TWENTY-FIVE
Harper
I tried not to be embarrassed as I stumbled out of the cornfield, no doubt looking freshly fucked, and directly into Stone’s brothers.
“Well, well, well. Look who we have here.” Cash folded his arms and looked us both up and down.
“What were you guys up to in there?” Boone asked.
“Just taking Harper on a little tour,” Stone lied.
Brushing the remains of the cornfield off my clothes, I said, “Um, yeah. I asked him to. I never saw corn stalks up close before and I’m writing a story about a farmer so I needed to, you know, research."
“Research. Uh huh.” Cash nodded, grinning.
The amused expression on both of the brothers’ faces told me we weren’t fooling anyone.
“Well, if you two are done with your research, Dad just loaded a dozen more things on us to get done for this Fall Fest thing next weekend.”
“Ooo, what’s going on next weekend?” I asked.
“There’s gonna be a big festival on our farm. Food, music, vendors,” Boone explained.
“Really?” I asked, and then remembered I had seen some signs around town. I just hadn’t realized it was being held at Stone’s farm.
Stone shot me a glare. “Stop looking so excited. It’s been a fuck ton of work for us.”
“But think of all the free publicity you’re getting. All the people who will come from all over will be new customers for you. And every person who posts about it will spread the word about Morgan Farm even further. User generated content is social media gold. It’s a great opportunity.”
Cash frowned. “You should hook her up with Dad. She sounds just like him with all this marketing stuff.”
“Yup. She sure does.” Stone leveled a gaze on me as if I were the enemy for siding with his father on the importance of the event.
I could see the younger generation of Morgans weren’t convinced, but I knew well the power of social media. They’d see. And then I’d have to resist saying I told you so.
“You two are going to have to handle it without me. I promised Harper I’d help her today.”
I spun to glare at Stone. “Oh, no. You’re not using me as an excuse to get out of work.”
Cash and Boone grinned.
“I’m not,” Stone defended. “I promised you help. I’m not gonna just bail on you.”
Maybe he was being sweet and trying to keep his promise rather than attempting to get out of doing work. One thing Stone Morgan was not, was lazy.
“I know. And thank you. But Stone, seriously. You have to help out here. This sounds like a huge deal for the farm. Besides, I’ll be fine going through the journals alone. Or, you know what? I can ask Red and Bethany if they want to come over. Red’s been dying to go through that stuff.”
“You sure?” he asked.
“I’m sure. Really. Stay here. Well, I mean you have to drive me home but then come back here and help your brothers. It’s not fair for them to do it all because you’re helping me.”
“Listen to her, Stone. She sounds like a smart one.” Cash winked at me.
Stone sighed. “All right. One of you two has to drive us to my truck. It’s parked at the fishing access.”
Boone’s eyes widened excitedly. “You took her on a tire float?”
“Damn, girl.” Cash pressed his lips together, nodding. “I’m impressed. Floating down the Muddy River in an old tire . . . You know that makes you a local, right?”
I laughed. “Not quite. I think I’ll be considered a city girl by half this town no matter what, but I do feel a little bit more like a local every day.”
“I’ll run you two over to your truck, Stone,” Boone offered.
“So I can stay here and listen to Dad bitch things aren’t done yet?” Cash’s brows shot high. “Oh, hell no. We’ll both run them over to the fishing access.”
Boone rolled his eyes and I smiled.
I didn’t have siblings. Watching the dynamic between these three, so alike in some ways and so very different in others, was fascinating.
There was definitely a book series with three brothers as the heroes in my future. I had to admit, I’d hoped Mudville would be a good place to keep my head down and write undisturbed, but I’d never imagined it would provide so much inspiration for my creativity.
The whole town was a gold mine of ideas. Plots. Characters. In fact, I loved everything about this town.
It was horrible to even think it, but I hoped Agnes took a good long time to recover. I wouldn’t mind having an excuse to stay here for a while.
What would Christmas be like in this magical little town?
Fingers crossed I’d still be here at least for the first snow. I envisioned sitting in front of a roaring fire in the wood paneled living room in Agnes’s grand old Victorian, watching the townspeople and their dogs dashing down the sidewalk along Main Street, dodging the falling snow flakes.
Yup. Magical. There was no other word for it . . .
Could I squeeze a quick Christmas novella into my writing schedule? I’d have to check but God, I truly hoped so.
Though I did have to devote at least another couple of days to going through Rose’s massive amount of stuff. I’d promised Joe. His mother deserved at least a few days of my time.
I was so in my own head, Stone’s touch on my arm startled me.
As the two brothers stalked ahead of us toward where a row of identical Morgan Farm trucks were parked, Stone leaned close. “Is there really a corn farmer in your story?”
I smiled. “Why? You worried?”
He lifted one brow. “No . . . Maybe. A little.”
I smiled broader. “I guess you’ll have to wait and see.”
It was good to keep a man guessing once in a while. It kept them on their toes. Kept them interested. And I definitely wanted to keep this man interested.