AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Aggie smiled and nodded. “Yep. Still a lot of work ahead of us, but we’ve got a fighting chance now.”
Relief washed over me. I’d spent so much time worrying about the farm tanking before I’d even gotten settled. Hearing that things were turning around, the year ahead looking somewhat bright, made the day even better.
Aggie opened the door for all of us, the sights and smells of fresh pizza right from the oven instantly greeting us. The shop was done up with tons of Christmas décor, Frank Sinatra serenading us with carols from the speakers. The kids wasted no time rushing up to the counter, all the delicious-looking pizza behind a glass partition.
“So,” Aggie started as we approached the counter. “How’re things at the Stud Ranch?” she followed this up with a wicked smile.
“The what?” My eyes went wide, and right then and there I knew that I’d already blown whatever secrecy that I’d hoped to have on the subject of the guys.
Sure enough, Aggie narrowed her eyes and cocked her head to the side.
“Wait a minute, what’s going on here, Aub?”
Shit. “Uh, pizza’s really looking good today, huh?” I asked, going for the lamest attempt at deflection I’d ever tried in my life. “The veggie slice is really calling out to me. How about you?”
Aggie kept her eyes narrowed, the smile on her face making it clear she’d realized something was up.
“Aubrey! Aubrey Downing!”
A voice called out to me from within the crowd of people in the shop. I turned and was greeted with a face that seemed strangely familiar. It was a woman, around my age, with wide, eager eyes and a face framed by bright red, frizzy hair. She was slender, her body almost nothing wrapped up in her winter gear.
“Hey?” I said, the word coming out like a question. The twins, who’d already ordered their pizza, turned and regarded the woman with no small amount of suspicion.
The woman pursed her lips, making a facial expression that suggested she realized that she was maybe coming on too strong.
“It’s me, Janet Lovell!”
It took me a second, but the name soon clicked in my memory.
“Oh, Janet! Hey!”
I turned to Aggie, who had her own look, one that seemed to say that she was wondering if she needed to jump in and tell a potentially crazy woman to back off.
“Aggie, this is Janet Lovell. She and I went to high school together over in Sienna.”
“Nice to meet you,” Janet said, her slightly manic energy still there, though kept slightly in check.
“Aggie Culbertson,” she said, hesitantly offering her hand in return for a shake.
“I know this is kind of weird,” Janet said. “Aubrey and I didn’t exactly run in the same circles. You were more track and field; I was the nerd on the yearbook committee.”
“Something like that,” I replied.
“This is so crazy seeing you,” Janet said.
“Not really, it’s a small town, right?”
“Very true. But the reason I say that is because I was actually planning on getting in touch with you.”
“Really? Why?”
“I’m doing a piece on some of the local farms that’ve come into the hands of the children of the farms’ owners. Most kids don’t wait a second before selling old property, but a few actually moved back home, left their old lives behind and kept the farm in the family – like you.” She nodded over her shoulder toward one of the nearby tables. “I was actually just speaking to someone connected to Thousand Acres.”
I glanced in the direction she’d indicated. Seated at a nearby table was a tall, skinny man with shaggy blonde hair and a gaunt face with big circles under his eyes. Everything about him screamed tired, except for the oddly active light in his eyes. He said nothing, instead staring at something near me.
I realized right away that he was staring at the kids.
“It’s just a little puff piece, nothing too crazy. You think you’d be down to talk sometime next week?” Before I had a chance to respond, Janet turned her attention to the kids. Neither of them said a word, both watching the man with wide, worried eyes.
