Page 42 of Pick Me This Time

“What?” I frowned deeply, my mind reeling at the sudden change in focus. “What are you talking about?”

Eric’s blue eyes searched my own, his hands sliding into the front pockets of his jeans. He locked his elbows, his head cocking. “Jake told me he came up here to check things out. He said you invited him to see for himself what needed to be done.”

“Yeah, I did. He came out earlier this week. Why are we talking about this?”

“Everything is falling to pieces,” he said, spelling it out for me. “Jake said it’s gone to the dogs. Nothing seems to have been maintained at all. So what’s going on?”

I sighed, my lids slamming shut as I wondered how much to tell him. There had been a time when it wouldn’t have been a question. He’d asked me to level with him and I would have without any hesitation, but now things were different.

On the other hand, Eric was the same guy he’d always been. He was hardworking and he had an arrogant streak, but he was a good guy who had stood by me no matter what.

Things could’ve been awkward between us once I’d come back. He might’ve resented me for leaving or falling out of touch. He might’ve even written me off completely.

Instead, he’d loaned me his old truck, offered me his guest bedroom, and sent his sister to pick me up from the airport.

I was the one who had changed. Plus, Jake had already been out here and he’d obviously told Eric what he’d seen. There wasn’t much point in trying to deny what his best friend had already told him.

“I don’t know, man. I honestly don’t know what to think right now, but Jake wasn’t lying or exaggerating. Things are going to shit, but my dad doesn’t want me intervening.”

“I thought you’d hired Jake to fix things up, though?” Eric said.

I shrugged. “I did, but my dad doesn’t know they’ve been here. We’ve been arguing about it, but he’s been refusing to give an inch. I told Jake to start when he could anyway, but I didn’t have my father’s permission to do it.”

Eric remained silent for a long moment, those eyes moving from one of mine to the other. “Did he give you a reason? He obviously needs help.”

My throat constricted again, my chest burning as I dropped my chin in a curt nod. “Actually, he did, yeah. He told me just before you got here.”

“What is it?” he asked quietly, urgently. “You don’t look so good right now. What did the doc say⁠—”

“It’s not that,” I said. “I wasn’t injured. I just, uh, it’s been a long day. The gist of it is that my dad wants the farm to keep going to shit. He thinks my mom didn’t want this for me and that I should go back to my own life.”

“Fuck.”

“Yep.” I inhaled deeply, forcing a tight grin as I shook my head at my oldest friend. “Like I said, I don’t really know what to tell you about what’s going on at the farm. I’m trying to work it all out, but it’s not going very well.”

He nodded. “I’m sorry, bro. I should’ve come out here to check up on things while you were gone. I tried a couple times, but your dad was never home when I came. We stopped seeing much of him around town and I just thought he was busy, you know?”

“I don’t blame you. He’s pretty good at pushing people away.” I saw the fire chief looking around, and when he spotted me, he waved me over. “I need a drink, but first, let me go find out what else he needs.”

“Then we’ll get a drink. I’m going to need a lift back to town, anyway,” he replied.

I chuckled humorlessly, simply relieved that he was willing to drink with me. “You got it. I’ll give you a lift all the way to Maverick’s. It’s on me, but we’re not leaving until we’re blind drunk and passing out on the couches.”