some quality sibling time.
“There.” Dani pulls a tray of muffins out of the oven and plops it on the stovetop. “That’s the last batch for today.”
I yawn as she moves to the sink to wash dishes, the gold highlights in her brown hair glinting in the early morning sunlight streaming through the window over the sink.
She’s been up for hours already and I’m still groggy, trying to clear the fog of sleep from my mind. If I didn’t want these few morning minutes with my sister, I’d still be in bed.
I’ll probably go back there after she leaves for work at the bookstore where she sells coffee and her baked goods.
We’re planning to offer cooking classes here at the farm once we can afford to build another small house with a professional grade kitchen on the property. Probably not until we get the rest of our inheritance from Dad.
“Good morning.” Clover walks into the kitchen, already in her workout leggings and a t-shirt with the name of her and Asher’s gym emblazoned across the front. Her dark hair is up in a high ponytail and her eyes are bright. She’s probably already been out for a run.
“Good morning.” I give her a small wave and smile. To my credit, the smile doesn’t falter when Asher walks in behind her. The two of them are always together and, as nice as the guy is, I want time with my sister without her arm candy around.
Goldy comes into the kitchen from the other direction. She’s still in her pajamas, a true sign she’s gotten more comfortable around us, since we never used to see her unless she was dressed in slacks and a blouse, her face fully made up. This morning, even her fine, blond hair is mussed, and she yawns widely as she walks in.
She stops when she sees me at the table.
“Honey. There you are. I was worried about you.”
Cell service at Mac’s house is non-existent and, when I got back to civilization, I’d found several missed texts and calls from Goldy. It’d been way too late to call her back, but it warmed my heart that she was worried about me.
Luckily, I have a somewhat believable story prepared. “I was at Lila’s for a movie night with some of her friends and I had my phone turned off.”
Her shoulders drop with relief. “You’re free to come and go as you please, of course, but you’re usually home, so when you weren’t on the schedule to work last night, I got worried.” She gestures at the dry erase board behind her where we all put our schedules each week.
“We were actually all home last night and hoping we could practice for that gig in Vance Vale.” Clover takes a seat at the table with coffee, a banana, and a protein bar.
I shouldn’t have stayed at Mac’s house. Stopping the make-out session clearly wasn’t good enough, and he’s already pulling me away from my sisters. “Maybe we can practice tonight. I’m working the day shift.”
“I can’t tonight.” Dani glances at me over her shoulder as she transfers muffins from a cooling rack to a plastic container. “I’m catering a baby shower.”
“And Max has a game tonight.” Goldy pulls a mug from a cabinet with another yawn. “We’ll find another night.”
I nod, even though experience and recent history make it unlikely we will ever coordinate our schedules. I need to find a way to be home more often and I need a better excuse for when I’m not home and not on shift at the diner.
Already, it’s going to be another four days before Mac and I can do anymore treasure hunting.
I’ve been up all night thinking about it and I don’t see any other option. There aren’t enough hours in the day and the only solution is to quit my job at the diner. It’s too bad I can’t take a ‘sabbatical’ like Mac.
I’ve got some money in savings that should get me by until we find the treasure, and it won’t be hard to find another serving job in this town if I need to later this summer.
It will mean lying to my sisters - telling them I’m working at the diner when I’m treasure hunting - but they never eat at the diner and me leaving my job is hardly gossip-worthy news in this town.
I lower my head to eat my oatmeal, so they don’t see my sad face as they chat and laugh around me. I love my job and enjoy the interaction with people all day, but I have to give it up. This is about bringing my family back together.
Dani packages all her baked goods up in her different containers while I finish my breakfast. After I’ve put my dishes in the sink, I help her carry them out to her car.
“Thanks,” she says, once she’s all set to go. “I’m sorry to leave all the farm work on you this morning.”
“It’s not a problem. I enjoy it.” I really do. I love the animals.
She sighs. “I wish we didn’t have to work and could spend all day on the farm every day.”
“We’ll get there.” Guilt pings me, but I suppress it. “I think a couple of volunteers are coming from the college to help out today and I don’t need to be at the diner until eleven.”
“That’s good. I’ll take care of everything that needs to be done tonight.”
“Maybe we can do it together if I’m home early enough. We could hang out afterwards, maybe play a few hands of cards?”
She nods, but her gaze is distant. “That might work. I think Grant has plans tonight.”
“Just tell him he’s on his own, whether or not he has plans.” The words come out harsher than I intend and Dani slants her eyes at me, frowning. “You’ve seen him every night this week,” I say more gently.
Her expression softens and I feel like a needy little baby. “You’re right. Let’s have a sisters’ night, just you and me.”
My smile probably looks goofy, but I’m too happy to care.
***
The day is already hot at eight AM in June, even in the mountains, and I’m thinking about going inside and trading my t-shirt for a tank top when an unfamiliar car pulls up the drive. There are already two women from the college at work with the animals and I’m not expecting more people to show up, but with five women and their four significant others living here, unexpected guests are rarely surprising.
When I see the two men emerging from the car, my heart pumps and ice runs through my veins. It’s an overreaction, I know, but my interaction with Dell last week has made me jumpy.
I plaster on a smile as I open the gate and walk out of the pasture to meet the two guys I tested my flirting skills on in the diner earlier this week. Even though they agreed to volunteer at the farm, I hadn’t expected to see them. Colson, a broad, muscled white guy who looks far younger than I feel, gives me a sheepish smile. “We’re a couple days late. Any chance we can still help?”
“I’m just glad you’re here. We can use all the help we can get.”
His friend, Aiden, a wiry, Black guy with a beard and thick, dark hair, offers his hand politely.
I shake it. “Do you need credit for volunteering?”
“Like course credit?” Aiden smiles eagerly. I’ve never understood people who got excited about extra credit in school, probably because grades were never something that mattered to me.
How different might my life have been if I had cared? Maybe I’d be in college with these guys, flirting with them at parties, my biggest concern getting a C on an assignment.
“Nope. Sorry,” I say. “Usually people want a record of their volunteer services if they’re part of a service-oriented fraternity or they need community service hours for the court systems.”
“We don’t need that.” Colson pops his hands on his hips and grins. “Just put us to work.”
There’s an ulterior motive here, there has to be. Hopefully, they just want another opportunity to flirt with me.
They seem harmless, but Aiden is giving off some edgy vibes I don’t love. I’ll just have to be careful and keep my distance as much as possible.
I get them set up hosing out and cleaning water troughs and head to the barn farthest from the house to visit the pigs. They’re all soaking in the mud, and snuffling happily. I fill their trough and add more water to their mud.
In the barn, I grab a wheelbarrow and pitchfork and get to work cleaning out their bedding.
“Hey.”
I turn to see Colson in the doorway to the barn, the sun on his back putting his face in shadow.
“Oh.” I take a step back reflexively.
He walks into the barn, hands raised, palms out. “I just want to clear the air. I’m not trying to get you alone and intimidate you into going out with me.”
“It kind of feels that way.” I grip the handle of the pitchfork more tightly. I don’t want to piss the guy off, but I also need to set clear boundaries and this situation is not okay with me.
Thankfully, he doesn’t come any closer. “Hold on to that pitchfork, but I promise I’m not here to hurt you.” He shakes his head. “I hate that there are so many assholes in the world that I even have to say that.”
“You can hate it, but it’s still the reality.”
He shoves his hands in the pockets of his cargo shorts. “I get that. I just want to verify that you’re not interested in me or Aiden. You were just flirting for tips, right?”
I slump, feeling like the asshole I am. “It’s worse than that, actually. I flirted with a guy earlier in the day and it had no effect.” Flirting isn’t the whole truth, but it’s close enough for this guy. “I wanted to know if it was me or him, so I tested my skills on you guys.”
He raises his brows and shakes his head. “Makes sense. And I can guarantee you’re not the problem. You’re gorgeous and your flirting game is on target.”
“Thanks for that. I’m sorry I manipulated you.”
He swipes a thumb over his bottom lip. “I don’t love that, but I appreciate you being honest with me.” He glances out of the barn and turns back to me. “Just to be clear, I’ve got no shot with you, right?”
“I’m sorry.” Colson seems like a genuinely nice guy and I want to let him down easy. “My ex and I just got back together or I totally would be interested in you.”
His sideways smile makes it clear he understands I’m lying for his sake. “That’s nice of you to—”
The barn door bangs wide open and Bigfoot races inside, growling at Colson. The poor guy freezes in terror, and Bigfoot charges him, arms raised.
“Mac,” I yell. “Stop!”
Neither man seems to hear me.
Colson screams and races out of the barn like the hounds of Hell are on his heels.
Mac, still growling, runs after him.
“Stop chasing him,” I shout.
Mac keeps running, and Colson keeps screaming.
I run out of the barn after them, just to make sure Mac hasn’t totally flipped and decided he’s going to take this Bigfoot thing to the point of murder.
Colson shouts for his friend as he runs, leaping over fences and stumbling over cow patties. As soon as Colson is on the driveway and headed for his car, Mac stops. He looks back at me like he’s waiting. For what? Approval?
I’m too far away to yell at him, but I raise my hands in a ‘what the hell?’ gesture and glare. I trot in his direction, but he salutes me and takes off, headed for the woods.
“What’s going on?” Aiden asks as he walks out of the alpaca barn.
“Bigfoot showed up and chased off Colson.” I run a hand through my sweat-dampened hair in frustration. “I think he wants to leave.”
Aiden’s eyes get wide and he looks around, freezing when he spots Bigfoot’s furry backside as he races past the tree line and out of sight. “Bigfoot was here?”
“He was. It’s never happened before and it’s not going to happen again. I can talk to Colson and convince him it’s safe here if you want to keep working.”
“How do you know Bigfoot’s not coming back?”
“Aiden.” Colson’s standing next to his car, the driver’s door open. “Let’s go.”
“Sorry to bail on you.” Aiden doesn’t look sorry at all. I suspect Colson twisted his arm to get him to come here. He heads back into the barn, probably to grab his water bottle.
I jog over to Colson, using the gates instead of climbing over fences like I do when I’m in a hurry.
“You saw that thing, right?” Colson is shaking, his face pale, his eyes wide.
“I did. That was Bigfoot.”
He looks behind him as though he’s expecting Bigfoot to sneak up on him, before turning back to me. “How are you so calm right now?”
“We’ve seen him around before. He’s harmless.”
His eyes narrow and his face gets red, probably with embarrassment as much as anger. “He didn’t seem harmless when he was chasing me like he wanted to kill me. If I hadn’t gotten to my car…”
“But he ran away without hurting you. He’s long gone. It’s safe for you to work here.”
“Look, you seem nice enough, but that monster clearly wants me off this farm and away from you. As much as I’d like to help, I won’t risk my life to do it.”
“Bro, you really saw Bigfoot?” Aiden asks.
“He fucking tried to kill me, dude.” Some of the color returns to Colson’s cheeks. “If I hadn’t run faster than him, you’d probably be watching him rip out my intestines right now.”
“Dude.” Aiden’s eyes are like dinner plates. “That is fucking sick.”
Colson glances around nervously. “Let’s get out of here before he comes back.”
They pile into Colson’s car and leave. I sigh and turn to head back to the pig barn, but Lila and Harriet are leaning against the fence, waiting for me.
“Did he say Bigfoot chased him?” Harriet asks like she’s bored. The auburn-haired and freckled white woman is a freshman at the university and loves animals, but I’ve never seen her excited about anything.
I’m pretty sure if we took her blood pressure, she’d register as dead. She’s great to have on a farm where the animals often behave in unexpected ways.
“Bigfoot did chase him.”
“Cool.” Harriet nods. “So they just, like, left?”
“They did.”
She snorts. “Wimps.” She turns and heads back to the barn.
“Harriet wouldn’t react if a man with a chainsaw showed up and said he was going to chop her into tiny pieces, but why are you so calm about this?” Lila asks.
I sigh. In my experience, secrets never stay secrets if too many people know them, but I trust Lila and I need her help. “Because Bigfoot and I are sort of friends.”
Lila’s eyes go wide, then she hoots. “I knew it. I knew Bigfoot was just some guy in a suit.”
“He is. He’s the one helping me find the treasure.”
“Interesting. Are you sure he’s safe? I mean a guy who dresses up like…” She trails off and glances back. “Wait, did he attack Colson because the guy—”
“No.” I hold up a hand. “Colson came into the barn to ask if I’m interested. He was a perfect gentleman.”
She waggles her eyebrows. “And are you interested?”
“I’m not looking to get involved with anyone right now, Lila. I let him down easy.”
“And the weird guy who likes to dress up as a fantastical legend just happened to show up at the right moment to chase the guy off?”
I nod, feeling nauseous. “So it would seem.”
“Honey…”
“I know. I’m being careful, and maybe there’s a good explanation. I’m going over there tonight to find out.”
“You’re going over there alone?”
“I always have my pepper spray with me and he’s a decent guy, Lila. I truly believe that.” Even if he might also be a criminal, Mac’s been nothing but kind to me. “This whole chasing off a guy who’s interested in me thing is a red flag, but I at least need to hear the man out.”
“I’m going with you.” Her expression’s set in grim determination.
I consider it, but I don’t want Mac to get scared off. I still need his help. “No. I’ll be careful.”
She purses her lips and shakes her head. “You never let anyone help you.”
“I actually do need your help with something.”
She crosses her arms over her chest, not at all placated. “I’m listening.”
“I need to quit my job at the diner, but my sisters need to think I’m still working there. Can you cover for me?”
Lila narrows her eyes for just a moment, before nodding. “Of course I will, babe.”
Together, we get back to work. I’m a sweaty mess by the time we finish, and I only have half an hour to get to work. I still make time to check my social media messages before I hit the shower.
As soon as Levi told me that Maya was alive, I tracked her down and sent her a message. Levi hasn’t been able to find out more about Dell and I’m hoping Maya has some answers that’ll help.
It’s been a few days, though, and I haven’t heard back, so I’m shocked to find a message waiting in my DMs. Maya wants to meet up in Roanoke at a chain restaurant, but she won’t give me the name of the restaurant or any personal details online. She says if I remember her at all, I’ll know where to find her.
My heart thumps with fear. I know where she means, but so will Dell if he sees this message. And the whole thing could be a setup. Maya was always most loyal to Dell, and her cryptic message isn’t giving me any hints that’s changed.
With a sigh, I let her know I’ll meet her there on her favorite day of the week at her favorite time of the day. She has neither a favorite day or time, but she’ll know what I mean.
There was only one thing she and I did religiously together and that was watch a reality show from the early aughts about fashion designers every Tuesday while we ate lunch. Hopefully, she’ll remember.
Either way, I feel like I’m getting sucked back into my past, whether or not I want to go there.