Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Luke
I loved farming with all my soul. It was in my blood.
I’d lived on this land my entire life, and I planned to work it until I was dead. It was my family’s legacy, dating back to my grandparents, and I hoped Addie would love it the way I did and continue the tradition.
There were days though…
Today had been one hell of a Monday so far, and though it was after five o’clock, our work was nowhere near done.
“How close is Gary?” I asked Scotty, my right-hand guy and the manager of the apple orchard, as we stood staring at the truck that apparently needed a new alternator.
“ETA is five forty-five,” Scotty said. “He oughta be here any minute.”
“I hope he’s right that it’ll take no more than an hour and a half.”
Scotty chuckled. “You doubting Gary’s skills now?”
I shook my head and glanced at the sky, reassuring myself it was still clear, as the weather app promised it would be. The truck was full of crates of apples to be delivered to local stores. They needed to reach their destination as soon as possible since it wasn’t refrigerated.
“Your dad know you hired out?”
I shook my head and gave him a look that said, No need to tell him.
“When did Cheyenne say she’d be here?” I asked.
“I told her six. That’ll give her time to eat and relax a spell.”
I nodded, trusting Scotty and Cheyenne to take care of the apple deliveries.
They were two of my top people and did what they said they’d do no matter what.
Scotty had been with us since I was in grade school, working with my dad back then.
He knew all our operations as well as I did.
Cheyenne was in her sixth year with us. This was far from her first time distributing apples to the retailers during the season.
“Weren’t you fixin’ to check on Gage before your meeting?” Scotty asked.
“I’m heading that way. Call me if anything unexpected comes up.”
“Will do. Get outta here.”
I climbed into my truck and pointed it toward the outbuilding where Gage was checking the shakers and balers to make sure they worked and were ready to go for Christmas-tree season. When I pulled up, he was coming out the door.
“Everything good?” I asked as I got out of the truck.
“The shakers and balers are ready to go, but Matilda needs a battery. I can pick one up tomorrow before I come in.”
“Sounds good.” Matilda was one of our tractors, and yes, they all had names, a tradition started by my mother years ago.
“Yeah, that’s the good news,” Gage said. The look on his face had me bracing for the not-good news he seemed to have.
“And?” I prompted.
“The Heinrich kid took a different job.”
“The guy we hired Friday?”
“One and only. He was supposed to show up at four, after school. Texted me at twenty after to let me know.”
Dammit. “Better now than two weeks into the season, I guess. How many more interviews do we have set up?”
“Three tomorrow and two on Wednesday. Plus there’s the Webber kid we couldn’t decide on. We got prospects. We’ll get a crew in place.”
“Fast, I hope. How’s the pricing going?”
“Slow but steady. We’ll get there.”
Though our cut-your-own-tree operations wouldn’t open for six weeks, we had a shit ton to do before then, including going through acres of trees and pricing the ones that were ready to sell.
That was a project one of us full-timers had to do, but harvesting the trees that would be shipped out for wholesale demanded lots of hands and was time sensitive.
Our seasonal crew would help out with that once they went through training.
“You taking off soon?” I asked him.
Gage nodded. “Got a hot date tonight.” He raised his brows till they nearly touched the beanie he usually wore once it wasn’t ninety in the shade.
“Go on then. Good luck, man.”
“I’ll bring the battery in with me tomorrow.”
“Thanks. See you then.”
As Gage walked to his truck, I noticed my dad and my six-year-old daughter making their way in my direction, holding hands. When I waved, Addie looked up at her grandfather and said something. At his nod, she dropped his hand and ran toward me, lightening my mood like not much could.
“Daddy!”
When she reached me, long before my dad did, I hoisted her forty-eight pounds into my arms.
“Hey, doodlebug, how was school?”
Addie threw her arms around me, her grin big and happy. “It was super awesome. I got Star Speller for the week!”
“What? No way.”
“Yes way.” She giggled, meeting my gaze with her big brown eyes. They were the one feature she got from her mother, Jessie, who was full-time military but spent any time off she could with our daughter. The arrangement worked for all three of us.
“How’d you do that?” I asked Addie. “I’m not sure a Durham has ever been Star Speller before.”
“I practiced and practiced, and you quizzed me, and Pops quizzed me, and I learned all the words.”
I hugged her tight, proud of her achievement, then lowered her to the ground as my dad approached.
“What the hell is Gary doing here?” he asked.
I glanced in the direction of the truck in need of repair, even though I couldn’t see it from here. “Alternator went out in the delivery truck.”
He glared at me as I’d known he would.
“Replacing an alternator is the last thing your back needs, Dad,” I said before he could come at me.
“Gary doesn’t come cheap, especially after hours.”
“He’s worth every penny if it means you don’t hurt extra for the next week.”
“I’d be fine. I don’t need to be babied.”
“I’m looking out for you since you don’t look out for yourself,” I said, my jaw tight.
“I look out for myself just fine. Quit trying to shut me out of everything. I’m not dead yet. I can’t lift, but I can repair.”
Could and should were two different things.
My dad’s doctor had told him no more farm work after his second back surgery hadn’t eliminated his pain.
He still struggled with his forced retirement, but Addie gave him a new purpose.
Having him at home to care for her took a load of worry away.
He might grumble, but our arrangement was win-win-win.
“You know Gary’s trustworthy. I have a meeting about the barn in—” I checked my watch. “Hell. Five minutes ago. I gotta run. You guys good?”
“Just came out to share her news,” my dad said, an unmistakable sparkle of pride in his eyes for his granddaughter.
Addie did a dance at my side and made up a song about Star Speller. I leaned down and kissed the top of her coffee-brown head.
“Congratulations, bug.”
“Thanks, Daddy! Will you be home in time for dinner?”
“I hope so. I’m meeting with someone who wants to have their wedding in our barn. Gotta go,” I told them, kissing Addie one more time. “If I’m late for dinner, start without me.”
“Okay. Bye, Daddy!”
As she took my dad’s hand and the two of them headed toward the house, I jogged to the main barn. It was old, big as hell, and majestic, with red paint we’d updated two years ago and a stone foundation that had weathered decades.
When I came around to the front, there were two vehicles parked there, one I recognized as West’s. I’d left the barn door open and figured West and Presley must be inside checking it out.
I went in and found West just inside the door, leaning against the wall.
“Hey, West,” I said.
“Luke. What’s up?”
We bumped fists in greeting.
“Sorry I’m late,” I said. “Crazy day around here.” That was true, but every day was chaotic.
“No worries.”
“Hi, Luke.” Presley appeared from behind one of the piles of junk I hadn’t yet cleared out.
“Hey, Presley. How’s it going?”
“Good.” She half turned as someone else stepped closer. “I brought my wedding planner with me. I hope that’s okay.”
I switched my glance, and there stood the woman who’d hurt my family irrevocably all those years ago.