Chapter 44
As Brynn drifted off to sleep that night, she made a mental note to rise early and try to work with the cows the next morning. She wasn’t certain whose turn it was—Schuyler’s, Tillie’s, or Willow’s—but she thought it would be a good time to see how much of it she could handle. Gratitude swam through her. Her friends had taken such good care of the place. Becky had taken such good care of her. It was time to try to stand on her own again. If she could.
She thought through the events of the past few weeks. Everything had been going so smoothly. She and Wes had settled into a routine for the business. They got along so well. She hadn’t obsessed about Dan, her ex, in months. She was looking forward to the fair and the cheese contest. Then everything went to hell. Other than her friends stepping in to help, there were a few others things to be grateful for. The young man who shot Wes was in jail—swift justice. And the police knew Josh didn’t kill the other young man on purpose.
But the person who killed Donny Iser was still at large. He had been shot point-blank with a gun registered to Wes. Why Wes? Of all people. Was racism at work here?
Brynn shuddered beneath her quilt.
The next morning, she rose from her bed, dressed, and headed for the barn. Tillie was finishing the milking. She turned to Brynn. “You startled me. Good morning!”
“Good morning, Tillie. How’s it going?”
She nodded her head. “Good.” She paused, tilting her head. “Why are you here?”
“I want to slowly get back into the routine. You know? I’m tired of being so useless.”
Tillie blinked. “It must be hard for you.” She lifted the milk and poured it into the container. “I heard Charlie’s coming by today to look at those chips.”
Brynn drew in the scent of the clean barn. Home. “Yes, it should be interesting. Did he tell you about Chelsea’s parents?”
Tillie stiffened, looked away, and looked back at Brynn. “Yeah.” She shrugged. “I don’t understand what’s going on there.” She walked over and opened the barn doors and the cows filed out into the steamy morning. Jewel stopped at the door, as if girding her loins for the heat.
“You don’t know her well at all, right?”
“Nah, not really,” she said, watching the cows march off into the fields. “But I do think she’s trouble. She always has been. Boys. Booze. I remember she got caught stealing jewelry or something once.”
“Stealing doesn’t surprise me. I’m still certain she stole Jewel’s collar. Do you want to come in for breakfast?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“I don’t know what Wes is cooking up, but I bet it’s something delicious.”
They walked together back into the house. Cool. Thank God for the AC.
The scent of cinnamon and berries and something else filled the house. He was making more of the blackberry breakfast bread. Brynn nearly swooned.
“Where’ve you been?” Becky asked, pulling out two loaves from the oven as Wes set the table.
Brynn took a seat. “The barn. I want to try getting back into the swing of things. I plan on cleaning the make today.”
Becky and Wes exchanged glances. “We’ve already cleaned it. You don’t need to worry about it,” Becky said.
This was the second time they’ve steered her away from her make. She missed her work space. The smell of it, the touch of it, and even missed cleaning it. Cleanliness was such an important part of making cheese.
“If you insist,” Brynn said, distracted by the blackberry breakfast bread being sliced in front of her. It was still warm and a little sloppy, but that made no difference to any of them. Brynn slathered fresh butter from her own cows onto the bread. Was she drooling? She hoped not.
Wes poured them each a cup of coffee and sat down. “Charlie will be here at nine. I can’t wait to see what he says about those chips.”
Tillie set her coffee cup down. “That guy knows his stuff. Brilliant.”
Becky snorted. “Well, let’s hope so. He seems to be the only expert around for miles. I tried to find someone else and couldn’t.”
“Well, there is Roy,” Wes said.
Brynn picked up her coffee and drank it. So good. “In jail for assault.”
“What were they fighting about, anyway?” Tillie asked.
Brynn paused. “They were fighting about Chelsea. Roy told me he was worried because she didn’t show up for their date and he accused David Reese of not telling him where she was.”
Silence permeated the room.
Tillie swallowed her bread. Her amber eyes were as wide as saucers. “That’s gotta be one of the weirdest things I ever heard.”
Wes smiled. “Right? Why would David Reese be aware of anything about Chelsea?”
Brynn chilled, even as she held her hot coffee and sipped from it. “Perhaps you could find out, Wes. When Roy gets out of jail, you should ask him.”
Wes nodded as she shoved a piece of blackberry bread into her mouth.
“I had a crazy thought.” Becky reached for another slice. “What if it’s Charlie who’s creating all the havoc with the computers? I mean, he’s the expert. We trust him. But what if he’s sabotaging computers for the business?”
“He’d lose his business if he was caught. It seems like a desperate thing to do. I don’t think he needs to do that. He’s busy and successful. Why would he risk it?” Wes sliced more bread.
Brynn’s brain clouds seemed to clear for a moment. “But you might be on to something, Becky. And Wes? You said ‘desperate.’ Who’s so desperate they’d try ransom ware on most of this small community?”
Tillie cleared her throat. “Might not be the reason. Hackers do it just for the challenge. They’re not really motivated by money.”
“It seems awfully risky to ruin people’s lives for the thrill of it,” Becky said.
“That’s part of the ‘fun’ of it,” Wes said, with air quotes around fun.
Brynn glanced at the clock. She suddenly couldn’t wait for nine. She had a few observations to make. She recalled what she’d learned about figuring out whether people were telling the truth or not. And she figured it was time to practice a bit more on Charlie.