Still nothing.
“Marlon—” She leaned forward slightly, scanning ahead. “The vineyard is on fire! Something’s smoking over there!”
I looked up and saw it immediately.
A thin line of smoke rising past the far rows.
I straightened in the saddle, tightening my grip on the reins.
Spades shifted under me, already picking up on the change.
I nudged him forward.
Then harder.
We moved fast toward it.
On the path, we found Wyatt with an ATV stuck halfway down the row.
One wheel had sunk deep into the mud, the back weighed down with crates from the day’s haul. Wyatt had tried to turn itover and the engine coughed once, then died again with a trail of smoke rising over the vines.
The smell of burnt oil hung in the air.
I got off Spades first. “Christ, Wyatt. What happened?”
He stood beside it, sleeves rolled, hands black with grease. “Mud in the motor. I tried to clean it out, but it—won’t?—”
He stopped mid-sentence and his eyes shifted.
I looked over my shoulder. Aurora sat patiently on Spades behind me, dress still clean for now, as she ran her fingers through his mane.
“…hi.” Wyatt greeted.
“Hi,” she returned.
Wyatt straightened up a little. “What’s your name?”
“Wyatt,” I cut in, sharp. “Can you focus? Rain’s coming.”
He blinked, snapped back. “Right. Right. Um… I think we could take some pressure off the motor by leaving the haul here ‘til the rain stops.”
“And let the crows feast?” I shook my head. “Nah. We need all the haul we can get.”
“Can’t you use that shed to hide it in?”
Aurora pointed past the ATV and Wyatt and I both turned to see the structure that sat beyond the row, old and worn down, standing but barely maintained.
“Not ideal,” I said. “Doors don’t stay closed because they lock from the inside.”
Wyatt wiped his hands on his jeans, thinking it through. “We running out of options, boss. This thing’s down, and it’s too slow anyway. We could roll the haul over there. One of us stays inside with it ‘til the storm passes, and the other rides back for a new motor.”
“Sounds good,” I said. “But who stays and who goes?”
Nobody answered right away and Aurora filled the silence. “I’m Rory, by the way.”
Wyatt gave a small smile. “Wyatt.”
“I know,” she said. “You kinda stared at me through the window yesterday.”
