Page 14 of Pick Me This Time

7

STERLING

Afew days had gone by since I’d arrived back in Allisburg, and I was finally starting to feel a little bit more settled. Things had changed a lot here. There was no denying that, but in many ways, they had also stayed the same.

Such as the fact that my dad was still up before dawn every morning and spent his days out in the field. After my first failed attempt at a conversation with him, I’d tried a few more times, but I hadn’t really gotten through to him.

It had become crystal clear that he didn’t really want me here. We’d barely spoken since I’d arrived, but when we had talked, we had only wound up bickering and he made a few gruff comments before he’d taken off again.

At this point, I was unsure how to have a relationship with him, if he even wanted to have one with me again. But at least I was here, trying. I couldn’t say the same for him.

On the other hand, he’d basically written me off as soon as he’d realized I had no intention of sticking around to take over the farm from him when he retired. The property had been in his family for generations, and it was always passed from one son to the next.

I was the first who had broken the mold, and unfortunately for my father, he didn’t have any other sons—or daughters—to pass it to. He and my mom had tried, but she’d told me once that the fact they’d even had me had been a miracle.

Making the decision to leave regardless had been the most difficult thing I’d ever done, but Northfield Farms was a sinking ship. It had been since before my birth, and while it had looked a lot better back when Mom had been alive, we’d never exactly been well off.

At first, I had thought I would go to business school, get a job, make some money, and send the bulk of it home to my parents. I’d figured it would allow them to appoint a farm manager eventually when Dad was ready to take a step back. It’d seemed like the only solution.

Before my mom had passed, I had sent money home every month, but then suddenly, Dad had stopped cashing my checks. As if he didn’t want me to exist anymore either.

I sighed as I made my way down the stairs to his home office. Every morning when he went out, I sat down behind his desk and I was making my way through the books. Dad still kept them by hand, but at least I was making headway.

I sat down with a cup of coffee and dragged my fingers through my hair. The ancient desktop computer in front of me was so old, I was surprised it wasn’t steam powered. With a machine like that, it was no wonder he still preferred pen and paper. Part of me was tempted to buy him a new laptop, put all the software on it he could ever possibly need for the farm, and offer to help him learn the ropes, but the bigger part of me knew he’d never accept it.

I would tell him to buy it for the farm himself, but I’d learned that Northfield Farms was barely breaking even. The fact it was breaking even at all had been more of a surprise than finding out it was only just scraping by.

Plus, the computer needed to be replaced, but that was far from the biggest problem. The house needed some serious work. The barns needed serious work. So did the trucks, the tractors, and just about everything else around here.

After spending another hour laboriously deciphering my dad’s scribbles, I decided that it was time to take matters into my own hands. I had about five and a half more weeks before I had to head back to the city and that was enough time to do something about the worst of it.

Jake would have all the materials I needed to fix a few things myself and all the teams I could ask for to do the jobs I couldn’t. Dad was clearly happy letting this place go to shit, but it wasn’t going to fall apart any further on my watch.

I stood up and carefully put all Dad’s stuff back the way it had been. Then I grabbed Eric’s keys and pulled a ballcap from the coat rack by the front door onto my head. Fitting it the way I liked, I headed out, sliding on my sunglasses against the sharp glare of the morning sun and jogging to the truck.

Driving over to Garrisons’ Construction Yard, I was once again struck by how little had changed around here. While there were some newer sections in town and a tiny bit of development around the outskirts, the farmland had mostly remained untouched.

A smile curved my lips when I drove past the spot where that party had been and I glanced at the corner where I’d finally caught up to Daphne, remembering the surprise that had washed over her features when I’d told her that if she didn’t want a ride, I’d walk her home.

Reminiscing until I pulled up at Jake’s lot, I was yanked out of my thoughts when I saw him penning a tall blonde woman against a truck. His head was bent, his lips skimming her neck as his body pegged her against the cherry red pickup I’d seen him climb into last night.

For just a moment, I wondered what the fuck he was up to. None of us had been known for keeping it in our pants back in high school, but we’d always been solid when we’d been in relationships. Now, he was married and⁠—

That’s Rachel, I realized with a start when he finally stepped away and I saw her incredibly swollen belly. Blinking hard, I swallowed back a wave of guilt over even having had the thought I’d just had. Of course, he’s making out with his pregnant wife in the middle of the damn day. This is Allisburg. That’s life around here.

Slow and steady. People popping in to see their spouses rather than their mistresses at work. Very public displays of affection that others thought were adorable—as long as there were rings on both parties’ fingers.

I inhaled deeply before slapping a smile on my face and parking next to Jake’s truck. Surprise registered on his features when he saw me, but Rachel scowled before he nudged her. She finally forced a smile onto her own face and gave me a friendly smile when I got out.

“Hey, Sterling,” she said. “Long time.”

“It sure has been,” I replied, wondering what that scowl had been about. “Congratulations, by the way. On the marriage and the baby.”

She nodded tightly, but Jake stepped forward with a much warmer grin than the one I was getting from his wife. “If you’re here to find out if I can grab lunch with you, the answer is no. I’m just about to head out for a job.”

“Of course, man. I get it. I’m actually here to find out if you’ve got space on your dance card for some work at the farm.”

He paused, sliding his sunglasses off his face to stare at me with questions in his eyes. “Care to elaborate a little bit?”