Chapter Ten
Jarrod
Ishouldn’t have been nervous bringing Anderson home with me—and yet I was. I drove carefully, always keeping sight of him in my rearview mirror. I’d provided him with my address—in case we got separated—but he kept pace with me and pulled into the driveway behind me.
Mila stepped out from the clapboard-sided white two-story farmhouse. I tried to ignore the peeling paint and the sagging porch step. Always on my to-do list…but never quite getting done.
“Hey, Jarrod.” She waved. “They missed you.”
I exited my truck, locked it, and stepped toward her.
Anderson was just behind me.
“I appreciate you taking care of them for me.” I gestured. “This is my friend, Anderson.” I caught his gaze. “This is the woman who keeps me sane. Mila.”
She stepped forward with her arm outstretched.
Anderson took it.
I caught his eyes widening slightly.
Yep, Mila had a hell of a grip—and wasn’t afraid to use it. Anything to prove she was as competent as her brother.
“I was just going to give Anderson a tour.”
“Cool. I need to be getting home. Give me a call if you need me. Otherwise, I’ll be here Tuesday morning.” She worked for me Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday mornings. Theoretically so I could sleep in—but I never did. I appreciated her help, though. “Oh, how did the market go?”
“Sold out. That’s why I’m not there today. I wasn’t the only one, either. I feel kind of bad for the people who turn up today, but I found a guy who knits sweaters to take my table. They look so damn comfortable, I considered buying one for myself.”
“Hopefully he gets good sales. Nice to meet you, Anderson.” She waved and then headed over to her pickup truck. Moments later, she was gone.
“She’s—” Anderson squinted.
“Yeah. Five feet of pure determination and muscle and drive.”
“Adele would tower over her.”
“Adele towers over you.” I nudged him.
He rolled his eyes. “My sister once said Adele’s father was tall. That was pretty much the only time she spoke of the guy.”
“Has he ever come around?”
“No.” He toed a piece of gravel—thereby not looking me in the eye. “I have worried about that. I loved my sister, but she rarely hung out with anyone who might qualify as a good crowd. I don’t even know if the guy was aware she was pregnant. She didn’t list anyone on the birth certificate.”
I gestured for us to wander toward the house.
He fell into step beside me.
“Do you worry?”
“We had a long conversation about DNA databases. That she might find out things she doesn’t want to know.”
“Yikes. Something I’d never even considered.” I held open the screen door and gestured for him to go in the bright-red-painted front door.
He did, then immediately removed his shoes.
I laughed as I closed the door. “All the flooring is vinyl. Replaced two years ago. I’d go nuts if I always had to take off my boots—unless they’re covered in mud. I just sweep up regularly.”
“That’s fair. I’ll still remove mine.” He offered me a shy smile. His eyes shone in the sunlight pouring in through the window near the top of the door.
“You want a tour?”
“Absolutely.” He clapped his hands and grinned in what I could only interpret as giddiness.
“It’s not all that exciting.”
He pressed his index finger to my lips. “This is your home—of course it’s exciting.”
“Well, okay, then. Why don’t we start upstairs? Then we can do the downstairs and end up in the barn where you can meet the goats?”
“I was kind of hoping to end the tour with your bedroom.” Said with just the right amount of lasciviousness.
“So you’re not worried about getting home?”
He waved off my concern. “Adele’s a good kid. Caleb’s a sweetheart. I’d be holed up in my room working anyway.”
I arched an eyebrow.
“Oh, my old bedroom. Upstairs. I converted it into a den. Sloped ceilings, a dormer window, and a view over all of Cedar Valley. I’m often distracted by the scenery.” He gestured to the mountains to the north of me, across the Fraser River. “You’ve got a pretty stunning view.”
“Yeah.” I grinned. “Okay, goats first.”
He put his boots back on and, since neither of us had removed our coats, we headed back outside.
The ground was pretty solid under our feet. We’d had snow earlier in the autumn, and a bit again last week, but it’d melted. “You, uh, think we’re going to have a white Christmas?” I opened the gate and let him through. After securing it, I kept walking.
He fell into step beside me. “We’ve had quite a few over the past few years. More than I remember in my childhood. I thought the climate was warming.”
“Stand aside.” I gestured for him to stand behind me. I opened the door to the barn and a few bleats sounded before a little horde of goats came out into the yard.
Sassy came straight toward me, finding me as if I had a homing beacon. She bleated her displeasure with me.
“I was only gone a day.” I rubbed her ears.
Joseph examined Anderson with such intensity that even I wondered what the cantankerous guy was thinking.
“Joseph, this is Anderson.”
Anderson waved.
My goat blinked.
“Is he going to hurt me?”
I considered. “Probably not, but don’t ever leave your shoes lying around.”
Anderson gave me a skeptical look. “Why would I take my shoes off while within reach of a goat?”
I was about to tell him about the time— Nope. No point. “I’m just warning you.”
“Okay.” He waved to Joseph. “Nice to meet you.”
My goat continued to stare.
“This is Sassy. She’s—” I continued rubbing her ears.
“A suck?”
“Well, she is that. She loves attention. Can never get enough of it.”
“May I pet her?”
“Of course. She’d love it. I’m just going to check on the others.” I left him to it as I checked the barn for any stragglers. “Come on, Lucinda. You can’t hide. You need to go out into the pasture while the weather’s still good.”
Stubborn goat stood facing the wall. If she couldn’t see me, her reasoning was, then I couldn’t see her.
This was a game we frequently played.
I made my way over to her.
She gazed up at me.
“I might have a treat for you.”
Reluctantly, she followed.
I scooped some oats into my palm when we passed the feeder.
She happily took some from my palm. When we emerged into the brilliant sunlight, she headed over to the pasture with the others.
Anderson was still scratching Sassy’s ears.
“I warn you—she’ll never tire of that.”
He grinned. “I think I don’t mind. They’re—” He gazed over the field. “Precious.”
“Yeah. You can see how, after I came home, I couldn’t consider leaving them.”
“Even to Mila?”
I shook my head. “But I’m considering bringing her on as a partner. I want to expand. That’s not just expensive, but it would be a huge commitment.”
“Do you think she’d agree to it?”
“You know, I think she would. She’s tired of her brother always bossing her around. Hell, I don’t mind when she gives me a piece of her mind. She’s made a few great suggestions.”
“Like goat yoga?” Anderson gazed into Sassy’s dark-brown eyes. “You would just love to step on people while they stretched, wouldn’t you?”
Damn goat bleated her agreement.
“Seriously?” I scratched my chin. “I can’t really imagine it.”
“Well, you could offer the yoga classes. Do you invite kids from local schools to visit?”
“Uh…no.”
“You might consider that. Although liability’s always an issue.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’ve got tons of insurance. Takes up a damn lot of my expenses—but I try to be prepared for anything.”
“What about having families visit? You remember the figurines?”
I blinked. “Oh, yeah. Henry makes them.”
“Right. He’s married to Johnson—who runs a cider-making business. He also gives tours of the orchard and has picking parties in the fall.”
“Well, I reckon that makes sense.”
“Wyatt and Tate run a pumpkin patch. Again, they have people visit them…like a destination.”
“You’re suggesting…?” I scratched my cheek. “That I invite strangers onto the property?”
“When you put it like that, it doesn’t sound nearly as exciting.
I’m saying what if you open the farm to families a couple of days a week?
Give them the real farm experience. Kids are so tied to their electronics.
I think it might be fun to play with goats.
I know Adele would’ve loved it. I took her to a petting zoo once. One of her favorite memories.”
I considered. “You really think so?”
He met my gaze. “Yeah, I really think you could. But, hell, this is your farm. You know what you can and can’t do.”
“Mila mentioned the goat yoga. I plum forgot about that. I’d have to pass the rest by her. Having guests is a lot of responsibility.”
“You wouldn’t have to go to markets—you could sell your soap here. Even show people how you make it. Unless that’s giving up trade secrets.”
“Anyone can find recipes on the internet.”
“True.” He looked up, as if taking in the pasture for the first time. “You’d need a website. I can take care of that. I can help you put together a marketing plan. Maybe have a grand opening in the spring?”
His eagerness couldn’t be overstated—clearly this was something he really thought was a good idea.
“I should, like, have a business plan or something. Right?”
“Oh, I can help with that. My title might be executive assistant, but I’ve actually picked up quite a few things while working with Shaw. This would be—” He met my gaze.
My breath caught.
“I’m getting ahead of myself. This is your farm—you know what’s best.”
“But you’ve got great ideas. Clearly you’re seeing something I’ve never considered. That doesn’t mean they’re not good ideas. It just means I might need some convincing.”
He grinned. “I would be happy to do that.”
“Let’s get them fed so I can give you a tour.”
“Ending up in your bedroom?”
“Yeah, that sounds good.” I grasped his hand. “Why is it that I look at you and see my future?”
He swallowed. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to be. You did what you had to do. I don’t begrudge you that.”
“You should.”
I shook my head. “That’s in the past. Like I said—when I look at you now, I see my future.”
“Yeah. So do I.”
We fed the goats. We washed our hands, had ham sandwiches, and I gave him a tour of the house—culminating in the bedroom.
After a rather torrid bout of lovemaking, we cuddled.
And strategized our future.