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Deputy Taylor nodded toward the trailer with the boxes of destroyed melons. “We made a thorough check around the barnyard, in the barn where you found Howey and out near the pigpen and didn’t find anything that would point to who did this. We dusted the door handle on the barn and will take the prints back to the station and hope to find a match. Other than that, there’s not much else we can do.”
Remy appeared. “Are we clear to start the cleanup?”
Deputy Taylor cocked an eyebrow. “It’s up to Bernie.”
Bernie's lips twisted. “Might as well.” She dug in her purse for the keys to the truck and handed them to Remy. “Take the trailer out to the pigpen and shovel as much as you can of what’s in the boxes over the fence. Penelope and the gang will finally get what they’ve been trying to get to these past two nights.”
Remy nodded. “Got it.” He tipped his head toward Gerard. “I couldn’t get anyone to install the surveillance system today, but I’ve got someone coming out first thing in the morning.”
Gerard nodded. “Bernie and I will be at the farmer’s market in the morning and unable to meet with the guy. I believe the market closes around two.”
“I’ll see if he can adjust his schedule so you and Bernie will be there. In the meantime, we have work to do here.” Remy returned to the trailer of ruined watermelons.
He sent a couple of guys into the barn. They returned with shovels and pitchforks and loaded them onto the trailer. While most of Gerard’s team climbed onto the back of the trailer, Lucas slipped into the passenger seat. Remy slid behind the wheel and drove the truck across the field to the pigpen.
“You didn’t want to go with them?” Bernie asked.
Gerard shook his head. “Sweetheart, I’m your shadow. Where you go, I go.”
“Tell us what you need done, and we’ll get to work on it,” Mimi said.
Bernie split the volunteers into two groups, sending half out to the watermelon patch to start picking and lining up the melons for when Gerard’s team had the trailer cleared of the smashed fruit and loaded with clean, dry boxes.
The other half of the volunteers were given bushel baskets and directed into a separate garden where Bernie had grown a wide variety of produce. She parked the modified produce truck close to the garden and instructed the volunteers to fill the labeled bins with the appropriate vegetables.
She pointed Gerard in the direction of several long rows of cornstalks and showed him how to tell what was ripe and how to strip the ears of corn off the stalk. Bernie worked another row parallel to his. Before long, they’d picked all the ripe corn and loaded it into the bin labeled CORN. When the bin was completely full, they loaded the remaining bushels into the back of the truck, sliding them beneath the bins on the side.
While they were picking corn, Remy and his guys finished dumping the broken melons and rinds into the pigpen, stacked the ruined boxes on the edge of the field to be burned later and returned to the barn to load fresh, empty boxes onto the trailer.
With more hands helping, they finished harvesting the ripe watermelons in record time, completing the task just after noon.
Once the produce truck was full, Bernie parked it in the barn, where it would stay cooler than in the sun until the morning when she would take it to the farmer’s market.
Gerard marveled at how willing the people of Bayou Mambaloa were to contribute their time and effort to help a friend and neighbor.
Bernie hugged each volunteer and thanked them. When she tried to send them home with vegetables, they declined. “Save them for the market tomorrow,” they said.
Gerard stood back while Bernie made her rounds, keeping a close eye on her. Not that he thought any of these people were the ones causing trouble. But he couldn’t be too careful.
“She’s special,” a voice said beside him.
He turned to find the dark-haired, dark-skinned Gisele beside him.
“Yes, she is,” he agreed.
“All her life, she’s given so much of herself, caring for others, it’s about time someone took care of her.” Gisele looked up at him with her strangely golden eyes. “You’ll be good for her and give her the babies she always wanted.”
Gerard frowned. When he opened his mouth to disavow her of her prediction, she raised a finger, cutting him off before he could start.
“She has seen enough grief for one lifetime.” Gisele’s eyes narrowed into slits. “If you break her heart, I will put a spell on you that will make your balls shrivel and your dick shrink to the size of a worm.” She held his gaze with hers a moment longer. Then her eyes widened, and a sweet smile transformed her face. “I’m glad we had this conversation.”
Bernie approached, glancing from Gisele to Gerard and back. “Everything all right?”
Gisele patted Gerard’s cheek. “Perfectly. We were just getting to know each other.”
Chapter 9
Bernie’s gaze went from Gisele to Gerard.
