Bonus Scene
Knox Malssum
Knox whistled as he read the official papers through for the third time.
Nothing changed.
He, along with his brothers and his sisters, had inherited an orchard in Vermont. From a great-uncle they hadn’t even known existed. How had Fox kept that from them? Why?
The five of them had lived with Fox after their parents had been killed when they were young. How had the old man never mentioned having a brother?
Knox had done a few jobs in his life, with the army taking up most of his adult years. But he hadn’t found anything that fit him since he’d retired from the special forces unit. Nothing had helped him settle into civilian life. Not yet.
Maybe running an apple orchard in Vermont would fit. If nothing else, it was intriguing. Not that he knew anything about the job or the state. The only person he knew who lived in Vermont was an old Army buddy, Troy Phail.
Knox pulled up a map on his phone and zoomed in. Then he laughed. If the address on the paperwork was correct, the apple farm was only a thirty-minute drive from Troy’s town of Phail. Which was a terrible name for a town. No wonder Troy hadn’t minded his Epic call sign. It was better than his surname.
The paperwork was only addressed to him, but he guessed that the others would receive their copies today as well. What would the other four think? He was pretty sure none of them were in love with the jobs they currently held. Lawson could fix cars anywhere, but did he have any ties to the area that Knox didn’t know about?
Would there be hotels nearby that Amber could work in? Would she want to leave the big city hotel business behind? She hadn’t seemed that happy with her job during their last call.
Jolie was the adventurous type. She might love the challenge of an orchard. A place she could implement the things she’d learned in school. She loved birds and animals and plants, so he figured he could talk her into it.
They’d need Burke and his business brain. Their eldest brother breathed in numbers and breathed out spreadsheets. He’d want to analyze the whole business before they made a decision.
Knox didn’t want to have endless family meetings. He wanted a new adventure. He wanted his family together again, and he wanted roots.
An apple orchard seemed like the perfect place to put those down.