Page 39 of Won’t Let You Get Away

I roll my eyes and start driving towards the farm.

“So, Bri is coming over for dinner on Friday.”

“And?” Connor prods, leaning forward in his seat.

I shrug nonchalantly. “That’s all I got. She said she had work to do and we agreed to see each other then. But speaking of work,” I say, flicking on my blinker at the last second, grateful no one else is behind me, when I spot Kenny’s truck. “I have to make a quick stop.”

I deftly maneuver into the mostly empty parking lot to the farm’s store front and park the truck. It’s just after lunch on a Tuesday and since it’s early spring with most kids still in school, business at the farm shop is slow. We only stay open year-round for travelers passing through on the nearby highway.

“We gotta work on your detail giving skills.” Connor grumbles but hops out of the truck and follows me inside.

“Don’t you have work to do instead of shadowing me around?” I ask, holding the door open for him.

“Some of us actually take a lunch break, you know. You should try it sometime.”

I don’t bother responding, instead making a beeline for Kenny who’s leaning against the checkout counter, scrolling through his phone.

“Nothin’ to do up at the barn, huh Kenny?” I tease, causing him to startle with a yelp. His phone drops to the floor but he quickly recovers, standing up straight with a hand over his heart.

“Damn man, not cool to sneak up on me like that.” He shakes his head and tucks his phone back into his pocket. “Our new hire called out so I came down to help Leah while she takes her lunch break.”

Connor elbows me playfully, chuckling under his breath, but I frown at the mention of the new employee calling out.

“Thanks for keeping’ an eye out and helping Leah,” I say sincerely to Kenny.

Leah has managed the farm shop for five years now. When she took over, she practically banned my dad and me from hovering around down here. Still, I can’t help but wonder if I should be concerned that she didn’t mention anything about needing lunch coverage today.

“Not a problem. What brings you down here?” Kenny asks, crossing his arms and nodding in acknowledgment to Connor.

I clear my throat, glancing around to make sure there are no customers nearby. “Have you seen Mack?”

“Not since this morning,” Kenny replies. “He was loading up some supplies in his truck, so I assumed he was spending the day out at the fence.”

“Shit,” I mumble, scrubbing a hand over my face and sighing. “The only reported broken fence this year has been by the Jones’s property. You guys aren’t keeping repairs from me, right?”

Kenny frowns and shakes his head. “No, Boss. We haven’t even had a chance to do a proper fence check yet. Pretty sure you and I have it scheduled on the calendar for a couple weeks from now.”

“What’s wrong?” Connor asks, leaning his hip against the counter beside me.

“I went to check on how repairs were coming along since half of our supply pallet was gone. But when I got to the damaged section, it was clear that no one has been out there in a while.”

Kenny straightens, his hands falling to his sides as he scowls at me.

“Where are the supplies then?” My brother asks, looking between me and Kenny.

“That’s why I’m looking for Mack. If he’s not fixing the fence, I need to know where the hell my supplies are going.”

“Lookslike there’s enough supplies left to start working on a section while we wait for the next order,” Kenny calls out over his shoulder as he locks the door to one of the storage rooms in the barn. I hum in acknowledgment and send a quick text to Mack, requesting to meet with him tomorrow.

Scrubbing a hand along my jaw, I pocket my phone and turn to face Kenny. “Thanks for helping me move all that.”

After Leah returned from lunch, Kenny and I spent the whole afternoon trying to locate Mack. Despite being on the clock, Mack seemed to have disappeared, leading us to search every possible place he could be doing work or slacking off before finally giving up.

When we returned to the barn and saw the pallet, we both agreed that it should not be left out until I could follow up with Mack.

“No problem,” Kenny said, throwing an arm around my shoulder, guiding me out of the barn with him. “Although now I don’t have time to find Rosie, so that’s on you tonight.”

“Great, as if I haven’t already wandered around the property enough today,” I groan, shrugging off his arm and closing the barn door behind me.

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